Can you remove the front sight on a barrel?

I want to put a scope on an AR but I would also like it to have iron sights.


Thanks.

im guessing you need to be able to remove the front sight from the scopes line of sight. if you use one of the gas blocks with a fold down sight that would work. assume you have a flat top upper . a fold down rear sight would be a better look for your scoped rifle. both front /rear could then be left down while the scopes being used and ready to go when you decide to remove the scope in favor of iron sights, theres really alot of options along these lines.

I assume you have a standard AR15 front sight base (FSB). If so, in most cases its not necessary to remove it at all. If you have any kind of magnified optic, the FSB will be so out of focus you won't see it. If you have a 1x optic (like an Aimpoint or EOTech), then you will see it but your brain will ignore it if you shoot with both eyes open (the correct technique). In fact, with a red dot optic most people prefer the FSB to stay in place so they can just flip up a rear sight if they need a backup (e.g. if their optic goes down for any reason). I happen to like the standard FSB also because its pinned in place, and thus much less likely to break loose and cause malfunctions than a set-screw gas block.

If your OCD means you really MUST have a completely clear line of sight, then you can cut off the top of the standard FSB, or you can remove it entirely (just need a hammer and a punch) and replace it with either a dovetail gas block or a gas block with flip up front sight. I would not bother, but its your rifle.