Barrel and front sight.
 

Can someone please tell me what to use and what the best method is for removing a barrel lug and front sight from a traditional muzzleloader like a Hawkins or Renegade without beating up these parts or the barrel?

A piece of brass and tap that front sight out. Brass wont screw up your metal as much seeing its softer than steel.

The front site is normally on a dovetail wedge. A brass pin and hammer will drive them out. It's been a long time and I might be wrong, but I believe they drive out left to right.

The wedge barrel lug you need to examine close. Some of them have a small spot weld on them. If not, they too are in a dovetail of sorts. I normally do not mess with them. I let the factory play with them if there is a problem.

Thanks for the help guys but i went and finished around them as best i could. It doesn't look too bad.

You ask for the best way. The best way is to purchase the proper tool which looks like a C clamp on one end and has two bars sticking up on the other end you turn the handle and the screw forces the part with a dove tail out or in with out any pounding on any thing it is also very good for adjusting iron sights. I have had mine for many years but if I remember right I bought it at Midway.

Do you know what the name of the tool to remove the front sight is called?

Check here:

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/cid=0...20sight%20tool

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct...tNumber=732798

There are a lot of them out there pluckit. Look here: http://www.midwayusa.com/browse/Brow...ng=649***10398***

As you can see, they're not cheap. A simple brass rod and hammer to tap it gently will do the job just fine.

Here's a handy little set. http://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/...productId/5387

Thanks for the information. The cheapest one is %50 of the total I have invested in the rifle. I did manage to work around it.

A small hammer and a punch

Now that's the kind of expense I'm talking about!
Hey MD, You're OK with me man. Don't let those guys get to you. Stay cool and if you leave this site I'll split too. I hate to see people picking on you all the time.

oh im used to it! LOL

I dont tuck tail and run away like some.

If its a steel sight, you can actually hit above the wedge and drive it out so you dont scar or burr up the wedge itself.

It's not brass so it must be steel. The barrel is allready beat up in the area of the sight on one side from one of the previous owners, It's OK though. Take a look at her in my other thread, Striped and blued.

I have had good luck making small punches out of hard maple scraps and driving dovetailed sights with them. They will not last as long as the brass punches but I just make what I need from what is laying arround. There is no doubt the press is the best option though. I know of someone pulling the screws right out of the barrel on a ramp driving a front bead out.

ive done a few and buggered up a few. i have a sight tool but it doesnt work on all barrels and was pricey. i usually use a brass punch and lump hammer. i like to put some weight behind the punch instead of tapping like 30 times with a lighter ball pein. i cover the barrel areas near by the sight with a couple layers of electrical tape just in case of slips. i also put a thin layer across the sight where the punch is going. even though its softer metal you can leaves some scars. i put the barrel sight laying over the center of a roll of duct tape so you can hammer through with nothing in the way and the sight falls out. when i re-install the site i take the round end of the ball pein hammer and tap the dovetail slot lightly a couple times to close the edge in just a hair so when you tap in the new sight its tight.

Thats actually a pretty damn good idea. I never thought about using some wood scraps and making some punches for installing sights. It doesnt take much pressure to get them in if the dovetails are filed correctly.