Colt alteration M1841 rear sight

[Damon]

Hi all, I recently purchased a Zoli M1841 with rear sight missing. I have decided to convert it into a Colt alteration. I have been able to purchase the repro sight from Lodgewood on a recent trip to the States but I am curious about the small screw that is in the middle of the 100 yard leaf. What is it for?

Thanks,
Damon

[Curt]

Hallo!

Can you share a picture?

I am not recalling a screw there on the rifle version of the sight? (The repro sight offered is for the carbine, and smaller.)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Michael1787/colt_revolving_rifle_12_zpscnpcx4qm.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/Michael1787/media/colt_revolving_rifle_12_zpscnpcx4qm.jpg.html)

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y104/Michael1787/colt_revolving_rifle_06_zpsukuew2eb.jpg (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/Michael1787/media/colt_revolving_rifle_06_zpsukuew2eb.jpg.html)

Curt

[Damon]

Hi Curt,
Sorry don't have the sight with me as it at the gunsmiths. Here is the page on the Lodgewood website:
http://www.lodgewood.com/-Colt-Revolving-Rifle-Rear-Sight-Reproduction-for-Original_p_1366.html

[Dave Fox]

The tiny screw threads through its hole in the sight base and mates with a dimple in the barrel, thus anchoring the sight and preventing it from sliding laterally in the mortise.

[Dave Fox]

By the bye, one wonders who in the chain of ordnance levels was supplied with spare tiny screws such as this and a screwdriver to fit....

[John Holland]

Answer: Nobody....once assembled by Colt they were expected to be left alone.

[Damon]

Answer: Nobody....once assembled by Colt they were expected to be left alone.

Were the rifle just sighted in at the factor and that was it? Or was the sight just centralised in the dovetail?

[Curt]

Hallo!

D 'oh!

Thanks, I was misreading... and too literally... looking for a screw in the sight leaves. :( :)

I would say it was a "top dead center" kind of thing as there was no factory sighting in. Well, not as we would think of it. Meaning, the geometric (triangular) relationship(s) between sight radius and rear and front sight heights was "built" into the design to (in theory) deliver the bullet at the distance(s) set.

Curt