Remington 1858 rear sight

bpratl

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I would like to add an adjustable rear sight to my 1858 44 Cal clone with out weakening the upper frame.
Are there any suggestions on obtaining a low profile adjustable rear sight that can be retrofitted to this frame?
Thanks. Bob
 
There are target models(Lyman comes to mind),which have adjustable rear sights. But,I preferred to not mess up the looks of my 1858 by adding a blocky rear sight (you can't get away from blocky). In my write up in the sticky at the top of the page,I mentioned that I installed a wider front sight that looks like the original in side view. I also filed out the rear V sight to a wider,modern profile. No adjustable sight was added. My pistol shoots exactly where it is pointed. Where and how accurately it is pointed depends upon ME!!:) But,sometimes Italian barrels are not installed exactly straight. It's a gamble if your gun will shoot straight without adjustment. I have a Smith and Wesson model 10 with plain sights. It shoots a bit left.

Be careful to not weaken your frame by removing too much metal if you add an adjustable sight. Look for pictures of Lyman target pistols. Dixie used to sell them. I suppose they still do. Some were in stainless steel. A problem is,you don't know if they were made of stronger steel than your gun,so that they could be cut away for the sights.
 
Sighting my Remington .44 was a project put off for years as I thought "Big deal, no power, no accuracy." Boy was I WRONG!

First I placed a little math and machine shop trig to sight that puppy to regulate it to 25 yards. My new front sight height calculated I drove the original sight out of the dove tail and removed the post from the base. Turned a small pin down to have a step on the end then silver soldered it to the base. Leaving just a hair high to fine tune after installation. Shaped it slightly to match the original and reinstalled. Like George, I opened the rear groove out just a bit to get a bit more air gap. Made a measure spout for 28gr triple F and WOW. What a shooter with .451 dia soft lead balls. Soft recoil and very accurate and as I did once you can jack them up to what seems to be magnum power, at least by noise and recoil. But all the power in the world does you no good if you do not hit what you are shooting at!

Always wanted a Colt .44, but no more. The Remington sighting system is so far superior. One certainly enjoys them more when you can hit what you are shooting at. My pistol was a Christmas gift from my wife for our first Christmas together. Yeh, still have the wife too!
 
Pietta makes a stainless target version of the 1858, and I am lucky enough to have one. :thumbsup2:

You could maybe purchase their rear sight and install it on yours. I took a quick look at the parts list that was supplied with mine, but sadly it does not include the sights in the drawing or in the list of parts. You might be able to get the parts ordered through a Pietta dealer. A list of dealers is available on their website.
 
How about doing it like a flat top colt SAA. Where its just a blade in a slot in frame. With a screw on each side to give windage. A file to the back sight for elevation . Hoping front site close to right. would no Kill lines of the revolver so bad. Then again there new front sight it needed in dove tail and make it high so to get it sited in. Even if you have to turn barrel a little. Warning Italy likes to turn barrels in to tight and makes a choke where barrel threads thru the frame. those revolvers will not shoot well till put on new barrel or lap the choke out. If you look down a barrel you can see a shadow in a ring where choke starts. If not a jag with cleaning rag will let you feel the choke. Back to sights Like Geo. W did his sight is good, once set not going to change. You can always count on that revolver to shoot to point of aim.
 
I had originally meant to post a pic for this thread, but never did, so here it is, a pic of the rear target sight used on the Pietta version of the 1858 Remington. To the OP, I don't think you will have to worry about weakening the frame by cutting in a groove for mounting the sight. It is plenty heavy.

As for accuracy, this gun will shoot quite accurately at 75 yards and further with a steady hand. I am one of the range officers at the Minnesota 4-H Shooting Sports State Shoot each year. During a lull in the activity a few years back, I did a little shooting myself, just for fun. One of the youth in the program dared me to take five shots on a ram silhouette at 100 yards, the body of the ram being approximately 12" x 16". The kids would shoot at this target with a rifle, but they thought that the bar should be raised for me since I am a state level instructor. I loaded up five chambers and took my shots two handed. As soon as I stepped up to the firing line, the folks in the gallery started chattering, hardly believing that I was shooting at a 100 yard target with a revolver. I missed the first two shots, but hit on the remaining three, after I had figured out the elevation I needed without adjusting the sights. Needless to say there were people in the gallery that wanted to shake my hand after that!

I don't do that kind of shooting to brag or anything like that, but I do like to prove to youth in the program what can be done with practice and determination. I consider myself lucky to be steady enough to do so, too!

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Wermie, thanks for the update. I ended up in finding a rear sight for my 1858 which looks similar to yours, that I have not yet mounted. I can't quite tell in the photo, is the sight recessed (milled) in the upper frame, if so how deep? That was an interesting story and I bet that the kids jaw dropped after the last three shots. Thanks again. Bob
 
I have the stainless model also , I love the beast , made a full flap holster like the originals for her. I've wanted to add the shoulder stock , but just am to screwed up to weld and machine a wire stock. Oh I also lube mine with superlube grease , being stainless gulling is a problem I stay ahead of. Even my trap gun is stainless and that Browning now is worth three times what I paid . Love good investments that shoot 100 straight in trap.
So now I need sites on my pistol thanks ill be cking for old sites on fleebay .
 
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