Taller sights for Kibler smr

[Cody B]

Im looking for taller sights for my smr. I’ve found a rear sight that will work but not a front sight. The front sight measures .395 all that I’ve found measure .375 or.380. Kibler doesn’t sell them and I’ve checked with Track and MBS.

[smylee grouch]

They are pretty easy to make if you can't find one.

[Mike Brooks]

Marbles sells them

[Cody B]

Yea I’m having a hard time shooting with the sights that come on the gun. After the barrel heats up everything’s a blur. I came to this sight asking a legit question I would like to have a legit answer if someone would happen to know where I could find a taller sight that would work. And Im not a gun builder and don’t know where to start on making my own.

[smylee grouch]

Track of the Wolf , Log Cabin shop, Muzzleloaders Builders Supply all come to mind. Get a front sight blank and shoot groups then file.

[Cody B]

Thanks Smyle. I checked with all those shops. The problem I’m having is the base of the sight on the Kibler measures .395. Everything I’ve found measures .375-.380. Track did have one that was way oversized in the base and blade height and  thickness. I guess I can make that work if I have to but was hoping to find something closer to the size I need. Or if I knew where to start I would try making my own.

[WVrazd]

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/880/1/RS-FG-14-T

This is what I bought and filed to fit along with a tall blade for the front

[Cody B]

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/880/1/RS-FG-14-T

This is what I bought and filed to fit along with a tall blade for the front

That’s the rear sight I was planning on using. Where did you get a front sight that works. Like I mentioned the Kibler sight has a.395 dovetail

[smallpatch]

These are from TOTW.

[Leatherbark]

I've used the sights in the image above before to replace .375 sights.  They will need filed to fit, but they'll fit. A tall Ted Cash silver front sight with a copper base can probably be flattened to be swaged loner with a solid punch on an anvil and refiled to fit.

I shot a Kibler SMR in .45 caliber at Friendship and at local matches for 4 years. The mirage can be mitigated somewhat by pacing your shots. During a 30-minute relay I had plenty of time to let the barrel cool down a little. Just requires patience.

The low sights seem better for hitting small targets out to 25 yards or so. The shooters back then new this, but they didn't shoot enough to heat up their rifle barrels unless someone was after their hair.

 Once you put the taller sights on it'll cure most of the mirage/shimmering, but you'll have to refigure how to hit that little marshmallow on a toothpick set out at 15 yards in a woods walk.

Those sights in the pictures above are .125 inch thick dovetail .465 inch in length.  Remember your SMR has shallow dovetails of maybe around .062 inch in depth. If you take off from the bottom of the new sight it'll shorten the dovetail also.

One other thing is that 2f doesn't seem to heat up the barrel nearly as much as the 3f powder.


 Good Luck................Bob

[Kevin Houlihan]

 Cody,
  I feel your pain.  I had the same problem.  I was lucky in that a member on another forum had a sight that was .385" wide.  I have no idea where he got the sight - it was laying in his parts drawer.
  The problem with the oversize sight pictured is that although the dovetail measures .465", it's also .125" thick.  The dovetail depth on Kibler's SMR is .050".  By the time you reduce the thickness of the base by .075", the base width may be too small for the .390" dovetail width. For $10, I'd get the sight and see if you could make it work.  Take the oversize sight and rub it back and forth on a piece of sandpaper on a flat surface.  Keep measuring the width of the base until you get close and then try fitting it a little at a time.
Good luck,
 Kevin

[Cody B]

Thanks for the reply’s. The oversized sight Smallpatch posted was the sight i mentioned that may work after working it down. I’d also thought about the harpers ferry sight Track has with a.380 dovetail, if the base could be penned to fit. Just wasn’t sure how it would fit or what it would look like. I also agree that the sights that come on the gun are good for small targets and silhouettes. I’ve split playing cards and fairly consistently hit targets not much bigger than clay pigeons out to 90 yards, but when I go to shoot those black bulls it’s tough to focus.

[Bigmon]

HAve a jeweler or some one that can solder add height to the front sight?  Would that work?  Make "your" sight higher to match your back sight, since your front sight already fits?

[Scota4570]

I measured a Kibler supplied front sight.  The base is 0.046" thick.  Front to back the dovetail is 0.386".  The blade is 0.175" tall as made.   

A sight I made to fit the Kibler dovetail is 0.048 thick and the front to back is 0.402". 

If you do not have the blade touch the barrel, it looks bad to my eye, so the 0.046" is important. 

I like a thicker and taller blade too.  I also make a new rear sight to match the new front. 

[stikshooter]

Yea I’m having a hard time shooting with the sights that come on the gun. After the barrel heats up everything’s a blur. I came to this sight asking a legit question I would like to have a legit answer if someone would happen to know where I could find a taller sight that would work. And Im not a gun builder and don’t know where to start on making my own.

Hold the search for the front ,I just got a peep from Tom a Hawk on the muzzle loader site . Goes on the tang and I can see everything thru his peep . Squirrels are migrating when they saw the post truck pull up . This brings new meaning to see what you've been missing!!!!!!!!!!!!!/Ed