I finished my cleaning and full inspection of my silver eagle. the bore was not as good as we all thought. it was full of lead. I did not notice it on the first cleaning.

started working on the plainman. made an touch hole pick and basic screwdriver out of 28ga steel then I heat treated.

then I started looked at the flint, I put it this way. I am going to have to order some before I take it to the range for the first time.

next the sights. front filed all the way down to .190in. I know that type of front sight well they start out almost at .300in.

rear, the dove tail is needing to be opened back up. i don't have the tool for that. i tested another sight I had on it. no go. I felted stop and start moving on an angle on me. once I saw that, second tap in I stopped and tapped it back out.

barrel is going to be reblued. where the old rear site was it left an nice impression from the elevation screw. I am going to keep this one blue.

oh the fun. good thing most of the parts I need are pretty cheap. since I gotta get both front and rear, I may just get some Williams and be done with it.

any one have any good bluing tips, I have not had to do an whole barrel, just touch up work.

so I told my wife, she is not to happy that I have to put money out on the gun since I just bought it.

why not shoot it the way it is for a while and see how it does. All the changes you mentioned can be done later. That would make the wife happy too.

am thinking about it.

may go on an take with me the next time I got to the range and put 5 shots down range just to fire it.

None of that will cost much to fix...When I make dovetails, I cut them with a hacksaw, then take a triangle file, grind the teeth off one side...Then file the dove tail in...The smooth side goes to the bottom ot the dovetail...You can probably clean up that dovetail with the modified file...

I also have a cold chisel that I've ground one side flat, I then put this in the dovetail and give it a good rap...This will upset the dovetail just a bit to help install the sight...

I wouldn't blue anyway, I'd brown...All this is is rust...You can make that barrel rust with vinegar or urine...Just make sure you seal the touchhole and plug the barrel after lubing them well...I've also seen some barrels that were etched with chlorox, this gave a good effect...

Wives are funny that way.

Think of this as a bonding experience and you are making a custom rifle for yourself.

Good luck!

Corey this is the file you need. I use this file to install the Lyman 17 AML front sights on my rifles. Ron

http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=6...GHT_BASE_FILES

Nice file Ron. But that's a lot of bucks unless you're in the gunsmithing business. An $8 hardware store triangle taper file will do for a one time job if you're very careful, and grind one side smooth, or fill the teeth with epoxy.

And too you can buy a kit with all little different file shapes to do just about any small minor filing such as dressing up a dove tail.

I agree. That front sight was filed down for a reason. Try shooting it first and see what happens.

I have seen guys "try" to file dovetails with el cheepo files and it turned a little ugly. One guy had to use a punch to make the front sight stay in place because he was using the wrong tool for the job. I went with the good one since it is designed to do the job. I have used it on 7 rifles so far. Ron