I am getting ready to do the tang sight holes on my Ballard build so can anyone give me hole to hole dimension and rear hole to end of receiver? Also does the rear most hole lock the tail piece in place so that it doesn't turn? Thanks



JMH

Print says from end face of reciever to center of rear tang screw hole - .666"   

On original Ballard actions the space between holes is always the same, but the rear hole to trailing edge of the receiver can vary. The measurement is an approximate location that works, but you'll find original tang sights will overlap the stock wood various amounts, and sometimes even cause the hammers to not reach full cock before the spur hits the sight base! I've had to occasionally remove rear sights to get a hammer to reach full cock, or swap a different sight to allow enough clearance to get to full cock! 
There are also numerous different hammers, and different locations of the hammer notches! I have about 4 different hammers and can line up the pivot holes, and cocking notches, and see all have hammers at different angles on the spurs.
Lots of hand fitting on these parts, and seems no factory jig to make them all exactly the same!

jhm wrote yesterday at 6:34pm:


I find them easy to work on compared to other single shots, but then I'm not building an action from scratch, just building parts as I need them occasionally. I also try to stock up original parts for my own use as making some is beyond what me or my equipment can do!