Jim Taylor
New Front Sight For The 1862 Pocket Police
Wednesday, September 27, 2023, 12:35

I really enjoy the little 1862 Pocket Police Model. It's small but it packs a wallop! The biggest issue I've had with it is the itty bitty little bead on the front!

It hits about a foot high at 20/25 yards .. which I know is normal for these guns. But for old eyes I have a hard time finding the bead on some days and in bright sunlight it can be durn near impossible. So I decided to mount a different sight. I looked around the internet and found a front sight that was not shaped, that was intended for a Hawken rifle, from Dixie Gun Works. It looked about what I wanted to work with so I bought one.

This morning I gathered my gear together in the shop and set out to install a new sight. I got my files and hacksaw, dial calipers but I didn't use the Dremel Tool. After getting everything ready, after measuring and marking, I started cutting the dovetail.

When the main cut was right I began doing the undercuts and fitting the sight.

I marked the "ears" on the sight and cut them off and filed them down a bit.

I am sure it is too high right now. Once I have the gun sighted in I will reshape and polish the sight and blue it and the dovetail.

My dovetails are not as clean as a gunsmith would make them. I am not a gunsmith and it shows in my work. I can make it work for me but I sure wouldn't want to try to do it for a paying customer.

My frame of mind was, "If I screw this up I can whack the barrel off to 3 1/2" and send it to Gary to mount a sight."