Ruger 10/22 front sight change - easy way

[frigzy]

I noticed many people have troubles with the subject. The most problem, as it seems, is using a hammer and a punch. Thinking about it, I came up with a much easier and quicker way, which I called "3 nuts method" (I should patent it ).

The way it works is: you take 3 M3 nuts (or #6 nuts). I happened to have brass nuts on hands, but steel ones should work as well. Then you glue 2 nuts to the right side of the dovetail and 1 nut to the left side using CA glue (muzzle is pointed away from you). Wipe everything with alcohol before glueing. Then you put everything in a small bench vise and start slowly tightening it. The sight should smoothly come out of the dovetail. Don't worry about the glue residue - it's easy to scrape off. Rubbing alcohol will help in clean-up.

The new sight can be installed in a similar way, except you don't need the nuts. Just put everything into the vise. If it doesn't go all the way to the end, then you can use a nut as a shim to push the sight further. I had to sand-down the bottom of the new sight until I was able to push it 1/4 of the way in by hand.

Put soft jaws on your vise.

Altogether, it only took me 10 minutes and I didn't put a single scratch on anything.
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[frigzy]

Here is the new sight - beauty!
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[H8Mud]

Brass drift, hammer, blink. Done! But this works too

[Gat Man]

Very creative. Glad to see you didn’t Bubba up your front sight.

[Wordupmybrotha]

I can't seem to visualize how that works...

[DB>]

One vise jaw is pushing against two points on the barrel dovetail, other is pushing on the sight to push it out of the dovetail. Seems like an interesting approach, the couple front sights I've had to change out were NOT amusing...

[alpha_romeo_XV]

Does it matter which direction you push the front sight out in a factory 10/22 barrel? i.e. Is there any taper in the dovetail?

[foothillman]

OP, that is thinking !
This puts all the pressure on the area required and none to other areas.
When I do this will try double sided tape.
Going to look at other possible firearms to us this technique.

Thanks for sharing.

Will be a time saver.

[frigzy]

Does it matter which direction you push the front sight out in a factory 10/22 barrel? i.e. Is there any taper in the dovetail?

Yes - both front and rear dovetails have a slight taper.

[Ben R]

Nice idea.
For those who dont have a vise some types of hand held clamps would work too.
Also, You can remove the ca glue with acetone if you don’t want to scrape.

[RandyD]

Very clever. What kind of glue did you use? This is also an excellent method of adjusting windage.

[DanGunner]

About three days too late for me. I wound up cutting the old sight with a hacksaw to relieve internal pressure so that it could be punched out. I like your solution better and will use it next time

[frigzy]

Very clever. What kind of glue did you use? This is also an excellent method of adjusting windage.

I used "Bob Smith Industries BSI-157H Maxi Cure/Insta-Set Combo Pack (3 oz. Combined),Clear" purchased directly from J.Bezos It's a good all-around glue for carpentry and etc. I didn't use the activator for the front sight job.

[Wordupmybrotha]

One vise jaw is pushing against two points on the barrel dovetail, other is pushing on the sight to push it out of the dovetail. Seems like an interesting approach, the couple front sights I've had to change out were NOT amusing...

Ah, that makes sense

[Brown Rock]

Thank you, I needed this. Two years ago I was having trouble installing a front sight on my 10/22. I gave up and haven’t touched the rifle since. I will be trying this when I get back to the states.