Front sight ideas for a Mini-30

Finally got around to taking my Mini-30 to the range after buying it used in September. I brought along some made in the U.S. ammo only of two different varieties and, with my buddy using a spotting scope, tried to get it sighted in at 100 yards.

First impression is the gun is reasonably accurate. I fired enough rounds to get the barrel good and hot and didn't notice any excessive "wandering" like my Mini-14 tends to have.

However, my biggest problem is the HORRID front blade sight on this gun. I don't see how anyone can see anything with the sight job on this. It literally took some guesswork to get the rounds on target.

The sight was ugly, I thought, but now I know it's not even functional.
Sight is just like the one on this rifle-

It appears that it can be changed out, but I'm not sure if I'll have to employ a gun smith to do this or not. It looks to be "pinned' on to the barrel.

Can anyone lend some advice on switching the sight out? At the same time I'd like to install a flash hider or brake (this rifle doesn't have either).