'Smith texted to tell me that he ordered a different style drill bit with a blunt cutting face and a bottoming tap to get as close to the bottom of the hole as possible. With those he was able to successfully install the front site and felt it was solid. ***Big sigh of relief***
He went to mount the rear sight and it uses a goofy 8-36 screw which is about the only thread tap he didn't have. He is rounding one up and as soon as he has that in his hands the sights (and the total rifle) will be finished shortly thereafter.
With any luck I will be burning some CFE223 soon and then trying to punch a .411 hole through a whitetail doe.
