Some months ago I was able to aquire a disassembled 1901 sight. Unfortunately, it was missing the sight leaf spring. Last week I purchased a sight leaf spring from Granpa's Gun Parts. Now I have several questions concerning the installation of this spring.

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My first question concerns the curve of the spring.
Is it installed with the curved section down as in "A"?
Or with the curved section up as in "B"?

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Next question concerns the actual installation of the spring.
It will not snap into place from the bottom. I did notice what appeared to be dovetail cut in the sight and the edge of the spring allowing the spring to be slid into place from the rear. However when I tried to tap it into place it only went part way. Is this normal? Do I have to file the sides of the spring to get it to fit?
HELP!

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Thanks in advance.

olBEAR

olBEAR - I have a 1901 sight that needed the Leaf straightened. I took it apart in order to answer your question.

(note - Before disassembly, I scribed a hidden index mark on the slotted head of the 'binding-screw' and the bottom of the sight-base. The 'Binding Lever' is timed and the screw head has a curve to match the barrel radius. This aided putting things back together properly).

FWIW - My leaf spring could be removed from its dovetail in the 'pivoting upper-base' with very little effort. I used the tip of a Punch, slightly inserted in the hole through the spring, to pull the spring reward out of the base.

You may need to clean debris or burrs from the dovetail of the base. It would do no harm to file or stone roughness or burrs off the dovetailed edges of the leaf spring. These parts should slide together with only minor effort.

Also note, my 1901 sight has a second folded flat spring that is held to the upper base by a screw that goes through the hole in the leaf spring.

The purpose of this folded flat spring is to maintain a slight tension on the upper base when the clamping lever is released. This feature was not found on early version of 1901 sight. It is nice for operation, but, not indispensable.

Also, there is a thick washer that fits into recesses machined in the upper and lower bases. This serves as a pivot for the upper base.

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Thanks for the response and pictures. You answered all my questions.
While I do have the second folded spring I don't have the washer. Didn't know there was one needed.
So I guess I break out the jewelers files and the credit card to order the washer.

olBEAR