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Ballard #5 rear sight elevator (Read 416 times)

bobw Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1874 Location: NW, Iowa Joined: Mar 19^th, 2013	Ballard #5 rear sight elevator Aug 21^st, 2025 at 12:16pm	Print Post
	Would anyone have a good picture of an original rear sight elevator for a #5 Ballard? An accurate length measurement would also be helpful. I think, looking at pictures of this sight, that this is an original rear sight. Although not original to this gun. The elevator is not right, it’s narrow and tips to the side. I plan to make a new one. Bob

	Robert Warren
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marlinguy Frequent Elocutionist Offline Ballards may be weaker, but they sure are neater! Posts: 17114 Location: Oregon Joined: Feb 2^nd, 2009	Re: Ballard #5 rear sight elevator Reply #1 - Aug 21^st, 2025 at 12:41pm	Print Post
	If you notice those points at the bottom of the sides on the rear blades, those are only on Ballard and early Marlin repeaters. They went away in the 1890's. Let a barrel slide through your hands and those points will get your attention quickly! The "harpoon" elevators used on early Marlins come in 3 sizes, but most Ballard rifles used the largest size. The length of the larger one is 1.3" long, and at the top of the "hump" it's .28" tall. Has 5 notches and a little pointed tail at the bottom rear base. Tried to get a picture of my Pacific, but camera is giving me fits so it's blurry. (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links) Here's a repro I found a picture of. Rear point should be a bit longer and look more pointed: (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links)

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bobw Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1874 Location: NW, Iowa Joined: Mar 19^th, 2013	Re: Ballard #5 rear sight elevator Reply #2 - Aug 21^st, 2025 at 1:50pm	Print Post
	Vall, I did find a picture that I cropped to see the sight better and it does look a lot like yours. Although, It looks to have a couple more steps. But, I have no clue if it’s an original. I think your picture and information gives me enough to make one. Thanks. It also has front sight issues. When I shot the gun it was 6 inches high at 50 yards. That was with the rear sight elevator removed. The front sight had a brass blade set into the steel base. The base was so badly damaged you could not drift it either way. I finally mounted the gun in the mill and cut it out. II’m in the process of making a new front sight now. I don’t know if that is what the front sights were, but I am going to try and duplicate it.

	Robert Warren
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marlinguy Frequent Elocutionist Offline Ballards may be weaker, but they sure are neater! Posts: 17114 Location: Oregon Joined: Feb 2^nd, 2009	Re: Ballard #5 rear sight elevator Reply #3 - Aug 21^st, 2025 at 6:44pm	Print Post
	Bob, the front sights were German silver which is just nickel. They also came in various heights depending on caliber and barrel diameter. Obviously the one you had was much too short, so probably want to make it tall enough that you can final shape the height with a file at the range. Here's an original front sight as used on all Marlin CF rifles from the 1890's back. (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links) Some had grooves shaped into each side to make the top appear like a solver bead shape. Either way is correct.

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Statesrights Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 382 Location: Virginia Joined: May 3^rd, 2016	Re: Ballard #5 rear sight elevator Reply #4 - Aug 21^st, 2025 at 7:29pm	Print Post
	This is the kind of stuff that makes this ASSRA Forum so interesting/valuable.


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bobw Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1874 Location: NW, Iowa Joined: Mar 19^th, 2013	Re: Ballard #5 rear sight elevator Reply #5 - Aug 21^st, 2025 at 9:52pm	Print Post
	marlinguy wrote on Aug 21^st, 2025 at 12:41pm: If you notice those points at the bottom of the sides on the rear blades, those are only on Ballard and early Marlin repeaters. They went away in the 1890's. Let a barrel slide through your hands and those points will get your attention quickly! The "harpoon" elevators used on early Marlins come in 3 sizes, but most Ballard rifles used the largest size. The length of the larger one is 1.3" long, and at the top of the "hump" it's .28" tall. Has 5 notches and a little pointed tail at the bottom rear base. Tried to get a picture of my Pacific, but camera is giving me fits so it's blurry. (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links) Here's a repro I found a picture of. Rear point should be a bit longer and look more pointed: (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links) Ended up a little different and needs some cleanup yet, but it works. Bob

