Go ahead and mar the artifact that has survived all these years!
I've been contemplating the same move. I say, get a wild, on the loose, 1901 sight and modify it, save the one indigenous to the rifle in it's natural state.
Who knows... maybe S+S has slides? I think there was a "parts" 1901 sight on Ebay recently.
"A man with a tractor and a chain saw has no excuses, nor does he need any"
Me. "Consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" Emerson "Consistency is the darling of those that stack wood or cast bullets" Me.