How do I cut a dovetail for a sight?

[RightWinger]

I have a 686-4 2 inch and I installed the C&S fixed rear sight and its not shooting POI, so I want to mill off the RR sight and cut a dovetail and install a tritium front sight that can be adjusted for windage. I have no idea how to do this or if it can be done with a series of files or if I would have to have a mill to perform this work. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[ken158]

You will have to use a mill to get that job done. Centered, straight, undercut dovetail = $$$ job.

 

[john traveler]

The best, and the easiest way to do it is to use a milling machine with the special size dovetail cutter needed. Preferably done by a gunsmith with lots of experience installing custom-fit sights.

It's also possible to hand file the dovetail, but you need the skills of a master-class tool and die maker to accomplish this.

 

[Bruce51]

Oh yes, it can be done!

It is possible to handcut a dove tail for a sight. You must have basic mechanical skills the proper files and lots of patience.
After all it is just removing metal until the desired cut is achieved.
For a 1911 sight I made a jig from wood to hold the slide. I measured the width of the cut and applied masking tape as a guide.
I started with an 8" bastard cut file to start the metal removal until I was close to the proper depth. Then a dovetail file was used to open up the width for the sight.

That is a brief description of the process for installing a front sight on a 1911 but would be the same for any gun more or less. You can't measure too much or too often. You cut must be keep square at all times.

Don't let anyone tell you it can't be done without machinery. Most early guns were all handmade. And then there's some pyramids in Egypt which prove humans can do anything they have a mind to do.

Bruce

 

[john traveler]

Bruce,

Not to question your abilities or accomplishment, but cutting and fitting a dovetail sight to a 2" barrel revolver is a whole different animal!

Holding your .49 Government Model slide is a whole lot easier than trying to properly hold a 2" revolver barrel. Indexing and referencing the sight and squareness to the M1911 slide is a whole lot easier than on a 2" revolver barrel. Filing that dovetail to it's bottom and keeping it square to make the front sight stand perfectly vertical is a whole different (and much more difficult) task than working on an M1911 slide.

I maintain that using a properly setup milling machine is the PROPER way to do this job. For every sight job attempted on a snubnose revolver, I can probably point you to 98 or 99 others that were hopelessly fugged up and required a new barrel or an oversize dovetail cut to repair.

 

[Bruce51]

Hi John. It would be best to have the dovetailed milled. He asked if it could be done with files. That is why I posted my answer. I'm sure that I could do such an installation. It's all about proper tools and preparation.
Hand tools will suffice for those who can use them properly. Our poster may not be sufficiently skilled to perform the required tasks.

It could be done. Most wanna be gunsmiths should not try it themselves.

There is a great sense of accomplishment when you find that you can actually do it yourself. Just be sure that if you do messup it is not someone else's gun.

Bruce

 

[john traveler]

Hi Bruce.

Glad that we can agree that this sight installation should not be tackled by the average gun tinkerer. Any time that someone asks "how" or "what to use" to do so-and-so gun modification, the answer is almost always it's best to give the job to a professional that is equipped and experienced to do the job.

Do you remember the magazine article many years ago in The American Rifleman about the Canadian north woods guy that hand cut, hand filed, hand chambered, and hand made a revolver while living in the wild? It was an amazing contraption completely hand-made from scraps of steel and iron and chambered for various .30 caliber cartridges: .30-30, .303, .30-06 in ONE cylinder. He apparently wanted to fire ammunition he happened to have or could get easily. I was amazed by his ingenuity and resourcefullness. And yes, it does prove your point that a dedicated, motivated individual can do marvelous things using only basic hand tools.

 

[500 Magnum Nut]

If I would do the job, I'd know the angle dovetail I want to cut, have a sharp dovetail cutter in my hand and visit the milling machine.

Touch down how deep I want to go and engage the feed.

 

[Spotteddog]

If you've not done 3 or 4 previously. Or recently begun a residency in vascular surgery, I think I'd likely pay some uber talented Rabbi/machinist/gunsmith/diamond cutter to do this particular circumcision?
(And that's from someone that has a mill and knows how to use it!)

 

[RightWinger]

Thanks for the input. I guess since I was able to bob my hammer and it turned out great I was wanting to move on to bigger and better things and attempt to cut a dovetail...ha ha. I plan on buying a cheaper bench mill, and would be interested in learning the set up process required to perform this kinda work.

 

[roadking6152]

ANYONE KNOW THE PART NUMBER FOR A S&W 642 POWER PORT TRITIUM FRONT SIGHT