Fitting a Python rear sight on a Taurus Tracker

[Vernonia MW]

A client/friend of mine brought in a Taurus Tracker with a beat to **** rear sight. He said he'd shoot it more often, but unsurprisingly couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. I started to look for a replacement, but the only ones I could find were grossly overpriced, especially considering they were taken off a Taurus.... so I started to explore other options. I found a post on another forum that claimed a rear sight off a Colt Python was almost a direct replacement. Cool. A quick look on Ebay, and I found one that was even cheaper than the Taurus made ones.

Unfortunately, at times, the internet is wrong.

The sight body was too wide and too long, which was not a huge problem. The biggest issue was that the span from the hole for the pivot and the adjustment screw was different... not by much, but enough to where the sight would need a new hole drilled for the pivot pin. Unfortunately, the new hole needed to be right next to the old one. I had to use a carbide drill to keep it from walking into the existing hole. I also modified the adjustment screw so that it sat a little lower, otherwise it interfered with the sight picture.

It all worked out in the end. Far better than the factory rear. But in case anyone else is thinking about undertaking this.... it's not a direct swap.

Read More

 

[ZA_Survivalist]

Great work!

 

[orygun]

Nice job! Drilling a hole that close to another has to be quite the challenge.

 

[Vernonia MW]

Nice job! Drilling a hole that close to another has to be quite the challenge.

That was the hardest part of this job. I was lucky that I had a few carbide twist drills @huntpotter had given me. The HSS one I started with immediately tried to walk on me, even with a spot. So I plunged as far as I could go with a 1/16" end mill, and then switched to the carbide drill.