New Eyes for an Old Woodsman

You never know what someone will bring in and slide over on the counter. I opened the case and a classic Colt Woodsman Target Model .22LR wearing a very good blued finish was neatly tucked in a foam insert. This pistol was obviously well cared for and the owner wanted better sights since his aging eyes of 87 years couldn’t focus well enough to acquire good sight alignment. He did mention that whatever work I did, I couldn’t reduce any value to the pistol.

With a fixed front blade sight and an adjustable target rear sight I started with the normal questions. What’s the price cap on this project? Are you okay with better irons or do you want an optic? His eyes squinted, "An optic, like a scope?" I began to cover the benefits of a reflex sight as seen on so many pistols today, explaining dot sizes, their purpose, and that once zeroed the dot can be anywhere in the viewing window.

He was sold on the reflex sight suggestion as aiming would be just as easy as placing the dot on the critter and sending some lead. I made the commitment to not reduce the value of the pistol. Any idea of drilling and tapping mounting holes in the slide would not happen. I removed the rear adjustable target sight to expose a 4mm deep groove that housed a slide stop plunger and a 6-64 sight elevation screw hole along with across pin hole.

After searching the Internet I didn’t find any bases available for this model, so milling a block of steel was my only option. It would serve as an optic base and could be placed in the 4mm deep groove secured by the 6-64 screw and an additional use of the cross pin would keep the base solid with the slide. Keeping the rear target sight complete, I ordered another 6-64 screw (part # 184600) from Numrich (GunPartsCorp.com, The base I made started out as a block of scrap steel measuring 1.5 x 1.25 x 10/32".

First, the base insert needed to be fit to the slide groove and a sight deck thickness determined. With the use of 6-48 screws to mount the reflex sight, I made the sight base deck a thickness of 0.106". Milling the block of steel with a strip measuring 0.157" wide and 4mm tall ended up with a "T" shaped base that fit the slide groove. A feature of the Woodsman slide is a button slide stop located in the groove where I planned to mount the new sight base.

This button is used to lock back the slide when no magazine is inserted, however, the slide can be locked back with an empty magazine inserted and then removed after the slide is locked to allow that function. I first needed to determine the measurement of the 6-64 screw hole in the new base and that was 0.452" from the rear of the new base. The 6-64 clearance hole was the reference point for two additional hole locations on the new base.

With the base drilled for the 6-64 mounting screw I measured the slide stop clearance hole at 0.474" further forward and drilled a 0.200" diameter hole to a depth of 4mm, as not to drill through the sight base deck. The slide stop button clearance hole in the new base only cut halfway into the 0.157" wide sight base as the lateral centers are 0.109" apart. Fitting the new sight base required filing to contour the front

bottom portion of the new sight base to fit the slide groove. With both clearance holes drilled, I counter sunk the 6-64 screw for a proper thread depth engagement into the slide and test fit. Careful filing and fitting gave a snug fit of the new sight base into the slide groove. With the base installed, I center punched the cross-pin hole location, removed the base, and drilled a 0.060" clearance hole for the cross pin.

Once satisfied with the new sight base fit into the slide groove, I looked for a reflex sight to determine the position of the two 6-48 deck holes. Wanting a reflex sight with simple to use functions and one button push for all operations, I found the ADE Optics (ADEadvancedOptics.com, Crusader (# rd3-009) and ordered it from OpticsFactory.com. The sight base deck was oversized for a mini reflex sight, allowing centering the optic and then marking the holes to be drilled and tapped.

Once the 6- 48 holes were finished, I shortened the reflex sight mounting screws for a flush fit to the bottom side of the sight base deck. With the reflex sight mounted, I scribed a line around the reflex sight on the base deck to serve as a reference line while filing excess material away. With the new sight base finished and smoothed, I applied Brownells Oxpho-Blue (#082-024-032WB). I have been using this cold blue for many years and am very happy with the durability and finish.

The reflex sight was installed and a range trip was up next to zero the optic at 25 yards. Adjustments were quick and positive. After zeroing the Woodsman I ran a full magazine of .22LR into a Shoot-N-See target to present to the owner along with the newly converted pistol. Upon delivery of the pistol I demonstrated the features of the reflex sight and then had him run through the functions for me. With his arm extended as to sight the pistol he said, "I don’t see a dot.

Doesn’t it work?" I smiled and told him to very slightly tip the barrel down, as this is common when switching from irons to a reflex sight. Once the dot was visible to him in the screen, the expression on his face told me we had another reflex sight convert! Conclusion As with any project that is somewhat unusual, creativity and vision will most likely have you delivering a quality product.

This Colt Woodsman pistol now fitted with a modern reflex sight will likely see more enjoyable time in the hands of an old Woodsman with new eyes. AG