Rock-Ola front sight

[wtmr]

rockola front sight issues

about 6-8 yrs ago I had chance to get crate of rockola NOS barrels from Norway-here are some pics of unmarked sight with stake marks, I am in agreement that sight should stay as is. In carbine world most anything is possible and if not some genius will make it possible

[Tuna]

Jimb is not talking about your rear sight but the one in the photos you listed of an old auction the same as I have been.

[ChipS]

Chuck:

I too was commenting on the rear sight shown in your 3-22 pics of the other Auction Arms carbine (not your carbine) that has had the 'BR' marking partially obliterated by a drift. That sight just doesn't smell right to me, but it is just one photo. Your sight looks legit to me. That's a nice looking carbine you have - would be great to have some more pics showing small parts details and full length views.

Everybody notice the 'X' stamped at the back end of Chuck's receiver slide track? Is this a common Rock-ola mark in this serial number block? ChipS

[Chuck Russell]

I went through Carbine Club newsletters to check the Carbines of the Month that were Rock-Ola manufacture. There were 8 in newsletters up to #288. None of the carbines reported an "x" on the right side of the receiver. In Newsletter#105, p.1, Joe Betti reported that a small "x" sometimes appears on slides, hammers, barrels and receivers in all four serial number blocks (Rock-Ola). "When a production item was taken from the assembly line by RMC engineers for testing, the small x was stamped on it to identify the part as being used for testing, gauging, experimentation, etc. It was then usually returned and installed on a production gun".

[jonnyo55]

IMHO, the distinctive staking trumps all other considerations as far as originality goes, especially if all else looks right. Why would someone alter an IBM sight, rather than just replace it with a RMC item?
Additionally, consider this: RP marked front sights were made by the Prestolite division for RMC. PO-B marked front sights were made by the Prestolite division for IBM. Is it not possible that a PO-B marked sight found its way into a box of RP sights at the Prestolite plant? If it did, does anybody really think that the assembler at RMC would have not used it due to the PO-B marking? It was mentioned that there's a slight track where the sight may have been slid off. How did the sights go on, did they grow there? Same with how the pin was inserted...was it inserted without the aid of an impact tool that may have flattened one end? Especially with RMC, where "seat-of-the-pants" engineering was the norm....

Unfortunately, due to the plethora of fast-buck guys who are faking everything, we're beset with a mentality that screams "fake!" whenever we see anything that's out of the ordinary. It must be remembered that, in addition to officially organized parts shipments to ease shortages at a particular contractor, the G (more formally, the Carbine Integration Committee) would regularly send small lots of parts around just to ensure interchangeability. Once that was done, do you think that those "foreign" parts were destroyed, or put in a box marked "do not use...danger of confusing future collectors exists"? Not hardly...they were built into guns, right along with the "correct" parts.

[Tuna]

Just where did you find this information on the Carbine Committee sending parts boxes to different makers to check for interchangeability? I would like to add the information to my notes. Thank you.