I have a early model 15 S&W revolver with a 4 inch barrel and the ramped front sight. The front sight is not pinned , it is machined as part of the barrel. I would like to cut off the front ramp and cut the half moon slot to install a S&W partridge pinned front sight. Anyone know what cutter is used for the half moon? Is it a standard wood ruff key cut?

Thanks
Roger

Yes: 1/2 X 1/8
Carbide is the better choice. Especially for stainless barrels.
Your set up must, {"must"} be very solid and rigid. If chatter is induced, something is likely to break..years ago I built special fixtures to do this. It's a snap with the right tools, but it's a tough, risky job with a machinist vise or V blocks...The tapered barrel is hard to hold and get true and square. If the cut is not exact, the sight will be canted..I take a light zero cut of the ramp top to square it. My fixture squares and zeros off the frame, which lays flat during the cut.. the barrel is supported with adjustable standoffs and clamps. It also allows for indexing your pin hole without changing the set up. Go slow and "peck" the pin hole very frequently, or the small drill will leade off.

Good luck....
Jerry

Jerry

Thank you for that detailed explanation. That certainly helps me a lot. I think I understand your fixture design. Is there any chance you could send me a photo or brief sketch of the fixture to further clarify it for me?

Thank you
Roger

Roger;
I have 100s of photos of various processes, but I don't have a lot of luck using photobucket...can't quite figure it out...the old dog new trick thing, you know..Maybe I can send it to you thru a PM and you can post it.. It's not cheap to make, so it may not be practical for one or two jobs...Besides the patridge sight blades for Bullseye and PPC, I also install a lot of Jim Stroh's new S&W sights and it works great for that also..

i am guessing you have great machining skills, my friend, because your making me nervous and it isn't even my gun. best of luck a picture of the finish product would be nice.

Jerry

You can also send it by my email which is available through my profile. You are correct on the application, it is for PPC service class. I have 4 barrels that I would like to upgrade and plenty of time to work at it. I will also Google the Jim Stroh's sight to see what I can find out about that sight.

Here are a couple of pictures (which I hope posts without a goof up, as I am computer challenged) of the fixture and a 686 shortened to 3.5 inches with one of Jim Stroh's new S&W sights installed. The customer wanted 3 inches initially, but we decided that the cut would end up too close to the factory lettering and 3.5inches would compliment the proportional appearance.
These sights can be obtained from Jim at Alphaprecisioninc, or Brownells.

Jerry

Attached Images

	Jim Stroh's sights 013.jpg (72.3 KB, 293 views)
	Jim Stroh's sights 023.jpg (77.4 KB, 291 views)
	Jim Stroh's sights 007.jpg (79.3 KB, 290 views)

Jerry

Thank you for all your help with the photo's. The pictures of your fixture have helped me greatly. I will be making the fixture soon and will let you know how the project turns out.

Roger

Very nice shop and setup!!!!

i have done several sight changes from ramp to Partridge. its not as hard as you think. for sure its good to have the gun mounted sturdy ,but it can be done in a machine vice. make sure all is square first. i use a set of magnetic alm V jaws on the vice jaws and use copper /brass shims of equal thickness if the brl is tapered . dial indicate across the length of top strap for flat ..should be close, but more important is to have the sight perfect vertical. i use a little bubble level to start, again on top strap or top of rear sight blade. you can get very close with a good read on the bubble. start cutting off the front sight , take a few shallower end mill cuts till its very close to the sight base surface. look things over. double check square and level. you can then cut flush with base or surface. dial indicate on both side of the brl up and down with spindle to get the center set. put in a spot/ center drill and put a spot in a ways for a place to start with an undersize end mill . if blade is .125 wide , go under that with a bit smaller dia. run it in about the depth of the radius lug on the bottom of the sight. may need a two flute mill here unless you went deep enough with spot drill , then a 4 will work.
cut the slot as long as the lug is. here is where you want to make sure you figure out how you want the blade to look. flush with the end of the ramp or back a little..? the slot length can be a little over what you need so you can slide it back and forth to get your desired spot. you will need to measure the slot width and move the table y half of the amount left to take out of the slot. try the fit, still tight, then go back to zero/ center, and move the table that same half the other way and cut slot again. try fit. if still tight , take just tiny passes again on both side .001 or so till you can just about get it started. then you can tap it in and also tap where you want it to set before drilling your hole for the roll pin.
Roll pin is another set up 90 degrees from where you are. know the sights lug depth and make sure drill is up from the bottom of the radius so you get the whole drill diameter into the lug. if your have this all level , you can start with a small center drill and spot drill your point for the roll pin. then , peck in and out a little bit at a time till you get all the way through the base and sight lug . start and tap in a roll pin (1/16) to pass through both base and the hole in the sight. you may want to clamp the sight snug to the brl./base to make sure it stays seated at your desired spot before drilling. just my 2 cents on how i did it. Phil

Hello Hussygun;

Just to clearify, as I may have caused some confusion by posting the photos as I did. They represent the installation of Jim Stroh's custom sight..and not a factory patridge. I do not make the slot cut for a patridge sight with an endmill. The endmill in the photos is a centercutting 4 flute that I ground to .120 dia. for 6 x48 thread and to get perfectly flat bottom holes for maximum thread depth for the attachment screws.
Here are two photos of the same fixture being used to install the factory patridge.
Sorry for the mix up...

Attached Images

	Fixtures & 1911 Class 326.jpg (71.0 KB, 143 views)
	Fixtures & 1911 Class 327.jpg (43.3 KB, 133 views)

Jkeefer, no, i kind of understood what you were doing with the Stroh install. BTW you have a nice looking set up for doing gun work. i was going back to the original question by dtech99. was thinking he was asking about a procedure to cut off the ramp and install a partridge. i was more or less just telling him how i did it. i just have a mini mill and do what i can with what i have. thanks, Phil