Years ago, I picked up a nearly new Norinco ATD .22 with a broken extractor 'finger' for a short song ($35). The seller attributed the break to it being "Chinese junk", but disassembly showed that he'd failed to clean the gunk from underneath it properly which caused it to stop pivoting as it should. This eventually battered the part into failing.
Unable to locate the Norinco part, I ordered a Browning replacement from Brownell's. It dropped in and works perfectly.
Since it shot so remarkably well and I had so little invested in it, I had a now-defunct gunsmithing outfit a bit north of Frankfort replace the factory open rear sight with a Marble's folding leaf and D&T the receiver for a Lyman 66A receiver sight. I also asked that he install a taller front, if necessary.
I got hosed. When I finally got it back (six freakin' weeks later) he hadn't replaced the front sight, as he assured me that he'd test fired it and it wasn't needed. I paid him his exhorbitant fee ($125 and I supplied the 66A) and took it home. When the weather allowed and I took it to my club's range to sight it in, it wouldn't feed even two rounds consecutively without jamming and POI was 6.5" high at 35 yds with the receiver sight bottomed-out. A quick field strip showed that the jams were due to his having failed to replace the cartridge stop on reassembly. "Test fired it" my aching patoot!
As he absolutely refused to correct this unless I paid him another $65/hr "shop time" fee, plus the cost of replacing the part HE'D lost, I was forced to chalk it up to bitter experience and warn everyone I knew against patronizing his shop. Bought a replacement from Brownell's again, dropped it in and that cured the malfs.
So there it sat in the back of the safe for the next four years. My original hope was to turn this into a compact, handy truck/camping/recreational tool. Now I'd like to just finally "get 'er done".
Two problems: First, the front sight dovetail is not only way oversized, but the factory blade is essentially 'cold welded' in place. They must've used some sort of hydraulic press to jam it in there as even soaking it repeatedly with several brands of penetrating oil, clamping it in a hefty, solidly mounted bench vice and whacking it hard with a variety of punches and a 16 oz hammer won't budge it so much as a mm. I'm pretty sure that it's going to require drastic measures to get it out. At this point, the most practical option for installing the FO replacement is bound to be some sort of J.B. Weld cobble job, but I'm sure that a more experienced third party can accomplish that better than my now-frazzled self.
As I'm also a lifelong southpaw (and if I'm going to have to enlist professional help anyway, why not do it up proper?) I've obtained a LH trigger for it. This is a necessity with this design in order to reverse the safety to suit me. But installing and fitting it is something I'm not really comfortable attempting as a DIY.
I would be extremely grateful and much obliged if any of you out there could point me towards an experienced and reliable gunsmithing shop within, say, 30-50 miles of Lebanon that I could contact about doing this.
Sorry for the ranting and rambling post. Just having a semi-crumby day. But many thanks for any help or advice you could offer!
Unable to locate the Norinco part, I ordered a Browning replacement from Brownell's. It dropped in and works perfectly.
Since it shot so remarkably well and I had so little invested in it, I had a now-defunct gunsmithing outfit a bit north of Frankfort replace the factory open rear sight with a Marble's folding leaf and D&T the receiver for a Lyman 66A receiver sight. I also asked that he install a taller front, if necessary.
I got hosed. When I finally got it back (six freakin' weeks later) he hadn't replaced the front sight, as he assured me that he'd test fired it and it wasn't needed. I paid him his exhorbitant fee ($125 and I supplied the 66A) and took it home. When the weather allowed and I took it to my club's range to sight it in, it wouldn't feed even two rounds consecutively without jamming and POI was 6.5" high at 35 yds with the receiver sight bottomed-out. A quick field strip showed that the jams were due to his having failed to replace the cartridge stop on reassembly. "Test fired it" my aching patoot!
As he absolutely refused to correct this unless I paid him another $65/hr "shop time" fee, plus the cost of replacing the part HE'D lost, I was forced to chalk it up to bitter experience and warn everyone I knew against patronizing his shop. Bought a replacement from Brownell's again, dropped it in and that cured the malfs.
So there it sat in the back of the safe for the next four years. My original hope was to turn this into a compact, handy truck/camping/recreational tool. Now I'd like to just finally "get 'er done".
Two problems: First, the front sight dovetail is not only way oversized, but the factory blade is essentially 'cold welded' in place. They must've used some sort of hydraulic press to jam it in there as even soaking it repeatedly with several brands of penetrating oil, clamping it in a hefty, solidly mounted bench vice and whacking it hard with a variety of punches and a 16 oz hammer won't budge it so much as a mm. I'm pretty sure that it's going to require drastic measures to get it out. At this point, the most practical option for installing the FO replacement is bound to be some sort of J.B. Weld cobble job, but I'm sure that a more experienced third party can accomplish that better than my now-frazzled self.
As I'm also a lifelong southpaw (and if I'm going to have to enlist professional help anyway, why not do it up proper?) I've obtained a LH trigger for it. This is a necessity with this design in order to reverse the safety to suit me. But installing and fitting it is something I'm not really comfortable attempting as a DIY.
I would be extremely grateful and much obliged if any of you out there could point me towards an experienced and reliable gunsmithing shop within, say, 30-50 miles of Lebanon that I could contact about doing this.
Sorry for the ranting and rambling post. Just having a semi-crumby day. But many thanks for any help or advice you could offer!
