Can you push on a Sig Front Sight Blade?

[RJ]

I have a P365XL slide I want to change the front sight on, from Sig OEM to Ameriglo. I only change sights very infrequently, so my sight pusher is not very sophisticated, but I have had it for several years and it works fine for rear sight dovetails, on a very occasional basis.

I've secured the slide in a vise and tried a steel hammer and both brass and steel punches to move the sight in the dovetail, but it is held tight and will not move. I am moving the sight out, from right to left, looking down the slide from the rear, which is as far as I know the correct direction to push the sight out.

My sight pusher contacts the front sight, but it will not "reach" down into the front sight dovetail to contact the base of the sight. It will however just reach and contact the front sight blade, only. So my option currently to use my sight pusher is to push on the front sight blade, itself, above the sight body.

Is this advisable?

[Doc_Glock]

I have a P365XL slide I want to change the front sight on, from Sig OEM to Ameriglo. I only change sights very infrequently, so my sight pusher is not very sophisticated, but I have had it for several years and it works fine for rear sight dovetails, on a very occasional basis.

I've secured the slide in a vise and tried a steel hammer and both brass and steel punches to move the sight in the dovetail, but it is held tight and will not move. I am moving the sight out, from right to left, looking down the slide from the rear, which is as far as I know the correct direction to push the sight out.

My sight pusher contacts the front sight, but it will not "reach" down into the front sight dovetail to contact the base of the sight. It will however just reach and contact the front sight blade, only. So my option currently to use my sight pusher is to push on the front sight blade, itself, above the sight body.

Is this advisable?

I have broken front sights trying that. Make sure it is touching as close to the base as possible.

You may have to sand or file down the sight to fit your dovetail a little.

[GJM]

Doesn't the MGW pro effectively push on the blade, but with equal pressure from the base of the sight on up?

Of course gunsmiths need to eat too!

[taadski]

You’re moving the sight in the correct direction. And you should be fine using the technique you’re describing assuming you fit the sight to the dovetail adequately like mentioned. Factory production sights are generally fit pretty well out of the box IME. But I’ve bent more thin competition sights (Dawson’s specifically) than I can count pushing on them without fitting the sight base enough. Also, using a hammer and punch, you run the risk of breaking tritium viles, so a good sight pusher is definitely your best bet. I use the MGW pro George mentioned also.

[fatdog]

Having moved several sig sights in the last 18 months, I am coming to believe there is some element of the front sight being press fit at the factory. S&W did this for a lot of their gen 3 front sights and it required caution and a little more work to get them out.

I say this because in most recent Sig cases something snapped or more or less popped like it was breaking, then the sight began to move under pressure. Using an MGW tool on this in my case. I strongly concur that the file fitting and full length top to bottom support of a front sight is essential not to wreck one and get sideways. I have ruined quite a few over the decades.

[lwt16]

Having moved several sig sights in the last 18 months, I am coming to believe there is some element of the front sight being press fit at the factory. S&W did this for a lot of their gen 3 front sights and it required caution and a little more work to get them out.

I say this because in most recent Sig cases something snapped or more or less popped like it was breaking, then the sight began to move under pressure. Using an MGW tool on this in my case. I strongly concur that the file fitting and full length top to bottom support of a front sight is essential not to wreck one and get sideways. I have ruined quite a few over the decades.

Same.

I use MGW Sight Pro and Rangemaster models and have a similar experience.

[BillSWPA]

I agree with others who recommend using the MGW tool and getting as low on the front sight as possible. I have not yet broken a sight using this tool in this manner, although pushing on the dovetail is preferable.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pnut]

You can buy the NCStar/Vism front and rear sight pusher for less than $80. They make 2 models… rear only and front/rear, so make sure you get the right one.

Also, try putting a little penetrating lube like WD40 or Kroil on the base before trying to move it. I’d go with the lube/hammer/punch method before ordering the new sight tool. I’d avoid pushing on the blade if at all possible. You might break the blade off or bend it, causing the corners to bite into the slide, which would make removal even harder.

