Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Gunsmithing Replacement "beads" for rifle front sights

I collect Model 99 Savages. I posted this on the Savage Collectors forum and received no meaningful responses. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks.

I have several front sights that I have removed from rifles because they are missing the bead. I had always assumed that the "bead" was a sphere that was glued or otherwise secured into the sight. Upon closer examination I see that that is not the case. The "bead" appears to be a rod that is contained within a cylinder on top of the sight. On the Marbles the cylinder is crimped on both sides. The Lymans have a small punch mark on the top of the cylinder.

Is there any practical way to repair these sights? Is there someone out there that specializes in repairing them? Or, are the sights now just throw aways?

Thanks for any help.

Cheaper to buy new sights..

I have turned a bunch of them from ivory. Not really a big deal to do.

I used to chuck a length of brazing rod in the lathe and turn flat faced beads with a little tail to fit into the tube on front sights. You can make the bead any size you desire this way and one particular customer liked a big 1/8” bead so I made a bunch for him and his rifles. I’d put a dab of epoxy on the sten prior to inserting it in the tube and forgo the crimp.

They worked fine but were labor intensive for no more than a replacement sight cost.

Sometimes it's the fun in doing. I replaced a crappy front sight on a 1920 Savage 99 this morning with a penny and made a dovetail blank for my 336 from a buffalo nickel.

Have you tried the used parts sellers?

Measure the height from the bottom of the dovetail to the top and the width of the base, then order a replacement from Midway or directly from Williams. Skinner may also make one that you can fit into your base, and the brass ones are especially easy to trim to fit.

A tiny brass finishing nail might fit in the tube if you want to fix it yourself.

I have already replaced the sights I removed with NOS Marbles or period correct Savage sights, so I don't need sights for rifles at the moment. If I need a sight in the future I would like a period correct sight, not a current manufacture new sight, thus my original post.

Thanks for the brass nail idea. That sounds like something I could try. I assume I would need to drill the remains of the original "bead" material out of the tube first.