Soft Dixie sight

[johan]

Hello Folks,

I have bought an adjustable Hawken rear sight from Dixie Gun works, the sight is cast and requires some sanding and finishing, but that is not the problem.

The problem is that the metal is very soft and I believe that an adjustable sight should be like a spring so I can adjust the height of it more than one time.

Anybody who knows how to heat treat it so gets hard enough but not broke when I adjust it? :hmm:

/Johan

 

[George Holton]

Hi; first go to the forum search , there you will find the way to heat treat steel. Its not hard, just fllow directions. Bob

 

[Zonie]

You may be able to heat treat it to a spring temper but you may also have to live with what you have.

Not all steel will harden. If it was made out of a low carbon steel, your stuck. Even carburizing will not turn it into a spring.

If it was made out of a high carbon steel or a tool steel you should be able to heat treat it.

The best way to find out if it is hardenable is to try it.

Assuming it is an oil hardening tool steel, heat it to a bright red color and immediatly drop it into a can of motor oil.
After the smoke clears, fish it out and try to file it. If it is too hard to file easily, proceed to temper it.

If it files easily, clean it off and reheat it to a bright red color and drop it into a can of water. When it's cool, try to file it.
If it still files easily, then your stuck with a soft steel sight.

If either of the first two hardening attempts succeeds, you will need to temper it by placing it into a 450 degree oven for a few hours.
If you don't have an oven that reaches 450 degrees, you can sand the surface until it is a nice bright steel color. Then very slowly heat it with a propane torch. It will turn light yellow, dark yellow, purple/red then dark blue.
When it reaches the dark blue color, drop it into a can of motor oil and your done.

zonie

 

[johan]

Thanks for the tips, I'm going to try them but I am afraid that the sight is made of soft iron.

/Johan