This journey began almost a year ago when I was competing in the Blue Grass State Games and was offered the use of an Anschutz Match Rifle to level the playing field between myself and a friendly wager I had going with a fellow instructor. I absolutely fell in love with the sights on that rifle. Oh the rifle was nice, but I already had a tack driver at home. Now my girl is just an old Marlin 25N but she is amazing when I do my part. All I needed were some match style sights for her.
The problem with match style sights is that the rails are usually in a metric European style dovetail and my plain jane sure didn’t match up with them. So what to do? What any other INGO member would do, that needs something custom built, call Allen at Diamond Collision.
I handed Allen a rifle and a set of sights and asked him to figure out a way to mount them. A gentleman named Deene is a friend of Allen’s and works with him on gunsmith projects. Deene took the lead on this project and it turned out amazing. Below are a series of pictures of the progress and how they took a hunk of aluminum and turned it into a custom rail for my girl.
They start out by cutting a dovetail into an aluminum block and fit it to the receiver.
Putting the dovetail on top and rough fit it.
A problem arose at this point. I needed to be with the rifle to custom fit it to my length of pull and head placement. The problem is I live almost two hours from Diamond Collision. We tried measuring off other rifles but Allen, Deene and I, all felt it was important for me to get my hands on the rifle and set the sights where I need them instead of making an educated guess.
I was ready to head to Indy when I remembered that 308Jake and Brown, who live near Diamond Collision, were coming to a Revere’s Rider’s event in Bedford that I was working the next day. Brown gave her a ride down and 308Jake took her back. Thanks fellas for your help.
Below you can see the blue makers where we placed the rail and sight, marking them in case there would be any bumps or movement during transportation that would change where I set them. I do need to thank Unbridled Liberty, who has this type of sights on his match rifle, for his guidance on how to place them.
This is what she looked like after they removed the extra material, cutting out the ejection port and bolt area. Now it’s really beginning to take shape.
The sights needed to be as low as possible and they lowered the rail as much as they could without ruining the integrity and strength of the rail.
Next mounting the front globe sight. Again a hunk of aluminum was milled into a custom fit sight block.
Deene worked his magic and just look at the results.
Here is the finished product. All dolled up and finished. Isn’t she just beautiful!
Look at the precise machining done to create the clearance for the bolt handle.
Here are a few more close-ups.
This rifle was always a great shooter and I am generally a 2 MOA shooter using only a sling for support. This set up was shooting 1 MOA groups this evening as I zeroed her in. These sights have a learning curve and I need a smaller front insert as this one was too large for the distance and target size I was shooting. I’m convinced after a little bit of time with her and finding her favorite ammo she can be a 1/2 MOA rifle if I do my part.
I have no way of thanking Deene and Allen for figuring out how to get these sights to work on my rifle. Not only did they make it work, they made it look professional. If you need custom work done or any type of gunsmith work done, don’t hesitate to call Allen and Deene at Diamond Collision. I can’t say enough good things about my experience with them and I shouldn’t have to. The pictures of their work above speaks volumes. My girl looks Beautiful.
The problem with match style sights is that the rails are usually in a metric European style dovetail and my plain jane sure didn’t match up with them. So what to do? What any other INGO member would do, that needs something custom built, call Allen at Diamond Collision.
I handed Allen a rifle and a set of sights and asked him to figure out a way to mount them. A gentleman named Deene is a friend of Allen’s and works with him on gunsmith projects. Deene took the lead on this project and it turned out amazing. Below are a series of pictures of the progress and how they took a hunk of aluminum and turned it into a custom rail for my girl.
They start out by cutting a dovetail into an aluminum block and fit it to the receiver.
Putting the dovetail on top and rough fit it.
A problem arose at this point. I needed to be with the rifle to custom fit it to my length of pull and head placement. The problem is I live almost two hours from Diamond Collision. We tried measuring off other rifles but Allen, Deene and I, all felt it was important for me to get my hands on the rifle and set the sights where I need them instead of making an educated guess.
I was ready to head to Indy when I remembered that 308Jake and Brown, who live near Diamond Collision, were coming to a Revere’s Rider’s event in Bedford that I was working the next day. Brown gave her a ride down and 308Jake took her back. Thanks fellas for your help.
Below you can see the blue makers where we placed the rail and sight, marking them in case there would be any bumps or movement during transportation that would change where I set them. I do need to thank Unbridled Liberty, who has this type of sights on his match rifle, for his guidance on how to place them.
This is what she looked like after they removed the extra material, cutting out the ejection port and bolt area. Now it’s really beginning to take shape.
The sights needed to be as low as possible and they lowered the rail as much as they could without ruining the integrity and strength of the rail.
Next mounting the front globe sight. Again a hunk of aluminum was milled into a custom fit sight block.
Deene worked his magic and just look at the results.
Here is the finished product. All dolled up and finished. Isn’t she just beautiful!
Look at the precise machining done to create the clearance for the bolt handle.
Here are a few more close-ups.
This rifle was always a great shooter and I am generally a 2 MOA shooter using only a sling for support. This set up was shooting 1 MOA groups this evening as I zeroed her in. These sights have a learning curve and I need a smaller front insert as this one was too large for the distance and target size I was shooting. I’m convinced after a little bit of time with her and finding her favorite ammo she can be a 1/2 MOA rifle if I do my part.
I have no way of thanking Deene and Allen for figuring out how to get these sights to work on my rifle. Not only did they make it work, they made it look professional. If you need custom work done or any type of gunsmith work done, don’t hesitate to call Allen and Deene at Diamond Collision. I can’t say enough good things about my experience with them and I shouldn’t have to. The pictures of their work above speaks volumes. My girl looks Beautiful.