Need a rear sight for an 1853 Enfield 3-band

John V

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Aug 27, 2017
Does anyone out there have a rear sight and/or a sight leaf for a 1853 3-band Enfield? This would be the 900 yard version, not the 1100 yard model. I am looking for an original in good condition, not a repo.

Please let me know, I will give you my email address, etc.

John
 
I tried both of those places and they are out of stock for originals but thanks for the leads!

John
 
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That is a nearly impossible item to find, mostly because they were/are silver soldered to the barrel. The problem is because of the heat required to remove them usually resulted in a hammer being used with the heat to remove the sight. Ergo, the removed sights were usually severely damaged and discarded. This is unlike the American Civil War musket sights which were screw mounted to the barrel. Sad, but true!
J.
 
That is a nearly impossible item to find, mostly because they were/are silver soldered to the barrel. The problem is because of the heat required to remove them usually resulted in a hammer being used with the heat to remove the sight. Ergo, the removed sights were usually severely damaged and discarded. This is unlike the American Civil War musket sights which were screw mounted to the barrel. Sad, but true!
J.
Yes I understand that it may difficult to locate but putting the need out to the community can't hurt. Doing nothing will yield nothing. Years ago I had a sight that I bought and installed on a rifle so from first hand experience I know that they are out there.

Just have to catch the right person at the right time!

John
 
I may have a line on one. I think it came off a Nepal Enfield though.

Send me a PM as a reminder.
Thanks Johan, I am looking for a regular British sight to make the rifle correct. I think Atlanta Cutlery was advertising Nepal sights with Nepalese wring rather than numbers on the ladder-very strange!
 
Thanks Johan, I am looking for a regular British sight to make the rifle correct. I think Atlanta Cutlery was advertising Nepal sights with Nepalese wring rather than numbers on the ladder-very strange!
Actually, just talked to the fellar yesterday. It is off a Nepal job though it has the numbers, 1100 yard model.

He picked up a couple of those Nepal ones for a song and has been partsing them out after cleaning the parts up.

I'll keep my eyes open for one for you.
 
I am still looking for a 900 yard rear sight for an Enfield. I have seen a few 1100 yard versions for sale that must be from Snyder Enfields or maybe as indicated above a Nepal Enfield. If someone has just a 900 yard leaf assembly that would also work. Any help out there?

By the way I also added the book "Confederate Odyssey" to my collection and it has good information and pictures of Enfields from the Atlanta History Center collection. Good discussion on Birmingham vs. London Enfields with a number of descriptive pictures and illustrations. I recommend the book and it is a good value to boot.

John
 
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That is a nearly impossible item to find, mostly because they were/are silver soldered to the barrel. The problem is because of the heat required to remove them usually resulted in a hammer being used with the heat to remove the sight. Ergo, the removed sights were usually severely damaged and discarded. This is unlike the American Civil War musket sights which were screw mounted to the barrel. Sad, but true! J.
That is a nearly impossible item to find, mostly because they were/are silver soldered to the barrel. The problem is because of the heat required to remove them usually resulted in a hammer being used with the heat to remove the sight. Ergo, the removed sights were usually severely damaged and discarded. This is unlike the American Civil War musket sights which were screw mounted to the barrel. Sad, but true! J.
 
Period Enfield parts are very, very thin on the market now, which was not the case back about 6 or so years ago.
It's very difficult to buy decent "parts guns" now. The little donuts, which lock the band screws, have gone from 5@$1 to 2$ each !!! The big Baltimore Show is in mid March. Try to attend or get someone to hunt for a sight there. Good luck. There's one out there somewhere.
 
Howdy folks

I am still in the market for the 900 yard rear sight for a p53 Enfield. I bought a Birmingham barrel with good front and rear sights that I am thinking of salvaging for the sights. Kind of hate to do it because it is a pretty nice barrel but if I can't find and alternative reasonably soon I may do that.

I am thinking that most rear sights were from only a few suppliers/sub-contractors so a London or Birmingham sight would likely dimensionally be the same and therefore interchangeable in this case. am I wrong about this?

John
 
The Birmingham rear sights are visually correct, but vary in exact dimensions quite a bit because of the cottage industry in which they were made. Everything on a Birmingham musket was hand made and hand fitted with interchangeability being virtually non-existent.

I am curious, now that you have a nice condition barrel complete with sights, would you be better off replacing the barrel? Or, is there something exceedingly rare about the one you have without the rear sight that makes it more desirable to replace the missing sight?
J.
 
The Birmingham rear sights are visually correct, but vary in exact dimensions quite a bit because of the cottage industry in which they were made. Everything on a Birmingham musket was hand made and hand fitted with interchangeability being virtually non-existent.

I am curious, now that you have a nice condition barrel complete with sights, would you be better off replacing the barrel? Or, is there something exceedingly rare about the one you have without the rear sight that makes it more desirable to replace the missing sight?
J.
Hello Jobe

I have a London made P53 that I was thinking of buying that is missing the rear sight and the barrels are marked differently (proofed) then a Birmingham barrel (25/25). Therefore it would be far better to keep the London barrel on the London rifle not to mention as you said swapping barrels may not fit exactly due to the cottage industry of hand fitted parts. I was thinking since the complete rear sight is soldered on that they would be an easier fitment since it is a stand alone item.

I actually have another barrel but the sight has an 1100 yard sight leaf and is not correct for a Civil War era P53 from previous posts queries. It is also a Birmingham marked barrel. If I could find a 900 yard sight leaf I would swap it out and use that rear sight on the London rifle.

I posted pictures earlier of the Enfield that I do have that it is the consensus of this forum that it is not a Civil War rifle due to VR marking and stock proof marking (this where the 1100 yard sight is from that I don't think is original to that barrel). I am thinking of parting out that Enfield to supply donor parts which could include that rear sight.

My goal is to find a nice bona fide Civil War Enfield that is relatively affordable and interesting. They don't always have all of their parts though. I especially would like a Confederate P53 or one that has strong indications of Southern procurement (and is not a fake).

So as you can tell, I am looking at all possibilities and maybe someone on the forum may have parts-or maybe even a rifle that would work


Best regards,

John
 
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