10/22 front sight removal

[rocketsci]

I'm trying to drift out the front sight of my wife's 10/22 (and believe me, it's ~her~ rifle...) and replace it with a tech sight we just bought for it.

Problem is, it does not want to move, at all. Suggestions? Should I try some lubricant on it? Break down and order a front sight adjustment/removal tool?

Thank you!

[dotfortune]

A few tips from my own experience trying to drift out the stubborn front sight on my 10/22.

- make sure you're drifiting out the sight base from Left to Right. The dovetails have a bit of a taper on them, so if you're trying to tap it out Right to Left, you're actually tightening it. Ask me how I learned this one.

- a squirt of CLP on the dovetail, then waiting a bit to let it soak in can only help. It's not gonna hurt the sight's plastic, and it certainly won't hurt the barrel. Squirt away.

- use a bigger hammer

- use a vice

- assuming you're using a brass punch or the like to tap it out, try to aim it as low on the base as possible without marring your barrel. You may have to vary your point of impact to get the best results, depending where in the dovetail the sight is experiencing the most friction, but typically, the lower, the better.

Hope this helps, and good luck!

[ditchdigger]

Put a towel around the barrel in the front sight area.

Put the front sight area of the barrel in a bench vise.

Make sure the other end of the barrel is supported.

Use a punch and give the base of the sight a fast hard rap with a hammer.

[Brandon04GT]

Here's a better idea:

Use a Dremel with a cut-off wheel and grind a slit down the center of the sight. Then, it should tap out fairly easily. Make sure you are drifting them out from the correct direction also.

[G-forceJunkie]

Big hammer, solid punch, barrel mounted solidly.

[Bastard]

get a bigger hammer - penetrating oil - heat

[rocketsci]

Vise-check
Punch-check
Punching from left to right-check

Looks like I need some penetrating oil, maybe a better way to mount the barrel in the vise. I used an old t-shirt, and then some wood shims to protect the barrel from the vise, but the barrel still was rotating when I hit the punch with the hammer.

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I'll keep working on it.

[Moemoe1]

I broke mine when I tried to get it off. Epic fail!

[Intimid8tor]

I had to cut mine out.

[purer00r]

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[2meterB]

I put PB-Blaster on it, then tapped it out 30 minutes later.

[teg33]

Use WD40, soak it overnight.

[Garand1911]

Kroil would be better than wd40.

maybe heat the sight to loosen it, chilling it in the freezer might help to contract it.
Ill be doing the same thing soon :0

[Gem1950]

Kroil would be better than wd40.

maybe heat the sight to loosen it, chilling it in the freezer might help to contract it.
Ill be doing the same thing soon :0

^ ^ ^ +1

[Fishslayer]

Mine was a bear. Definitely needed a solid mount in the vise.