From the center of the bore, how tall is the sight, not the globe, just the sight?
Which R7 are you asking about? Pre safety and early safety models or thicker barrel later models? They got thicker barrels around 1987 or 88.
It will give me some reference on which front sight to order. Centerline of barrel to tip of post should be about the same, barrel thickness won't affect measurement.
Out of curiosity, what was the barrel diameter of the early models? My 2014 HW30 and recently manufactured R7 both have 15mm barrels on them.
Also, might there be a difference in front sight height between the early models that used the powder burner style crosscut dovetail versus the later models that use the twin dovetail grooves?
@jim-in-swmo
14mm IIRC. No matter which, should get me in the ballpark... From the centerline of the bore to the tip of the front sight post doesnn't matter what is in between... I think I might carve some facsimile of a front sight so I don't buy the wrong one. Come to think of it, what would be wrong with a hand carved front sight?
My R7 with the early sight has 15mm barrel. Same as my late R7 and HW30. I wasn't wrong. Just mistaken ?. The Early sight and barrel combined are approximately 30.5mm. Subtract 7.5mm barrel radius and get 23mm or pretty close to .900 inch. I could be off a few thou but pretty close. I don't want to scratch my barrel. The 35 year old gun is very nearly perfect. We take good care of them.
How I make a sight
Nothing wrong with a homemade sight at all. In fact, I made an all brass front sight for my .32cal muzzleloading squirrel rifle many years ago. All it took was a little work with a hack saw, a Dremel, some file work and a bit of solder to solder the blade to the dovetail base. It was a fun project and that sight is still on the gun today. ?
Want to sell one? I could really use one... My birthday is Saturday... R7 is supposed to be about ready. I would love to use it wih open sights. Yours remind me of what was on my favorite powder burning .22... Please... Do you play electric guitar? I would trade you my new Mustsang Micro headphone amp for one, or buy. Would definitely cherish and not resell.
Would these work, not worried about OEM:
Does your R7 have the later globe sight, or the earlier cross cut dovetail? If the former, any current Weihrauch front sight will mate with Williams FP-AG peep, but if the latter, you'll need to find the uncommon original blade sight used on many early Weihrauch airguns, and the even more uncommon "hood" to be original. As a substitute you can mount a Lyman 17EAU but you'll need to use a Williams FP-GR peep for the very low line-of-site that the Lyman requires. Here photo of the two versions. I wish someone with talents like KWK would reproduce the early sight metal hood?
I'm pretty sure he's working on an old "pre safety" R7. I am sure Williams or Lyman sells a sight that will work. Most likely 3/8 dovetail. Perhaps Numrich Gun Parts can match something up from a .22 RF?
Try Midwayusa.com
The european dovetail is not 3/8 inch, and that will not work without modification. I did not have the older cross dovetail Weihrauch sight, and the Lyman 17EUR fits but it's so low that only the FP-GR will work. As I remember, all the better quality Weihrauch/Anschutz/Walther diopter sights are too tall...you might try Knibbs or Chambers. At one time they listed the old style sight in the HW25 (?24) section? This is a frustrating problem; maybe just use a telescopic scope or get KWK to make one for you?
Do I measure the dovetail on the barrel at the widest points? Yes, I have been looking at Midway, there has to be something there that will work... It's just a matter of measurements. As soon as I get my R7 back (yes, presafety), I will get some calipers and do some measurements... Thankfully, there are math wizards on the internet...
Or, you could sell me one of your creations... 🙂
Given what they have of those in stock I hope you didn't waste any time in ordering one of those. That may be your best bet for a front sight this side of the pond, for the time being anyway.
And if you don't like those glowy thing sights you can always pop that out and build up what "should" have been a nice blade (before they ruined it with the glow stick, lol) with some JB Weld or epoxy. Then you can file it and shape it to your liking and give it a shot of black paint. Then you should be ready to go. ?
@jim-in-swmo
i ordered one before I made that post... 🙂 It is worth a try...
This is how to measure a sight dovetail
http://www.texas-mac.com/Measuring_Dovetail_Slot_Dimensions.html
Sorry I don't want to make any sights. It takes far to much work to make a sight that can be had from Midway or Brownells, etc.. (*And you have to have the barrel on hand to properly fit it) I'm sure they can provide something. There are quite a few imported .22's that use dovetail front sights. First thing to do is measure the dovetail as described.
* I don't think you would want to take your barrel off and send it out again after what you are already going through now.
I have made some parts for airgunners but I'd rather stick to simpler things. I don't do it for money I already have a job and I don't want to ruin my hobby.
It takes far to much work to make a sight that can be had from Midway or Brownells, etc..
Estimating the REAL time required to make random widgets has been a hard lesson to learn, even harder to impress on others.
WAG, it might take me (a poor machinist) 5-10 hours to make that sight. The 2nd example can be done in 1/2 (whatever) time.
Excluding the cost of tooling (zero dovetail cutters on hand, nor do I own a shaper) I've begun explaining this to non-machinists as follows.
Do you own an oven? (the answer is always yes)
But, do you bake your own bread?
Or do you take the sure and easy path, of paying $1 at the store?
As a side note regarding the answers received, a very few people can and do make bread far superior to the (poison) $1 store bread.
Let's keep on with the comparison of buying an oven to make a $1 item, and take a look at the tool listed in KWK's link.
Maybe that could be accomplished with thread wires and gauge pins? Not that those 2 sets of tools would be cheaper...
I know, a $100 amp for hand crafted labor of love is a low ball offer. I use to build guitar amplifiers... Most consumers have no idea...
I know, a $100 amp for hand crafted labor of love is a low ball offer. I use to build guitar amplifiers... Most consumers have no idea...
LOL
I play electric just well enough for the listeners to identify the song. Usually.
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I love my Darkvoice 336 tube headphone amplifier. And, the amps I built were tube amps....
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Did you read the link and measure your dovetail? Using the shim stock method should get you very close and enable you to at least have some idea of the dimension to relate to a supplier.
R7 is still with tuner, hope to have it back soon. It is scoped and has a Beeman brake on it. I think I will just get a better scope for it. I do have a new R7 on preorder, that one will stay open sights...
I envy you guys with machinist skills...
Did you read the link and measure your dovetail? Using the shim stock method should get you very close and enable you to at least have some idea of the dimension to relate to a supplier.
pLeAsE sIr, ThIs iS aN aUdIo FoRuM... er... um... I mean, no... I got distracted. ?
It was nice to see that my guess of thread wires and gauge pins was accurate as a method... and now I just need to break down and buy gauge pins. Sigh... ?
I envy you guys with machinist skills...
See the 2 lines above the quote. The struggle is real.
That sight KWK made looks very similar to a sight I bought for a Winchester model 62 rifle. Might look at that??
