Making a PA Rear sight

[ken]

Does anyone have any experience making a PA rear sight using just a hammer, anvil, and forge? I don't have a mill, just hand tools. Are there any tutorages? I am looking to do it the old way and obtain that look. Any help, pictures, or drawings would be greatly appreciated.

[Long John]

Ken,

I don't have a mill either but I make all of my sights from mild steel hot-rolled bar stock that I buy at the local hardware store.

I start by heating the steel up to red hot in a MAPP-gas torch and then bend about 1/2 inch over the edge of the anvil to an angle of about 45 degrees.  Then with hand files I shape the bent part into the angled up-right part of the sight and the long part into the base.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow night for you.

Best Regards,

JMC

[Dave B]

I have quite a few just cold forging a section of half inch cold rolled square stock you can pick up at the hardware store. No heat needed to make a standard PA rifle sight.  You start my beating down the squar stock to about three eights thick for the first 5/8th  inch. This will become the wings of the sight that over hang the top flat. Use your hack saw to cut out the bits that shouldnt be there then cut off the blank once you have filed all the details you want using the long section as a way to clamp the sight in your vice. Herschel house shows this technique in the American Pioneer video Building a Kentucky rifle. You can rent the video from the technical video people off the web.

[smylee grouch]

Recreating The American Longrifle by Buchele-Shumway-Alexander has some info you might find usefull on making rear sights.    Gary

[jwh1947]

By PA You apparently mean Pennsylvania.  As one who has been called Freudian anal already on the site, allow me to point out that there are distinctly different Pennsylvania sights.  For instance, a regularly found Lancaster variation has a larger base forward of the notch than, say, a Lehigh, the latter being tiny by comparison and distinctly different in contour.  Also, a quick look at some originals will suggest that the front sights put on most contemporaries are way too large. Hope this helps.  Wayne 

[ken]

I wil haye to look at a few orignals and narrow down tto a school. I quess ther is no ginairic wayor style Back to hammer and steel , add a file or two.                            thanks ,KEN

[Acer Saccharum]

I imagine you'd pretty much make a blob on the forge, then file it out.

If you were to make a lot of sights, you could consider making a forming die to hammer the raw iron into. You still will have to use the files.

Tom

[rich pierce]

I would forge a step on a piece of bar stock, using the edge of the anvil.  Then I would hot punch the scoop or dished area where the sighting notch will be cut using a round-nosed punch while holding the red-hot bar stock in the foot vise.  Then I would cut the sight blank off and repeat those steps till I had a pile of sight blanks.