Remington 597 Rear Peep Solution

[Helix_FR]

I decided to go a little more in depth on this little project. It seems fairly popular for people to want to do this but not many alternatives are around. As many of you know the 597 is all ready D&T for front and rear iron sights and also D&T for scope mounts. I had a customer that wanted a rear peep set on his to lengthen his sight distance and he wanted a rear peep b/c it was easier for him to do. Well here is a almost drop in solution for this. 1 additional hole will need to be D&T in the receiver. The williams rear peep will use an existing hole in the receiver too. If the barrel is already tapped for a front sight then easy install. All of the pre-existing mounting holes in the 597 are 6-48. All of the screws included in the front and rear sight sets are 6-48. So bonus there.
The sight sets that I used was a Williams WGRS-742 Rear Peep and the Marbles front sight ramp with a .275 height and a .625 barrel, and a Marbles sight insert at a .500 height. At first glimps and just setting the sights on the gun I thought the front was too high but I was wrong. Its dead on. In fact the williams rear comes preset in the middle of its elevations setting. When I bore sighted after I was done. I did not need to move the elevation at all, just a little windage adjustment was needed.
So here is the front sight. Easy install. Just put a little loctitite (I used red on the front) on the screw, screw down the ramp and slide in the sight insert. I've delt with several of these, some go on hard some slide right in. This one was easily pushed in with my fingers so I peened down the edges of the dovetail on the ramp to give it some bite. Now it had to be pushed on. I used a padded c clamp to do it.
So here it is. This one has the white sight, gold and fiber optic are also a option just make sure your get the ones at the .500 height


Now the fun part. The rear peep can use the mounting hole that is the rear most. Another nice thing is that the williams sight almost bites into the scope mount serrations in the receiver, so it lines up really easy. Now some people may think that just using the 1 screw to hold the rear on is enough. Maybe so but the receivers on the 597 are aluminum so if some how the rear becomes loose, the mouting holes can easily be stripped out, so I'm adding the second.
With the rear mounted and being held on with the front screw, Drill a hole using the appropriate drill bit size for a 6-48 hole (3mm is what I used) while using the rear sight as a guide. Now before you do that, remove the stock and the trigger group. You don't have to remove the bolt but make sure its in the closed position. If its open you can run the risk of running your drill bit into the bolt. With it closed, its out of the way. Now I used my mill to drill the holes only bc I don't like my drill press and I know my mill is true. Since your drilling a hole at a slight angle, I would not suggest the use of a hand drill. It can walk way to easy on you. Then you'll ruin not only the hole but also the sight. The receiver is aluminum so the hole will drill fast. After the hole is drilled I tapped it using my hand tap with my MT2 guide sleeve. This sleeve mounts into my mill head and hold the tap perfectly aligned with the hole I just drilled and perfectly straight up and down. It may be overkill but since aluminum taps so easy, a misguided tap handle can quickly turn nicely drilled hole into mess.

Here is the receiver mounted up in my mill with the tap and MT2 guide mounted.

And the new hole on the left along with the existing hole on the right.



All that's left is to mount your new Rear peep sight. I used blue loctite on these screws b/c if the owner ever wanted to put a scope on the rear peep would have to be removed. Make sure before reassembly of the gun that none of the loctite dripped down into the receiver and also make sure none of the mounting screws are protruding from the bottom. I didn't have that issue but just check. Also put a small dab of loctite on the remaining hole plugs, the loosen really easy and can come out or drop down into the receiver, interfering with the bolt.
The only little issue is the small gap at the back of the sight. It doesn't look to bad so I left it. If this were a ccw gun then I would b/c it is a perfect snag point but its a long gun so no chances of that happening
The gap in the photo looks worse than it really is, the shadows make it look deeper than it really is.


I bore sighted it expecting to have to move the elevation up a little, well not the case. It was dead on. Only a minor windage adjustment was necessary.

[Bindernut]

Nicely done Helix!

I've still got a wild hair to try the WGRS-54 since it's a bit more compact, but I know it'll need a front blade insert that's quite a bit taller than the -742 needed.
The -742 sure does fit the receiver nicely though. It's probably the best option for a 597.

[Helix_FR]

Shimming the front sight would not be so hard. You would just need a longer screw.

[JLA]

Very nice man. Now I wanna go buy a 597 and put me a helix peep kit on it... lets see some overall pics of the finished rifle...

[Zane71464]

NICE Helix! Very nice. I saw a 597 at the flea market this past weekend but was
rushed to another table of revolvers that was "sticking out" there calling me in!
That's some nice work Helix.

[jgillaspy]

This thread is great. I'm trying to get my 597 ready to do an Appleseed shoot and want to use an aperture sight, but I don't like the way the -742 hangs over the end of the receiver. If I was to use the -54, how tall would the front sight need to be?

TIA...

[Helix_FR]

I don't know the measurements of 54 rear sight. That would be the only way to find out. Using the 742 sight I had to use the highest front sight combo I could find. If the 54 rear sight is higher you would have to shim the front ramp.

[LewiSS]

Great install post! I finished installing a Williams WGRS-54 on my Henry. To get it to fit, I had already seen posts on other forums indicating it needed a bit of gunsmithing, and that is true. The install required opening up the space in the dovetail on the sight to get it to go over the built-in rail on the Henry. I used both files and CAREFULLY used the dremmell.

The front sight on the Henry is molded plastic. I cut off the post, and dovetailed the remaining base to install a fiberoptic front sight originally meant for a Remington (because it was the right height). I then used JB Weld to secure the front sight (I couldn't rely on the dovetail I cut, since it was cut in plastic which is somewhat soft and "squishy"). Once it set up overnight, it is rock solid.

I haven't had it out yet to sight it in, but measuring the heights of the peep and the front sight above the bore shows they seem to be identical with the peep set in the middle of the range. Looking forward to trying it.

I do have a question: when sighting in yours, were you able to determine if the marks on the side of the sight equate to any particular measurement (like a quarter of an inch at 100 yards or something)? I am sure I will figure that out when I sight mine in, but if you already know it would help shorten the process for me.

Thanks again for the great post!

[Helix_FR]

I only had to do a vary minor adjustment on my rear. When I bore sighted it, it was approx 1/4 in per mark at 100yds.