What am I doing wrong here?

[waco]

I bought A new Skinner Peepsight for my marlin 1894 and I decided I needed a taller front sight as well. So I purchased the one their website said that I needed because my front sight has screw holes .700”center to center.
The new sight only has one screw and their website says this is correct and the site covers the front screw hole. It says even with one screw it’s a very strong secure sight. This is a complete joke. I’ve snugged that screw down as far as I dare and the sight wiggles around a quarter inch in every direction. Has anybody had any experience with this particular front sight. Please give the guy some help.

 

[waco]

The screw they supplied only has about two threads below the bottom of the sight.

 

[Brad]

Doesn’t loc-tite make a bonding type adhesive that might help?
A slightly longer screw might help a little by letting you snug it down harder.

 

[waco]

Think I'm gonna call them tomorrow and see what they have to say.

 

[Brad]

I have put taller sights on a couple Marlins, I just use a taller Marbles sight with a smaller white bead.

Got a friend at work who runs a mill? He could make a sight for you.

 

[Ole_270]

I used a Williams ramp and a firesight dovetail insert, both about the shortest ones they had if I remember right. The fiber optic isn't all that great for target use, but is great for hunting and plinking when your eyes get to be 66+ years old.

 

[fiver]

I'd call them too.
the sight looks nice, but it also has that little ridge on the bottom there that might be causing your problem.

I'm kind of I dunno maybe a little disappointed, how hard would it be to slightly re-design that sight for a second screw hole.
move the blade back a smidge and cut some blade off after the white line?
drill & countersink.

if I were gonna make it work for me some serious tite-bond bedding type stuff would be in play since I can't silver solder.

 

[Brad]

I agree. Would be a simple design change to use both screws. For a sight designed for use on rough and tumble hunting guns I want both screws used.

 

[waco]

Just got off the phone with a tech guy at Skinner. He said he sees this from time to time. The holes that are drilled and tapped in my barrel are a bit shallow. He said to slowly take about .005” to start off the mounting screw until it tightens up and holds the sight in place. Calipers and a file and a few minutes should fix the problem. I’ll try when I got home from work.

 

[Ian]

Maybe. Thread the screw all the way in the hole and measure the gap under the head, then measure the thickness of the sight from underside to bottom of hole. I can't tell from the blurry photo if the screw is bottoming out or if that big raised burr around the hole on the barrel is stopping things. File that burr off both holes regardless, they will keep the sight from sitting solidly flush on the barrel.

Acraglas is fantastic for permanent mounting of sights, and can be dyed black. Permatex or others may have a suitable anaerobic adhesive product, IDK. If you glue it on, don't glue the screw threads, coat the screw with JPW or something and pull it back out after the glue cures, clean it, and re-install it with blue Loctite.

 

[Hawk]

I use J-B Weld on the base of sights or scope mounts for a custom fit of anything that goes on a barrel of receiver. Only way I know of to get rid of the wiggle and ensure nothing moves.
I JPW the threads and the barrel/receiver and rough up the bottom of the base of the sight or scope mount. Finger nail polish or a q-tip removes anything that squishes out from under the base.
I'm sure I'm not telling you guys anything you don't already know.

 

[Brad]

I thought I was the only one who used epoxy on scope bases. I have an in-line ML that I struggled to get the bases to stay put. I now have hem securely expoxied in place. No release agent.

 

[Ian]

I typically lap scope bases to the mounting surface when the receiver is round, and chamfer the screw holes as well as bed them in place. Fine sandpaper, grit up, on the receiver, rub base on sandpaper. Red Loctite does the bedding just fine and is less permanent than JB, but I've done the JB/MarineTex/Devcon Liquid Steel/whatever thing too but waxed the receiver so it's a perfect mate but not actually a permanent bond. You never know when the receiver may need to be put in a lathe. Most epoxies are defeated just below the temper point of steel (400F) so heat can be used in a pinch to unglue something. Sights get glued no matter what because the little screws need all the help they can get to not get broken off.

 

[Ian]

One more thing, nobody said you had to silver-solder the sight on. Rosin-core electrical solder works just fine and won't ruin the barrel temper if you're smart with the heat and remove the bluing on both parts only where they contact each other. Holding power isn't quite as good but likely better than epoxy. Larry Potterfield had a good video on silver-soldering stuff on a barrel in his "nearly perfect safari rifle" series. The technique of tinning is the same no matter the flow temperature of the solder used.

 

[Hawk]

I don't use the J-B Weld as a permanent mount. I use a release agent on the receiver and the J-B Weld is just 2 fill in all the open air spaces and gaps between the scope mount and the receiver so that the scope mount is a perfect mate to the receiver. I also figure out which is the high end of the receiver and just snuggled that one screw up a little bit. The other screw is just fingertight for alignment purposes. If the scope mount is moved to a new rifle, the J-B Weld can be buffed off and redone.

 

[Pistolero]

Clean it very well, and use red loctite or JBWeld and you will be good.
Of course if the screw is bottoming, that could be the whole problem right there.

Bill

 

[Ian]

I've deepened holes and extended threads a turn or two with Brownell's bottoming taps a few times. Having the right tap and a box of assorted mount screws can be invaluable.

 

[freebullet]

Honestly, I'd send it back. One screw where two threaded holes already exist is bad engineering imo.

I've had several shotgun ribs threaded for a second hole to use a longer fiber optic. They use the bead for one hole & I had the other end drilled/tapped for the second. Tape, epoxy, ect is just a bandaid the way we use/ abuse stuff.

 

[waco]

Took the techs advice and took a file to the screw. I went slow and only took off .005" at a time. First three attempts produced no noticeable results. On the fourth go, .020" later, Bingo! Just like the guy said it would. Set the screw to 25 inch pounds and it feels solid! Time in the field will tell.
Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

 

[waco]