Rear Sight Staking

There was mention in another thread on this forum about Rear sight staking.

My question is, can some one please explain what this looks like, and how it is produced?

Also what makes it an important part of a collectable M1?

Cheers

Alex

Alex

Sight staking is done once the rifle has been correctly sighted, and is done by punching across the line of the edge of the dovetail (usually the front edge) with a small chisel. This helps seccure the sight and also provides an alignment mark for future reference. Centre punch staking to tighten a loose dovetail is 'home gunsmithing' and definitely not part of the military process!

Listen to Woodsy Alex, he has it exactly right. If you see a receiver with a number of stake marks on it you know it is not the original sight!. However, you have to take into account that correct field mods were made when they upgraded the sights. So really, after considering that subject, you have to consider the condition of the Carbine overall, to be able to judge it's "originality". There's a big thing going on about "shooter Carbines" and "collectable Carbines", people want them for different purposes, as long as they are all preserved, OK by me. Mike.

Alex, here's some on an STD PRO receiver I have. Mike.