[JCN]

Having moved several sig sights in the last 18 months, I am coming to believe there is some element of the front sight being press fit at the factory. S&W did this for a lot of their gen 3 front sights and it required caution and a little more work to get them out.

I say this because in most recent Sig cases something snapped or more or less popped like it was breaking, then the sight began to move under pressure. Using an MGW tool on this in my case. I strongly concur that the file fitting and full length top to bottom support of a front sight is essential not to wreck one and get sideways. I have ruined quite a few over the decades.


Same.

I use MGW Sight Pro and Rangemaster models and have a similar experience.


You can buy the NCStar/Vism front and rear sight pusher for less than $80. They make 2 models… rear only and front/rear, so make sure you get the right one.

Also, try putting a little penetrating lube like WD40 or Kroil on the base before trying to move it. I’d go with the lube/hammer/punch method before ordering the new sight tool. I’d avoid pushing on the blade if at all possible. You might break the blade off or bend it, causing the corners to bite into the slide, which would make removal even harder.

I have replaced two P365 front sights and agree with heat and penetrating oil and hammer to get the factory sight out.

I have on occasion used a flat head screwdriver plus hammer to hit the base of the side of the front sight in the dovetail. Generally whatever the gun is supported with / against ideally needs to be solid to get transmission of the impact.

[RJ]

Got this knocked out this afternoon. I used my existing sight pusher, and padded the various pressure points with cut-up credit cards. The pusher block ended up almost exactly level with the slide, flat, and bore directly on the bottom-most area of the front sight.

The slide in question was purchased new by me from Proven Outfitters, last month, as part of an "X Change Kit" for making a P365 into a P365XL. As far as I know, the sight was installed by Sig. There was no trace of loctite in the sight dovetail, blue or red, at all. The pressure on my threaded tool (16 tpi) was similar if not exactly the same as a typical Glock rear. I applied a light bit of what I had for penetrating agent (WD-40) and let it marinate for 20 minutes before pushing. I am not sure it was necessary, but I did lock my pusher in my small 4" desk top vise.

The sight slid out with steady, even pressure on the screw. I incurred no damage to the sight nor slide.

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[fatdog]

slice of credit card was a nice hack, I will remember that one when using my "universal" version which presses on the sides of the slide

[RJ]

BTW, this is what I am putting on the XL slide, an Ameriglo SG-212-230-O, 0.230" height #6 front Sig sight. OEM Sig on left, Ameriglo on right.
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[RJ]

So I finally got this installed, but on my X slide (I ended up with an optic on the XL slide). Took an hour maybe. At first I over did the aluminum punch I ordered from Dawson, and had to dress the end with the file. I also made a couple nicks in the steel, so I dressed them up after with some cold blue. Turned out ok I think, the new sight feels about as tight as the one I pressed out, despite fitting it by hand.

Forgot the link last time:

https://ameriglo.com/products/details/sg-212-230-o

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[RJ]

Range visit today with carry mags loaded with carry ammo (Speer Gold Dot 124+p). After 30 rounds, I noticed my groups were wayyy left. Looked at the slide and saw this. Oopsies.

I’ll knock it out and source some Loctite 262 and refit it this week.

Good example of why it’s important to shoot your carry gun from time to time. I literally pulled it out of my holster and started shooting.

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[fatdog]

I would not trust the loctite alone if it were me, I would also stake the thing. A spring loaded punch and stake the 4 corners around the blade so I had some dovetail deformation. I don't mind touching up the finish after I do that but some people get offended by the punch marks it seems.

My experience with the Sig's has had them move on me as well after a new sight in the front dovetail.

[JCN]

Range visit today with carry mags loaded with carry ammo (Speer Gold Dot 124+p). After 30 rounds, I noticed my groups were wayyy left. Looked at the slide and saw this. Oopsies.

