Model 52 sights

[gmborkovic]

Hey BC38, lets rear back in the old rocking chair and contemplate just what you got for $700. 3 factory mags! and a M-52. Nice snag. Dont rush to
buy another slide. It may require a lot of fitting, and why would just the slide be available for sale? Be happy with the gun and put some sights on it. And shoot the poop out of it. And giggle. Mike

 

[BC38]

Hey BC38, lets rear back in the old rocking chair and contemplate just what you got for $700. 3 factory mags! and a M-52. Nice snag. Dont rush to
buy another slide. It may require a lot of fitting, and why would just the slide be available for sale? Be happy with the gun and put some sights on it. And shoot the poop out of it. And giggle. Mike

That's the direction I'm headed for now.
Once I have a set of iron sights on it I intend to modify the rail to accommodate them so I still have the option to install the rail and optic. Best of both worlds IMO.

 

[gmborkovic]

BC, shake hands with your new project. Have fun.

 

[Sevens]

My vote of these two is the BuckMark sight for two reasons. First reason is that I find it more aesthetically pleasing. Second and bigger reason is that it is a better target sight.

I look at the two you have shown as the difference in a Model 14 and Model 15. Baughman ramp is excellent for a duty gun that comes out of a holster, possibly in an urgent fashion, and put in to action. That's the Model 15. But a real target sight is the front of a Model 14. A Patridge that gives a more defined sight picture and reduces glare. That sight can shread a hoslter or draw blood if it drags skin. But it offers a fantastic precision sight picture.

I vote against any/all modifications that attempt to make it look anything like the original sight. Fact is, it will never be original, so focus on making it work and work well and looking decent. But any attempt to try to make it look like it is original is a waste of effort. Heck, the rear sight should be an upgrade and it will never look original.

I agree with Mike that a whole new slide or new upper is chasing the wrong goal and likely at silly expense. I think this will be great when you get decent irons on it.

 

[BC38]

My vote of these two is the BuckMark sight for two reasons. First reason is that I find it more aesthetically pleasing. Second and bigger reason is that it is a better target sight.

I look at the two you have shown as the difference in a Model 14 and Model 15. Baughman ramp is excellent for a duty gun that comes out of a holster, possibly in an urgent fashion, and put in to action. That's the Model 15. But a real target sight is the front of a Model 14. A Patridge that gives a more defined sight picture and reduces glare. That sight can shread a hoslter or draw blood if it drags skin. But it offers a fantastic precision sight picture.

I vote against any/all modifications that attempt to make it look anything like the original sight. Fact is, it will never be original, so focus on making it work and work well and looking decent. But any attempt to try to make it look like it is original is a waste of effort. Heck, the rear sight should be an upgrade and it will never look original.

I agree with Mike that a whole new slide or new upper is chasing the wrong goal and likely at silly expense. I think this will be great when you get decent irons on it.

Good points and suggestions Sevens.

With that in mind, I might even consider something like this

 

[CALREB]

Before you order anything take a look at Dawson Precision, they make sights for the buckmark and have height, width, fiber optic or patridge choices. They have a model that has a shorter ramp. Their sights have very sharp well defined edges, I really like them. They also have returns ( as long as you havent marked up the sight) so you could get a couple, set them on your slide and decide which you liked, then send the others back.

 

[Sevens]

Hahaha, I hate the fiber optic sights, but I certainly understand that some love them.

 

[BC38]

Before you order anything take a look at Dawson Precision, they make sights for the buckmark and have height, width, fiber optic or patridge choices. They have a model that has a shorter ramp. Their sights have very sharp well defined edges, I really like them. They also have returns ( as long as you havent marked up the sight) so you could get a couple, set them on your slide and decide which you liked, then send the others back.

THANKS! I looked at their site and found one with a short ram and shorter ramp than the one I was looking at on Midway's site. Looks like it would really work great. Here is a pic of the one I like best
the

 

[Rick H.]

I think I made the comment earlier about looking into Dawson sights being a place to investigate. I have been very happy with their products and you may want to contact them and see if they can help you come up with an out of the box solution here. Don't discount fiber optic front sights either. I have a couple and they work quite well, but they have to be the right size for me. Keep us tuned in on your progress.

