mauser front sight hood

[sprinter661]

i picked up a mauser m48 which was missing a hood over the front sight. i then purchased one online, but couldn't put it on. the opening on the hood is just too small and i tried filing down but didn't work. is there a simple way to do this? called the local gun smith and he wanted $35 to install, is that a good price? thanks

[Rogerbutthead]

http://www.gunsofthereich.com/?page_id=8

A real pain in the *** to install the first time. Get the right tool first.

[6mmintl]

Long nose needle pliers placed inside bottom of hood, pull apart plier handles widening the hood and have a friend help holding rifle and guiding hood unto dovetail.

[kouye]

Some quality snap ring pliers make it relatively easy. I bought a pair from Sears for snap rings but have used them a lot more for spreading things like the hood and also for removing some cross bolts from surplus rifles as they have the nut with 2 holes in it.

The advantage of snap ring pliers over normal pliers is ease of use. You squeeze the handle to spread the jaws so you only need one hand for that and one to hold the rifle steady.

Mine is like this and I'd recommend them:

http://www.sears.com/craftsman-professional-retaining-ring-pliers-internal-external/p-00947412000P?prdNo=1&blockNo=1&blockType=G1

And no, $35 is ridiculous. Hopefully he thought you meant the whole front sight. Snap ring pliers are cheaper.

[rsmorgan]

Simply put, you need the right tools. A vise and good snap ring pliers will do the job, but I have to believe that the Germans, etc. had a better way to do it. However, I've never found a description of how the factory did the job.

A side note: Not all K98s had front sight hoods. These were introduced in 1940 but some front sight bases that did not take the hood seem to have been installed on new rifles well into 1941.

[sprinter661]

thanks for the help.