Need rear sight help!

[Guest Blaster]

I was given an old sporterized rifle 20 or more years ago. This rifle had no rear sight and had been drilled in place of the old sight, presumably to put a new sight on. The problem I have is they drilled all the way thru the barrel. I would like to put a new sight on and shoot it. It is a bolt action 7.62x54 with a built in 4 round mag. possibly Russian made. There is a pull on the rear of the bolt to re-cock it incase of a misfire. Does anyone know a gunsmith in the Dayton area that would be willing to take a look at this and give me an idea about cost to fix? Or is it even worth trying to fix? The gun has a real smooth action and is tight. I had been told I might be able to resleeve the barrel smaller... .223 or ??? This is probably not cost effective. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry no pictures at this time.

[Westwindmike]

I wonder how much flame would come out of the sight hole when fired?

I suspect it will cost much more than it is worth to fix it. Unless you could JB Weld the hole?

[Guest Blaster]

I haven't shot it. It started out as a conversation piece and something I could learn how to do stock refinishing on. A friend has suggested the JB Weld route also.

[leroy]

I was given an old sporterized rifle 20 or more years ago. This rifle had no rear sight and had been drilled in place of the old sight, presumably to put a new sight on. The problem I have is they drilled all the way thru the barrel. I would like to put a new sight on and shoot it. It is a bolt action 7.62x54 with a built in 4 round mag. possibly Russian made. There is a pull on the rear of the bolt to re-cock it incase of a misfire. Does anyone know a gunsmith in the Dayton area that would be willing to take a look at this and give me an idea about cost to fix? Or is it even worth trying to fix? The gun has a real smooth action and is tight. I had been told I might be able to resleeve the barrel smaller... .223 or ??? This is probably not cost effective. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry no pictures at this time.

Blaster:__________

Been thinking about this one a little bit since you posted it. Ive got an old remington 700 whose reciever and barrel look like a woodpecker has been drilling on it -- they are all filled with filler screws. All of the holes are for various scope mounts. I would sugguest that you talk to a gunsmith; but i would try to fill the hole with a filler screw (this is a screw that is the exact diameter of the hole (and the exact thread size if the hole is threaded) -- you can get them from Brownells), then stake the screw in or use a good locktite to hold it in place (red would be my choice). You probably need to have a gunsmith do this (you can do it yourself if you are reasonably "mechanical"); but YOU HAVE TO MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE THAT THE FILLER SCREW DOES NOT INTRUDE INTO THE BARREL. That will take some precise measuring and looking to verify. A screw intruding into a barrel on a bolt rifle is a recipe for disaster (read that blowing up the barrel and maybe launching the bolt back into your nose -- thats a bad thing). If you really like this rifle, you may want to discuss this with a good gunsmith. I dont know any in Dayton; but there is a great one at Predator Firearms in Knoxville. My guess as to the repair cost if you can do this is in the $20 to $40 range. Sleevng it to a smaller caliber is probably "real money" .

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

LEROY

[Guest Blaster]

Thanks for the advice Leroy. I have been told this could be my best (read cheapest) solution. My biggest problem is to find a rear sight that will match up with the front sight. I would like to put a rear sight that is similar to the remington sights, which allow for a lot of elevation since the front sight is pretty tall. As far as it being one of my favorite's, I just think it would be fun to shoot and be one more in the stable of firearms that are available. Again thanks!