[LKY13]

The welds on the 551 clone looked like crap, so I decided to level-out the high spots.
My Son took some work-in-progress pictures.
Apologies for not getting a close-up of the welds before starting.
Trust me; they looked horrible.
I will post some pictures later after I get it all finalized / coated.
Sláinte!

 

[CGRBB]

I am only guessing, but it would make sense that the factory rear sight base pieces have a good bit of an edge that overlaps the receiver, which is used in creating the weld. When a clone builder harvests a rear sight base from a SAN receiver fragment, he has much less left over to work with, necessitating the use of filler rod. I know Estes Adams touched up the rear sight base welds on his builds, so I reckon it's just the nature of working with the scavenged pieces. I would certainly have been curious to see the welds prior to your work.

 

[cwikjr]

Looks good!!! What will you do for refinish???

I really wanted to weld real Swiss rear sights on my 556's but went with the MFI sets instead... Colorado Gun Sales had virgin sight bases for a while but I couldn't find a Smith that was willing to do the work for me... I'm a good welder and can re-weld just about anything broken but was leery of welding on a perfectly good receiver...

 

[CGRBB]

These are three different examples of rear sight base welds. One SAN, one Estes, and one done by a local welder where I live. I opted to leave his welds alone, as I was worried they might end up looking bad, once I messed with them. Certainly not as slick as factory, but I have been pleased with it. I may have him do one without filler rod in the future, to see how it looks, but I think it'll end up eating into the base too much, for want of material.

 

[LKY13]

cwikjr - Nice welding. Impressive. As for refinishing; I plan on cerakote.

CGRBB - I would be happy with the top most weld, save the burn-through at the end. I just had one of our welders tig the rear sight. Usually his welds are impeccable, but he used a little too much filler, and also got the receiver a bit too hot and melted the back of my dust cover. I think he was nervous with me standing there.

I need to call Sig about some new rubber dust covers. See if they still offer a replacement service for these or not. If not; I'll have to see about somehow acquiring a set from Switzerland.

 

[cwikjr]

cwikjr - Nice welding. Impressive. As for refinishing; I plan on cerakote.

CGRBB - I would be happy with the top most weld, save the burn-through at the end. I just had one of our welders tig the rear sight. Usually his welds are impeccable, but he used a little too much filler, and also got the receiver a bit too hot and melted the back of my dust cover. I think he was nervous with me standing there.

I need to call Sig about some new rubber dust covers. See if they still offer a replacement service for these or not. If not; I'll have to see about somehow acquiring a set from Switzerland.

JDI lists the rubber dust covers and rivets but shows out of stock on both...