	Robert Warren
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bobw Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1874 Location: NW, Iowa Joined: Mar 19^th, 2013	Re: Ballard #5 rear sight elevator Reply #6 - Aug 21^st, 2025 at 9:59pm	Print Post
	marlinguy wrote on Aug 21^st, 2025 at 6:44pm: Bob, the front sights were German silver which is just nickel. They also came in various heights depending on caliber and barrel diameter. Obviously the one you had was much too short, so probably want to make it tall enough that you can final shape the height with a file at the range. Here's an original front sight as used on all Marlin CF rifles from the 1890's back. (You need to *Login* or *Register* to view media files and links) Some had grooves shaped into each side to make the top appear like a solver bead shape. Either way is correct. Couple pictures of how bad it was locked into the barrel and the brass insert. Both sides of the dovetail were mashed into the barrel like shown on this side. There was no moving it. I even filed down the left side to, just above the barrel, thinking it would break off when hit, but it wouldn’t so that’s why I cut it out. Bob

	Robert Warren
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bobw Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1874 Location: NW, Iowa Joined: Mar 19^th, 2013	Re: Ballard #5 rear sight elevator Reply #7 - Aug 21^st, 2025 at 10:08pm	Print Post
	Looking at the pictures of the barrel it would appear the gun is in tough shape…..and it’s definitely not a cream puff gun. When I got it, the full cock sear would not hold most of the time, the half cock barely held, when the trigger did catch the set trigger would not trip the sear, it would not lock up properly, the bore was shot and there was a chip out of the stock. All this is now fixed and I have left the outside, aged finish, pretty much as it was, just a light cleaning. Picture of the old girl while it was mounted in the mill. Bob

	Robert Warren
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marlinguy Frequent Elocutionist Offline Ballards may be weaker, but they sure are neater! Posts: 17114 Location: Oregon Joined: Feb 2^nd, 2009	Re: Ballard #5 rear sight elevator Reply #8 - Aug 22^nd, 2025 at 10:25am	Print Post
	Nice save for a worthy Ballard deserving your touch! The Hepburn I purchased off the FS section recently had a similar front sight issue, but not as beat up as yours. I clamped the barrel in my padded vise jaws and got my brass punches out to knock the front sight out to switch to a spare globe sight. I gave it the usual tap several times, but it was stuck good. I grabbed a bigger hammer, and began hitting it harder, but just mangled the tip of my punch. Grabbed another larger punch that didn't fair well either. I finally grabbed a steel punch, which I hate to do, and hit it hard, and it moved! I switched back to the brass punch and had to almost drive the sight completely out before it moved freely. I used my jeweler's file to touch up the dovetail slot as it was a little corroded, and the new sight went in firmly, but not too firm.

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rifleman Senior Forum Member Offline Posts: 310 Joined: Aug 4^th, 2015	Re: Ballard #5 rear sight elevator Reply #9 - Aug 22^nd, 2025 at 5:28pm	Print Post
	Bob what caliber is it? Are you gonna shoot a buffalo with it? This deer season I’m taking the 45-100 I got at the sale where your last Pope Rigby came from out and I am gonna shoot something with a 550 gr paper patched bullet, even if its just a rabbit.


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bobw Frequent Elocutionist Offline Posts: 1874 Location: NW, Iowa Joined: Mar 19^th, 2013	Re: Ballard #5 rear sight elevator Reply #10 - Aug 22^nd, 2025 at 8:36pm	Print Post
	rifleman wrote on Aug 22^nd, 2025 at 5:28pm: Bob what caliber is it? Are you gonna shoot a buffalo with it? This deer season I’m taking the 45-100 I got at the sale where your last Pope Rigby came from out and I am gonna shoot something with a 550 gr paper patched bullet, even if its just a rabbit. It was originally 40-63 Ballard. I got reformed brass with the rifle which would slip past the extractor if you were not careful. Since it needed a new barrel or a liner, I decided to leave the original barrel on with the liner. This way it saved a complete restoration and besides I Kind of like the looks of it. To make things somewhat easier I chambered it in 40-70ss with a reamer made to use 405 brass. It also got a reworked extractor that does not let the brass past it. I did leave the original cartridge markings but marked the new cartridge on the bottom. Might try and shoot a deer with it this fall. Bob

	Robert Warren
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