Good Afternoon everyone! Hope y'all are having an excellent Friday. I have two questions regarding my Model 1898 rifle.

The front sling swivel band keeps sliding forward. I have it tightened as much as possible but it still moves all over the place. It appears the metal "nub" on the stock that holds it is pretty worn out. Is there anyway to replace/ fix this?

Secondly I just installed a 1901 rear sight. The peep hole is way too small. I have read that CMP allows you to drill it up to a certain size. Any advice on doing this? What size drill bit does one use?

Thanks,
mr.tickle

Howdy! 

You can remove the band, and carefully sand/file between the halves of the screw lugs to allow it to clamp a little tighter on the stock.

As for the peep, CMP allows you to enlarge the peep to 0.1.  On the 1901 sight, there is enough metal to support this, however on the Sgt. Peep plate on the 1902, I found that 0.07 was about as large as I dared going without damaging the plate... and that was sufficient to make a world of difference in sight picture.  On that 1901 sight, I would go slow and careful.  Shouldn't be a problem.  DO NOT exceed the 0.01 diameter allowed.  If you shoot for a medal at Perry, they WILL inspect your rifle, and if you are larger, they will disqualify you!  Use wire gauge drills, and I recommend carbide if you can find them (Sears should have these)

Good information about the rear sight hole diameters. But do check the the most current CMP games rule book as of 1-25-17 about "As Issued Military Rifles" That would be 4.2.1  (g)  The maximum aperture size requirement has been eliminated and the current rules now simply read "internal diameter of rear apertures may be modified."

Paul's drill information remains very valid, but you will not be disqualified for a larger rear aperture.

You can be DQ'd for lots of other funky stuff, but rear aperture size is not longer one of them.

We shot a CMP vintage match at 200 yards here in central WI today. Dark, overcast, cold, windy and light rain. I shot my 1898 with original unmodified 1901 sight. It works fine on a perfect bright clear calm summer day, but not in today's conditions. Sheesh! What a struggle. Managed a 92 and a 93 prone slow fire. That was with a high 7 and one low 8. The wire size drills will be un-boxed tomorrow!

Cat Man wrote on May 21^st, 2017 at 10:31pm:

Good information about the rear sight hole diameters. But do check the the most current CMP games rule book as of 1-25-17 about "As Issued Military Rifles" That would be 4.2.1  (g)  The maximum aperture size requirement has been eliminated and the current rules now simply read "internal diameter of rear apertures may be modified." Paul's drill information remains very valid, but you will not be disqualified for a larger rear aperture. You can be DQ'd for lots of other funky stuff, but rear aperture size is not longer one of them.

Well I'll be darned, just looked it up myself. Thats a relief! I'm going to start with a 5/64 (.078) and see how it goes. Do y'all drill towards the front sight or towards the shooter? Or am I overthinking it as long as i oil up and go slow...

Doesn't matter.  Just go slow and make certain that the drill bit is square to the work.  Afterward, use a slightly larger drill bit BY HAND to debur (don't ask me why I know this, LOL).

Didn't know they changed the rule for this year.  Good information... Thanks.

Front sights can be tinkered with too.  I have .073" thick blades on mine.  I didn't cut the slot in the sight stud wider, I just thinned the blades at the bottom to fit the slot, so I can go back to standard blades.  My front sights are taller too, for two reasons.  I shoot higher velocity loads, and my rear sight has a V notch.  I level the top of the rear sight with the front sight stud, and leave the blade sticking up where I can see things around it, like the target number!

Well, the operation appears to have been a success. The patient is currently stable and resting....

Thanks for your help gentlemen! Already its much easier to see the front sight!

P.S. I did use a larger bit to debur.

Well, knowing that the rules no longer bind us to the 0.1 Dia. rule, I went ahead and enlarged my Sgt. Peep to a size as big as the plate would allow.  The top portion is barely 0.001 thick now so I'm not sure how that will play into sight picture, but the aperture is now great at just over 0.1! (I had previously enlarged it to 0.07).  If it doesn't work out, I can always look for another plate to replace it and start over, but I'm optimistic that it will be fine!

Are you sure about that .001" measurement? 1/3rd the thickness of a standard sheet of writing paper. That's pretty thin AND scary.
Jon

'musketjon' - Paul indicated .1" or .100 inches (100 thousandths).

Ok, let me clarify...  The aperture is just over 0.1 dia.  The metal at the top of the plate is extremely thin.  It's like looking at the edge of a sheet of paper.  Imagine if you will, rolling a piece of paper into an aperture about 0.1 dia., and then looking at the sight post through it.  That's how the top of the aperture looks as I'm sighting with it.  This may come back to bite me in the posterior... but I'm going to give it a go next weekend at Kalamazoo.  If it doesn't work, then I'll come up with a new plan before the Roosevelt.