Rear Sight Drifting

[joec]

Perhaps these suggestions and tips for a man that is an expert on the Rossi 92 will help.

Tip on sights and plugs by Steve Gunz site.

Trouble removing the rear sight

Question: I received everything in good order; however, I'm having trouble removing the rear sight.

I have tried tapping with a punch and hammer both from right to left and left to right and it does not budge. Rather that hitting it harder, I thought I'd ask your advise.

Answer: Ok, the thing you will need to do is support the barrel. I use a bench vise with some leather jaw pads to clamp the barrel in. Now you can hit it harder. Once you get it supported, you drive the old sight out from the left side out to the right. I use a brass drift for this.

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The Dovetail blank I got from you is loose. I thought it would drop right in, but it's so loose, it wants to drop right out... What's going on? Thanks,

Answer:
The current Rossi's have standard 3/8 x 60 degree cuts but they still don't spend a lot of time fitting the sights. If the dovetail cut in the barrel is too big it's because they hammered the Rossi sights in and swedged the dovetails out. Look at the dovetail from the side and you will see the metal is pushed up. Now, you need to do some Gunsmithing to grow some metal. Start by pushing the tops of the dovetail down with a flat face punch and hammer gently work across the dovetail . The new sight will cover these marks. Stippling the bottom of the sight works too, but worst case you may need to shim under the new sight. NOTE: Whatever you do resist the urge to stipple the bottom of the dovetail in the barrel if it's a big bore like a 44 or 45 cal. If you get carried away you can actually damage the bore. On a side note, I've seen Rossi's that had tight spots in the bore because Rossi forced the poorly fitted sights in.

[357cyrus]

The ghost sight went in much easier. Took a few deliberate blows with a 1lb mallet and a 9/16th brass punch but felt right. Nice and snug.

[Ranch Dog]

Pictures Dude, pictures!

[pricedo]

Never a dull moment when you own a new Rossi........brings back (fond/sometimes not so fond) memories.
As I recall there were a lot of issues with non-standard dove tail sizes.
I think Braztech went to standard dovetails but there are lots of the older guns made with the non-standard dovetails still out there and back then (the Amadeo days) it was a roll of the dice as to what size dovetail you got when you opened that box as the sizes were not standard and not even the same among different Rossi 92 rifles.......I encountered several dovetail sizes among the guns that I customized and resold in the Amadeo era.
If the dovetail was too small you filed (the sight base - NOT the gun). If the dovetail was too big you could try a scope base shim or a flat piece of metal from a pop can on the bottom of the dovetail slot. The sight wouldn't come out if it was in nice and snug.
My 3 92s are all settled in now.
All they do is shoot and shoot well........as well as look might pretty.
I'm so fond of my 3 Rossi 92s that if it was legal I'd marry them.....first polygamous owner/gun marriage for this history books.

[357cyrus]

Pictures Dude, pictures!

. Will do once I get her all put back together. Me and that barrel band screw aren't getting along again.

[357cyrus]

OK here's what I've done with my sights so far.
Front sight got a drop of neon orange nail polish right on the tip. Helps quite a bit.
Eventually it will be replaced with a fiber optic sight, but I want to fire a few off like
this to see what kinda drop that big honkin 480 Ruger will have.

sights1.png

Here's a view of what a 2-3/4" Marble's Bullseye Rear Sight looks like when your cheek is near the stock.

sights4.png

Here's what the sight picture looks like.

sights2.png

And here's a side view.

sights3.jpg

Overall I like it quite a bit compared to the factory sights. Field of view, time to get on target, and precision
all seem to be greatly upgraded.

[Ranch Dog]

I really like that sight and the setup. I think it is going to be a winner!

[pricedo]

OK here's what I've done with my sights so far.
Front sight got a drop of neon orange nail polish right on the tip. Helps quite a bit.
Eventually it will be replaced with a fiber optic sight, but I want to fire a few off like
this to see what kinda drop that big honkin 480 Ruger will have.

sights1.png

Here's a view of what a 2-3/4" Marble's Bullseye Rear Sight looks like when your cheek is near the stock.

sights4.png

Here's what the sight picture looks like.

sights2.png

And here's a side view.

sights3.jpg

Overall I like it quite a bit compared to the factory sights. Field of view, time to get on target, and precision
all seem to be greatly upgraded.

Good sight set up for aging eyes like mine.
Fantastic sight picture.........like looking down a lighted tunnel.
I like shooting iron and any new visual prosthetic that lets the old guys shoot iron sights longer is great for me.
I can't envisage an old gunfighter from back in the early 1800s using such a sight but not that many gunfighters got to get old back then so they probably didn't need a visual prosthetic to stay in the iron-shootin game like us modern shooters do. I'm still OK with the Rossi 92 factory semi-buckhorn sights..........knock on wood.