I’ll knock it out and source some Loctite 262 and refit it this week.

Good example of why it’s important to shoot your carry gun from time to time. I literally pulled it out of my holster and started shooting.

As an aside that’s why I like RDS as a redundant sighting system.

I have had a number of irons have issues as well as dots so I like having both as an internal check.

[RJ]

I would not trust the loctite alone if it were me, I would also stake the thing. A spring loaded punch and stake the 4 corners around the blade so I had some dovetail deformation. I don't mind touching up the finish after I do that but some people get offended by the punch marks it seems.

My experience with the Sig's has had them move on me as well after a new sight in the front dovetail.

Huh, I did not think of staking, that’s a good idea.

I did find some HD Loctite 271 in my toolbox. I looked up the cure time vs 262 (Dawson suggests using 262) and it is hard in like 15 mins, vs 180 for the 262. Even so, it still needs heat to release. I’m not sure I want it THAT permanent, so tonight I knocked the sight back in with some the generic blue I use for optic screws. I’ll let it cure and head back Tue to the range to shoot it again.

If I have more issues I’ll get the red, or stake the dovetail.

[UNK]

On one of my revolvers the front dovetail was oversized. The gunsmith who installed it dimpled the bottom of the sight to make it tighter in the dovetail then locktighted it. This was on a tritium sight.

[RJ]

Got another opportunity today to mount the identical part no. Ameriglo onto my spare XL slide.

Same toolset at last time; 800 grit paper, my Grobet #6 (which mainly I used to dress the punch, when it got peened) and elbow grease. Since I now had two take-off XRAY3's, I could not remember which one was on the XL slide, so I measured both. They were 0.055" and 0.052", top to bottom, on the right (insert) side of the flat. This new Ameriglo measured 0.054", and would not start easily. So I guessed it needed about 0.002" off, and got to sanding, fitting, sanding, fitting, sanding some more, fitting some more, rinse and repeat. After maybe 45" I was able to tap it home.

Got lucky on the last tap as it centered up perfectly, at least per my Harbor Freight calipers.

I cleaned up the marks I'd made with some Presto-Mag. I'm not sure if the cold blue solution is a solvent or it covered the bare steel; the coating is pretty tough and I was only using the Dawson punch. I'd guess a solvent? Anyway, I am no chemist, for sure, but I am happy how it turned out.

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[RJ]

Huh, I did not think of staking, that’s a good idea.

I did find some HD Loctite 271 in my toolbox. I looked up the cure time vs 262 (Dawson suggests using 262) and it is hard in like 15 mins, vs 180 for the 262. Even so, it still needs heat to release. I’m not sure I want it THAT permanent, so tonight I knocked the sight back in with some the generic blue I use for optic screws. I’ll let it cure and head back Tue to the range to shoot it again.

If I have more issues I’ll get the red, or stake the dovetail.

I forgot to post back on this; I had no issues shooting a couple mags of Speer GD 124+p at the range with the X, so I think that slide is good to go. I'll probably take both slides next time, I have new carry ammo this year (Federal 124 HST standard).

[RJ]

So as a last ditch effort before breaking down and buying a MGW, I decided to try one last cheap option:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088PK5TDQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

$41 delivered. I tried it just now to remove the front on my SA Garrison. Dang if it didn't come right out. The threaded rod is 16 tpi, ok so not quite as buttery smooth as the MGW (24), but it's not a couple hundred bucks, either. Setup is a little fiddly, but the tool is surprisingly easy to use (definitely easier than my other one.)

The primary reason I bought this one is that the pusher block is formed into a much smaller "beak", so that it fits specifically into front sight dovetails. The other side of the block has a 45 cut. The tool is pretty robust. The mechanism works ok after a bit of oil and working it back and forth.

I mocked this picture without a front, so you could see where it slides across the dovetail.

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