Ballard #3

[GrozaB]

Hi all!
Sorry for my English - it is not my native language.
I recently get the Ballard #3 rifle as part of the trade. Single shoot rifles is not my cup of tea and I have few questions about this gun.
Gun in excellent mechanical condition, everything is smooth and tight. All numbers I found(barrel, receiver, both halves of the block, but-plate and forearm ) are matching. The bad thing - I think this gun(at least receiver) was reblued. Eyecup of the tang sight is missing. Bore condition is hard to tell - nobody cleaned this gun for last half of century, I'm still cleaning the bore and removing tons of dirt. But I can guess it is poor...
Here is few picks:





And now a few questions:
Is the sights original? I never see front sight like this on others Ballards...
Were can I found replacement Eyecup for the tang sight?
Estimated marked value - Balladrs is not my thing, I will probably sell or trade it.

Thanks you!

[Regnier (gunrunner)]

GrozaB;

You are correct about the reblue job. It appears the entire gun has been refinished at some point in it's past.
The front sight is what is know as a Beach Combination Front sight and was an option offered by Marlin at the time the gun was made.
You may have to settle for a reproduction eyepiece for your tang sight. Originals do not come along very often, if at all. You might try the Ballard Rifle Company or Axtell's (if they are still in business) Another place to look is Brownell's, but you might have to purchase an entire sight to get the parts you need.
Good luck........

[GrozaB]

GrozaB;
You may have to settle for a reproduction eyepiece for your tang sight.

Thank you for your replay! I will look for repro apertures - do you now what the correct size/thread for this sight will be?

[GrozaB]

Thanks for your replay! I think I will settle with repro aperture. Do you know what size/thread it suppose to be? I fond site www.aperturesnmore.com they have many repro apertures for different guns, but not for Ballard