L1A1 Rear Sight Help

[Danger]

I was hoping for some help with my rear sight. My L1A1 has the type of sight that you have to pull back on the apperature to move it. It was pretty rough adjusting it, so I decided to take it apart to clean and polish it. I removed the apperature/slide from the sight ramp. After a bit of cleaning, I tested it, and it now slides back and forth really easy...as a matter of fact if you just tilt the gun it will slide back and forth. I looked all over where I was working looking for a missing part or something with no luck. Is there a part in there that controls the elevation adjustment which might have fallen out? Or maybe all the crap packed in the sight was just another mysterious fix by the previous owner, along with the glue holding the front grip panel on? Please help if you have any knowledge of the sight assembly. Thanks!

[W.E.G.]

sounds like you lost the BB that rides in the detent

Its the same size BB that is used in AR15 sight detents. Proably can also use an AR15 sight detent spring if you lost the spring too.

[W.E.G.]

see especially http://www.falfiles.com/forums/showt...76#post1599176

[W.E.G.]

...and generally http://www.falfiles.com/forums/showt...nt+and+ball%2A

[Danger]

Thanks a bunch! At least now I know what I'm looking for. Time to get on my hand and knees with a flash light.

[English Mike]

Originally posted by Danger
Thanks a bunch! At least now I know what I'm looking for. Time to get on my hand and knees with a flash light.

Use a magnet.

[Radio]

gunplumber says there are two types of men:

1. Those who have been on their hands and knees looking for a little teeny gun part that got lost

2. And liars.

--Radio

[jshema]

Here's the other question one should ask. How do you get the spring and detent out after you've put it back together the wrong way and its stuck at the highest elevation? Besides the obvious of buying a new sight. When I got my century L1A1 the sight wouldn't move from the lowest elevation to the highest. Discovered cleaning it got it to move. Wanted the rest of the crud off the rear sight so took it apart. Put it back together thinking man this was easy. Wrong!!
Now I have a different rear on it and would just like to fix the one that came with the gun. Any ideas?

[Andy the Aussie]

Originally posted by Radio
gunplumber says there are two types of men:

1. Those who have been on their hands and knees looking for a little teeny gun part that got lost

.....guilty as charged....last one of note was that teeny tiny little extra spring in the Colt Gold Cups. Lost mine trying to reinstall it....lucky at the time I had a sealed timber floor (my bedroom at the time) so I though this will not be too hard...... ....way wrong......looked and looked and looked......no bloody sign of the thing....swore and carried on for hours finally gave up and started to arrange a new one........went to bed that night (about 6 hours later) and there laid on my pillow like a chocolate in a decent hotel was my spring......next go at installing it was done INSIDE a light coloUred pillow case....

[Andy the Aussie]

Originally posted by jshema
Here's the other question one should ask. How do you get the spring and detent out after you've put it back together the wrong way and its stuck at the highest elevation? Besides the obvious of buying a new sight. When I got my century L1A1 the sight wouldn't move from the lowest elevation to the highest. Discovered cleaning it got it to move. Wanted the rest of the crud off the rear sight so took it apart. Put it back together thinking man this was easy. Wrong!!
Now I have a different rear on it and would just like to fix the one that came with the gun. Any ideas?

.......I think you are going to have to sacrifice the spring mate. Get another and then tap (it may not just be "tap" though) the slider off the base again you will probably stretch out a loop or two of the spring doing this which will probably weaken it to much.

Maybe a more technical mind will have a better idea though.

Andy

[Daddy Jack]

Got an old feeler gauge, like we used to set points with when you could still work on your car? You might be able to narrow one of the, say, .005" blades down until it fits between the sight and the base, (maybe sharpen a little taper on the leading edge, like a chisel, to help cam the spring up) and just maybe let you slide it apart.....Shim stock might work, too, if it's at least brass. If you do have to just rip it apart, a good hardware store might have a workable lil' bitty compression spring you could cut to length and use until the order came in. HTH but you may just have to drop back and punt.