Best way to put on a front site

What is the best way to put my front site on my Uberti without solder. I have soldered it 3 times so is there a better way. Also tried super glue as a temp fix, but it was to temp. Thanks in advance.

A pic sure would help, or a more detailed description of the gun and sight sep-up. Uberti is a brand name, not a particular model of firearm. Are you talking about soldering a blade to a base, or a base to a barrel? Bill

Matchlock, sounds like you are talking about a cap and ball revolver there. I ran into the same situation several years ago. My solution was then, to file a narrow, shallow dovetail into the bbl. custom make up a sight, install into dovetail with a push in fit ( with fingers, and then solder the sight into the dovetail, I used regular silver solder at the time but there are several solder products available now that require less heat and hold real well. Those bbls are skinny for sure, but the is enough there for a shallow dovetail and not affect safety. yours hounddog

Thanks gents. It is an 1858 remmie. I already have a narrow dove tail on it (did it myself). IT is tight enough to stay in until fired, then all bets are off. I used low temp silver solder, just creates a smooth surface for it to slide on.

Well if the sight "slides" in the dovetail, you didn't solder it correctly. If soldered it should be bonded with the barrel.

You would think that, but......

Yep, sounds like you never got a good bond. Both the dovetail in the barrel and the base of the sight need to be tinned (I'll assume you're using ordinary tin solder), with both surfaces completely "wet" and covered cleanly with solder using the proper flux, then with the parts hot, put together, letting the solder melt between the two.

no have not done that I only get the solder to stick to the barrel. Ill try to get it on the site. Thanks :thumbsup:

Try lightly sanding the bottom of the sight.
Then, apply a touch of soldering flux and gently heat it.

Apply just a little more heat and then touch the surface with the solder. If it doesn't melt, apply a little more heat to the sight and try touching the solder again.
When it melts just a small bit, use a clean paper towel to wipe it across the surface. This will leave a very thin coating of solder on the surface and it is known as "tinning".

The most common mistake people make when trying to do this is they overheat the small part or they direct the torch at the fluxed surface.
Either one of these will cause the solder to melt but it won't stick to the surface.

Once the sight and the dovetail have been tinned, force them together and slowly apply just a little heat to the barrel (not the sight).
At the correct temperature, the solder on both parts will melt and fuse together. :grin:

Great instruction, as usual, Zonie!

I PM'd you a few days ago. Let me know if you didn't get it.

Mark

In addition to zonie's excellent description on how to Tin the sight base, and the base of the dovetail, you can also use a center punch to lightly tap small dimples onto the surface of the dovetail. This allows the solder a place to grab- irregular surface-- which does two good things for front sights on revolvers: It interrupts and dampens the vibrations of the barrel when the ball or bullet passes out the barrel, and under that dovetail; and it allows the two surfaces , when mated, to really STICK in that dovetail, so movement is much less likely. :thumbsup: