I picked up this cute little 1849(?) 31 cal revolver from a buddy awhile back. It has a .32 S&W conversion cylinder with it and that is the only way I plan on shooting it. Took it out a couple of times and found a decent hand load. the bad part is that it’s hitting a whole target high! It’s not going to be a target gun by any means, but if I do carry it out in the field, I would like for it to hit close to point of aim, especially since anything I’d be shooting it at, would probably be pretty small! So, I did the math and I think the front sight needed to be about 1/4” taller than the factory tiny brass cone. I found a Marbles rifle front sight in the parts box that looked like it should work. Pulled the barrel off of the pistol and locked it up in the vice with lead jaws. Did some measuring and marking. Initial cut was just under .300” wide and about .100” deep. Cut that slot out with a jewelers saw and started filing it. Got it pretty much to depth and then started the dovetail sides with a triangle file with a ground safe side on it. Doing this on an octagon barrel makes it a little easier because you can eyeball flatness and straightness much easier than on a round barrel. Lots of filing and checking and was able to get a good, tight fit. I also depend and widened the notch in the hammer (rear sight) and the bead fits in there great. The dovetail needs cleaned up a bit and I’ll cold blue it under the sight. Also the front sight will need narrowEd up to look better. The tip of the hammer has a good bit of material, which is probably useful for a cap lock, but not needed for a center fire cartridge gun, so I can file it down a bit more if need be. I also have some silver wire roughl 1/16” diameter so I can solder that on the top of blade if I end up filing the bead off of this new sight. In all it took about 90 minutes to do the work. Since I have no milk available it’s good to be able to do things like this myself. I can’t say I’d do it to a thousand dollar Smith revolver, but for a cheap little plinker like this, I’ll risk it!
