I had mistakenly posted this in the gunbuilding section yesterday so I am hoping some of you gurus may be able to guide me to some information. In an old ALR thread, Gary Brumfield made mention of some VA rifles having the front sight inlaid into the barrel without a dovetail base. Does anyone have any further information on VA rifles with that trait? Information of particular rifles, locations, time periods, etc?
Thanks
Quote from Gary........
"Cut a slot in the barrel using the same small chisel you would use for slotting a trigger plate or barrel loop. Pick a chisel that is the same width as the thickness of the silver you plan to use. Mine is the same graver I use for cutting a bright cut border in engraving and is sharpened almost like a cold chisel but with the bottom side slightly curved.
Cut the groove in the barrel about a 1/16" deep --removing the steel except at the extreme ends where the chisel is allowed to swage up a curl. If you were to section the slot at this point it would actually look like a dovetail slot with the ends about 1/16th beyond the rolled up curl.
Cut out the silver with a slight concave arch to the bottom. Adjust the length until it just drops in the slot. When it bottoms out, tapping it lightly in the middle will bend (straighten) out the arch and extend the silver under the overhanging steel. Use a polished rectangular punch to set the steel down against the silver and also tap it along the sides of the sight so the slight bit of echo turned up by the graver is pressed down and helps trap the silver.
This method of installing front sight was very popular in some schools of riflemaking in VA.
Gary"
