Ruger SA sight options are driving me NUTS!!!

[Jim March]

OK, here's the deal. I love SA wheelguns. I don't know why, but I seem to be better suited to the breed than any other type. I've got a Single Six .22Mag/.22LR and a couple of minirevolvers.

I also like good sights. With a bit of white and bright orange paint I was able to make the Ruger's setup work very well.

Except for one little detail. In fast strings, my thumb hangs up on that DAMNED rear sight.

What the hell were they thinking? Why didn't they move the sucker forward out of the way?

Sure, the Vaquero solves the problem - with a piece of crap sight.

I WANT BOTH. I want a good sight, further forward out of the way of fast hammer-grabbing. Ruger *used* to understand this, they used to do flat-tops with a dovetail and sight right in the middle.

Which gunsmiths can do up something like that? It would take a major fill-in of metal on a Blackhawk followed by cutting a dovetail around mid-top-strap for something like a 1911 (or Glock or whatever) rear sight, mounted at the right height for a Blackhawk front sight. Ashley and I think Metropro makes a Tritium Blackhawk front sight, that would do fine. With a standard dovetail, I'd run an Ashley Express-type non-Tritium rear.

There may be another way to skin that cat:

I've got half a mind to take the rear sight completely out, and then take an ounce of silver and "peen" it into the resulting channel, smoothing the rear out and forming a "peak" at the front. Then at the range, carve a nice shallow "V" with the appropriate type of file. Once the "V" is correct, drill two dots and fill with black paint.

But the better option would be a real gunsmith who's figured out what Bill hasn't, or has forgotten.

Jim

 

[mikey357]

Jim Stroh at Alpha Precision in GA does "Flat-topping" of newer Ruger SA's...not cheap, but EXCELLENT craftsmanship!!! He's got a website...don't recall it...but you can find it thru the American Pistolsmith's Guild [APG] site....Good Luck!!!....mikey357

 

[Jim March]

Jim's site is at http://www.alphaprecisioninc.com - but here's a pic of his "flattop" conversion with a Bowen adjustable rear sight:

Sorry, this isn't the answer. It's cosmetically excellent, I'm sure it's a good rear sight - but overall this is OK for hunting and plinking.

But you can't do fast follow-up work without risking hanging up on that sight.

Wrong answer. Anybody know a better plan?

Jim

 

[fubsy]

Other than find the ole flattop I dont know if you will have exactly what you want.......would modifiying the hammer help any? Perhaps elongate the ear, maybe move it to the side, perhaps install a bisley type of hammer?......You might just ask your gunsmith what he could do for ya....fubsy.

 

[Jim March]

To me, this is akin to making the trigger-guard too small. Not quite, but close. It's just...*wrong*...terrible ergos, at least for my hands.

One possibility is to remove the stock sight, spray it with WD40 or some other oil, then form the entire structure of what you need in putty epoxy. The oil will allow it to pop completely out in one piece, and it can then be used to create a mold. A local industrial plastics house (TAP Plastics) has all kinds of mold-making materials and kits but I don't know if the resulting epoxy molds could handle molten silver without distorting. Probably have to do an actual metallic mold, and that would take study .

Jim

 

[fubsy]

ah yes the joys of ingenuity...lol.....I spent a good portion of the morning cruzing the sixgun sites after your post this morning...lol...havent been their in a while......I dont see where it would be that hard to machine a sight or sight base that would fit in the channel vacated by the stock sight....it should allow you to place the sight you want were you want it.......and use the existing sight holes and channel to secure it to the pistol.....it could make a nice conversion....fubsy.

 

[Jim March]

Two problems:

1) When you pull out the factory Blackhawk/SingleSix rear sight, you get this enormous gap that's got to be filled in somehow before you can even think about a dovetail.

2) The rear of the topstrap is sculpted to have a place to put the stock sight. Pull that sight and it not only looks like some sort of jagged staircase, it causes roughness in the cocking stroke as your thumb bounces it's way down that mess. So there's a lot of fill-in and smoothing required.

I *think* it's possible to get there in both areas purely by "adding metal". That's why filling it in with a peened cold-worked soft metal like silver occurs.

Jim

 

[mikey357]

Jim, I still think Jim Stroh could do what you want...the only way to know for sure is to contact him and ask....mikey357

 

[fubsy]

What I was suggesting was to use that gap were the sight comes out of, a trench if you will as the "notch" for a piece that can hold your choice of sight base, which would allow the sight were you want it......I think we are saying the same thing...just going about it differently....the area your filling in with soft metal, is the area I would fill in by contouring a new base for my choice of site utilizing the initial trench and the screw base to hold that "new rear sight base" in place...best of luck to ya.....fubsy.

 

[Dave R]

Jim, I may be stating the obvious, but this is a good reason to buy a new gun, with the good ol' notched top strap, like the Cowboy colts. I shot my first one at the range the other night. Shot perfectly to POA. May have been "touched up", because the owner was a serious Cowboy Action player. But still, you can "touch up" a fixed sight.

The rear on those is as smooth as can be. Nothing to catch your thumb (or holster).

I guess that's what you're trying to reverse-engineer by filling in your dovetail and filing out a notch. But you'll probably be better served in the long run by a new revolver.

 

[slabsides]

I think you could solve your problem more readily by replacing the standard hammer with one for the Super Blackhawk.