Lyman 57SML Tang Peep Sight Mounting

[Idaholewis1]

It is an easy, straight forward process. First thing, is the Tang on your Rifle Drilled and Tapped for a Peep? TC Made some of Both, Some Tangs came Tapped for a Peep from the Factory, and Some Did not, out of my MANY Renegades and Hawkens only 1 of mine was Factory Drilled and Tapped, all of my others Required me to do it.

Not Drilled and Tapped for Peep. If your Tang is like this one you will need to Drill and Tap it to 8-32

Factory Drilled and Tapped for a Peep, they added a Plug to protect the Threads. Some Hawken’s and Renegades came this way, and Some didn’t, It has been my finding that more didn’t

The Lyman 57 Base will need to be Modified so that it Clears the Forward Wrist Wood of the Renegade.

It will look like this when you are done with it, i use a Dremel with a Sanding Wheel, takes about 2 minutes to do this. You can paint this black, or ignore it, it is Aluminum therefore will not Rust and this is Hidden as you will see below

Here you can See how well it Clears the Forward Wrist Wood of this Renegade after the above Mod.

This is a FUZZY Picture of a Lyman 57 on 1 of my Hawkens, i did not have to do the Above sight base Mod on this Rifle, it Cleared after i added the Required Front Washers to take out the “Forward Tilt” here you can see the Corner that needs to be Removed from the Sight Base for Renegade installation. The Hawkens are a Bit thinner Through the Wrist of the Stock than the Renegades, Some Hawkens do not need the Sight Base Mod, But so far all Renegades i have worked with do, The Forward Wrist Wood of the Renegade’s are a Bit Thicker. 

See the Corner on the underside of the 57 Sight Base i am Talking about here? Look between this pic and the 1 above

 

[Idaholewis1]

Drilling and tapping for Peep sight, How to find Dead Center of Tang

This is for education purposes only, You would be doing this with the Tang out of your Rifle of Course! This is just to Show you how to EASILY find Center of the Tang.

First, Measure the width of the Tang, all of the TC’s i have done Measure .500 across, Measure and make sure. 

Now that we know the Tang is .500 Across, half of that is .250, Adjust calipers to .250 and Lock them down. With my Stainless calipers i can lightly Scribe a line here. Even if your Tang Measures Slightly Different than .500 just Take whatever the Full width measurement is and Cut that in Half

Now Flip the Calipers over and check from the other side, you will note the Lightly scribed line will match perfectly from this side 

 This is DEAD CENTER of your Tang.

All that’s left to do now is place the Lyman 57 on the Tang, use the Rear Tang Screw Through the 57 Base, This will Hold it FIRMLY in place, use a pencil and Mark the Front sight Base hole. Now Drill and Tap to 8-32, You can buy this Bit and Tap in a Kit, this is mine

 

[Idaholewis1]

And lastly, Taking the Tilt/Forward lean out of the Lyman 57

First, Push the Button, pull the Slider out and set it aside. The Lyman 57 has a Nice Flat Top surface, use this to your advantage 

The Lyman 57 Has a Tendency to Lean Forward, Lay a flat edge on the Top of the Lyman 57’s Flat Base and you will find that it Leans/tilts forward, Like this

Here is How I correct Lean/Tilt (All of my Rifles are like this) I use Stainless Washers that are the Width of the Tang, and the 8-32 Screw will just fit through the Washer hole. On average, I ad 1 washer under the Rear of the Sight Base, and how ever many i need up Front to Correct the Forward Lean, This varies from Rifle to Rifle, You simply need to play around here and get the Base as Close as you possibly can, Being off a tiny bit one way or the other is Fine, all we are doing here is correcting the LARGEST of it.

Here is what i am Looking for, when i place a Straight edge on the top Flat surface of the Lyman 57 Base i want the Straight edge to Run as Close as possible to Straight in line with my Stock/Barrel, Like this

 

[Muley Hunter]

I'll be putting that sight on my GPR. They make one specifically for the GPR. It comes with a wedge that fits under the sight to give the proper angle. It does what you did with washers. I wonder if the wedge would work on your TC's?