Rick H.

 

[BC38]

I think I made the comment earlier about looking into Dawson sights being a place to investigate. I have been very happy with their products and you may want to contact them and see if they can help you come up with an out of the box solution here. Don't discount fiber optic front sights either. I have a couple and they work quite well, but they have to be the right size for me. Keep us tuned in on your progress.

Rick H.

By golly you did mention Dawson really early in the thread.
Credit where credit is due.
I'll contact them and see if they have any better suggestions than the one I've already found.
I'll let you guys know what I find out and I'll definitely update the thread as I go along.
Thanks to all for the help!

 

[AJ]

Welp, I went and picked it up today.

First thing I did when I got it home was put a couple of batteries in the vintage Aimpoint. It worked like a new one.

Next thing I did was to remove the Aimpoint and the Picatinny rail to see what was under it. That was a much bigger job than it sounds. Taking the Aimpoint off was easy enough. Just 2 screws that loosened up pretty easily. However, the 3 screws that held the Picatinny Rail on the slide were a different story all together.

The original owner who put the optics on this pistol obviously NEVER intended for them to be taken off. The screws were liberally glued in place with RED Loctite. LOTS of it. You can even see some traces of the excess on the top surface of the slide.

It took heating both the rail and the slide with a butane torch to soften up the Loctite enough to get the screws out - especially the center one. I darn near stripped it out before I finally got it loose.

Of course I was hoping against hope that the front sight would still be there fitted into a slot cut in the underside of the rail. Alas, it was not to be. Once I got all the screws out and removed the rail I found exactly what I expected underneath. The front site is gone, machined off the slide.

A pity that someone chose to do something so irreversible to such a classic gun that is otherwise in such incredible shape. It's obvious that the owner decided to make the gun into what he wanted with no intention of ever letting it go. Since it came from an estate sale I guess it is pretty safe to say that he followed through on that intention.

So, now I'm on the hunt for a new slide. Though I also intend to silver solder a front sight on this one and install the Bomar rear sight that Sevens was gracious enough to sell me.

Below are a few photos of the slide with the rail removed.

Have seen worse. Some folks seem to leave their brains at the door when doing things, especially shade tree gunsmiths!

 

[BC38]

Its been a while but I thought I should give an update on the old M52-2 project I bought.

I got the Dawson front sight, and the BowMar rear sight and put them both on. I think with a little shaping to more closely match the profile of the original front sight and adjust the POI and this one will look pretty good! Not original (obviously) but still pretty good.

I'm also going to shorten & modify the original Picatinny rail to fit between the two sights (maybe straddle part of the front sight base) so I still have the option to put it and the red dot back on anytime I want.

 

[Rick H.]

BC38: Thanks for the update on your "project" M-52. It's one of my pet peeves when someone has a problem and is given suggestions and then doesn't tell what the end result is. Man that bugs me! Anyway, I think with what you had to work with, the end result looks pretty darn good actually. Kind of reminds me of some early mods guys used to do with their pistols back in the day. If it were me I would leave it be for now and take it out and shoot it and see how it works for you. My first inclination is to shape the front sight a bit, but perhaps not if it works for you. Tinkering can create problems where none exist. Great job on repairing your pistol. Hopefully the sight will stay in place.

Rick H.

 

[larryofcc]

Have seen worse. Some folks seem to leave their brains at the door when doing things, especially shade tree gunsmiths!

OH THE HUMANITY !!! Big Larry

 

[CALREB]

Reminds me of an old school Nat Match 1911. Nice

 

[BC38]

Finished Product

Seeing another post about a M52 reminded me I never came back to this thread to show how mine turned out.

I bought the BoMar sight from Kp321 for the rear, and I reshaped the front sight and then cold-blued it.

Overall I think it turned out pretty good. I haven't shot it yet, but I have used a laser bore-sighter to check the alignment of the new sights.

They seem to line up quite well and taking almost 1/16" off the top left me with lots of adjustment available - both up AND down - to make certain POA & POI can be lined up...

 

[BC38]

A few more....