Skip to main content
Help Center Community Shop

M-1 Carbine, .30 cal Sight Removal

Burlroad
I'm trying to remove the rear sight on my M-1 Carbine. It is very tight and I'm concerned that I might damage the receiver. Should I let a gunsmith press it out? There appears to be a drift mark at the dovetail/sightbase.
0

Comments

3 comments

Date Votes
  • givette
    The marks you see are where the sight dovetail was staked in place. If you see a "dimple" on the side of the sight base, that might indicate where it was driven. Now:

    If you are swapping-out to an altogether different type rear sight, let a G/S do it..and install the new one.

    If you want to replace a damaged/broken rear sight with the same type and the base, in your opinion looks OK you can opt to buy just the parts needed to replace what is worn/damaged.

    Others may chime in with a few gunsmithing "tricks" to ease the procedure. The G/S recommendation I posted is simply what I would do. Hope I helped. Joe
    0
  • nmyers
    It's not intended to be removed by the user.

    First, are you sure you want to do this? If you have a flip sight, I recommend you leave it alone, not replace it with an adjustable sight. Only do this if your current sight is broken.

    The dovetail is tapered, so the sight must be removed left-to-right. Also determine if there are staking marks at the front &/or rear of the dovetail; they make it more difficult to remove an old sight. You should remove the action from the wood & support the receiver carefully; you must use a lot of masking tape to prevent marring of the receiver & sight. And, you will need a brass punch & a big hammer. It takes a lot of force to do the job, but only a slight misapplication of effort to ruin the carbine.

    On second thought, maybe it would be better to have a 'smith do it. He will have a sight adjustment tool that will allow him to do the job quickly, without damaging your carbine.

    Neal
    0
  • Burlroad
    That's exactly what I wanted to know. When I realized that this piece is an Inland WWII model I began to wonder if I even want to do this. There's nothing wrong with the existing sight. I was going to install a Weaver base for a scope but I think that I'll probably pass and use the scope on another rifle.
    0

Please sign in to leave a comment.

Recent Activity