 

[afishhunter]

Thanks for the info.
Can the washer(s) be eliminated by using the front tang screw to mount the sight base on the TC Hawken?

 

[Idaholewis1]

I'll be putting that sight on my GPR. They make one specifically for the GPR. It comes with a wedge that fits under the sight to give the proper angle. It does what you did with washers. I wonder if the wedge would work on your TC's?

Pete,  Good Point. I am sure that Wedge would work fine on the TC’s, A Guy could easily File/Sand the Wedge Angle down some if Needed? I have one of the Specific 57s for my .54 Cal Lyman GP “Hunter” Rifle, The ONLY difference is that it came with that Wedge. A guy could just Buy the Lyman GPR 57 Sight.

  Some might think this Washer Setup looks unStable? I can assure you it is ROCK SOLID or I wouldn’t be doing it! I have about 8 of these Setup on Rifles. Idahoron Made a Nice Tapered Shim for 1 of His Rifles, it looks Good, But it serves no more purpose than my Washer Setup (The last pic of Ron’s i seen, he was using this Washer Setup as well) The KEY is using Correct Washers, They need to be the Same Width as the Tang/57 Sight Base, With Holes just Big Enough for the Screws to Go Through. When you Tighten this Setup Down it AINT GOING ANYWHERE!! :Red tup:

 

[Idaholewis1]

Thanks for the info.
Can the washer(s) be eliminated by using the front tang screw to mount the sight base on the TC Hawken?

The Lyman 57 is designed to be mounted in the Rear Tang Hole, If you did try using the Front Hole you would need an EXTREMELY Tall front Sight, and it would actually end up needing Substantial more Shimming to Get the Forward Lean/Tilt out.

 

[Okie Hog]

Thanks Idaholewis.

i've been attempting to install a Williams peep sight on a TC New Englander .54 caliber. Tried making a new base but that didn't work out. Used the Tupperware stock because installing the sight on a walnut stock would have required some cutting.

Got the Williams sight installed. The front sight was too low and with the rear sight all the way down the rifle still shot about 6" high at 50 yards. A higher Skinner sight was installed and i'll sight in the rifle this week.

How about that hammer job?

 

[Muley Hunter]

I've decided to just tough it out with the rear primitive sight. Those peeps are just too modern looking for me but i'm a picky old coot.

 

[Idaholewis1]

Thanks Idaholewis.  

i've been attempting to install a Williams peep sight on a TC New Englander .54 caliber.   Tried making a new base but that didn't work out.   Used the Tupperware stock because installing the sight on a walnut stock would have required some cutting.  

Got the Williams sight installed.  The  front sight was too low and with the rear sight all the way down the rifle still shot about 6" high at 50 yards.   A higher Skinner sight was installed  and i'll sight in the rifle this week.  

How about that hammer job?

Looks good!! I have been here and done this with a .54 Cal New Englander as well  

Here is mine, Lyman 57SML

Here is another Modification i made to my TC New Englander, In order to Remove the Lock from a New Englander For Routine Cleaning you have to Remove the Tang because of that RIDICULOUS “Beak” That is built in to it, it serves NO Function purpose, merely a look thing. I take Functionality over looks ANY day!! 

The Built in Tang “Beak” i am talking about, as you can clearly see you cannot remove Your Lock because of this thing, without first removing the entire Tang. With a Tang Mounted peep the LAST thing i want to do is remove the Tang each time i want in my Lock for Cleaning/Maintenance.

My Fix, Remove That RIDICULOUS Good for nothing “Beak” Now i can EASILY access my Lock the Same as my TC Hawkens/Renegades without having to Remove the Tang. And I personally think this looks better :Red tup: Win Win Deal!

Looks Nice n Clean, and Functions FLAWLESSLY now, I like to remove my lock for Cleaning/Maintenance about ever 4-6 outings or So, and Re lube the Friction points, After my Modification above, it is EASY to do now!