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Thread: Staked 1911 front sights... what am I doing wrong?

  1. #1
    Member Gadfly's Avatar
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    Staked 1911 front sights... what am I doing wrong?

    So, on my thread "the Beater Pistol Project", I discussed my junker Tisis 1911 9mm, a turd I was trying to polish.

    Well, I finally fitted the grip safety properly, and installed the front sight.

    I had to file the tenon a little to get it to fit into the slide. Once I got it to where it would fit, it wiggled just a little. But it was enough to annoy me. I get the brownell's staking tool and begin to peen metal. After many smacks, I began to question myself. I began to wonder, if i should have shortened the tenon a little bit. It seemed I was moving metal, but i was no where near "tightening" the fit or securing it.

    I was past the point of easily removing the sight without destroying it. I had to smack harder to try and push the metal more, and I realized I had slightly bent the sight. crap... So this was not going well. I did my best and adjusted my bench block as best i could. In the end, the fit was not too good, but it was on, and it was close enough considering I could not rewind and start over. I filed down the excess blob of tenon I had made, so I could re insert the bushing.

    I head to the range, and within the first magazine, the fiber optic was gone. I can probably attribute that to the abuse of me smacking the sight into place. So I wont hold that against Fusion. At 7 yards, the group was tight, but high! I was actually impressed. I ran it out to 15, then 25. When I reeled in the target, wow. as in bad, not good. My 1" groups had become 12" groups. Then I noticed the front sight could move about 1/8" in any direction. Crap.

    Soooo, long and short is, when the sight held, it grouped well, but 4-5" high at 7 yards. I am planning on going from the .165" height front to the next size up, which I believe is a .195". But I dont want to screw this up on the second go round.

    Soooo,
    1) When you install this type sight, do you file the tenon down enough to insert it with your finger strength, or do you leave enough material that you have to tap it in with a hammer? Do you add lock tight or any other type of material as a "filler" to take care of gaps?

    2) do you file down the tenon to a certain height above the interior of the slide? If so, how much? I left this tenon the length it cam from fusion, and it just felt like too much metal to move.

    3) I am assuming going from a .165" front to a .195" front sight will bring my group down considerably... am I in the ball park?

    4) Any tricks of the trade you may have from past installs that I can utilize? (You tube was woefully lacking in a quality, detailed instructional video)

    5) I have heard all my life Tenon as (TEN-Non), not as (TEE-Non)?? but youtubers all over the place on pronunciation. I am going TENon as I grew up watching "the New Yankee Workshop" on PBS, and that is how Norm Abram pronounced it...


    ANY help or advice is appreciated...
    “A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.” - Shane

  2. #2
    Been there, done that.

    After I tried the method you used and the sight fell off, I borrowed a tool from a buddy that swaged the sight in. And then after that sight fell off, I had a cross dovetail installed.

  3. #3
    Member Gadfly's Avatar
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    I was trying to avoid the dovetail, especially since the slide was already refinished...


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    “A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.” - Shane

  4. #4
    Member Gadfly's Avatar
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    10 shot groups at 7 yards...



    Ten shot group at 15 yards on target 4, ten shots on target 3 were WAY high and dispersed as the sight finally worked its way to full wiggly loose. Target 5 was rapid fire fast as I could go and get a flash sight pic, at 5 yards



    Side note, the Wilson 10 round mags work 100%. All three Springfield mags I was donated will not feed a single round. They suck.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    “A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.” - Shane

  5. #5
    Site Supporter farscott's Avatar
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    Assuming you used a narrow tenon sight, your results are not unusual as the narrow tenon does not lend itself to staying on the gun with modern sights with more mass than the original thin half-moon that JMB used. That is the reason Colt went to the wide tenon.

    One trick I have used is to use silver solder to secure the sight. JB Weld also works well for this application.

  6. #6
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    I've used locktite red with good results.

    Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

  7. #7
    Site Supporter Hambo's Avatar
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    IIRC I used a lead ingot under the front sight/slide while staking. It was soft enough to not bend or beat the hell out of the blade but hard enough to be able to be able to stake the tenon. The amazing part was that it stayed on.
    "Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA

  8. #8
    Member Gadfly's Avatar
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    Going to order the new taller front sight sometime this week. I will advise how the second install attempt pans out! It has to go better than the first attempt...
    “A gun is a tool, Marian; no better or no worse than any other tool: an axe, a shovel or anything. A gun is as good or as bad as the man using it. Remember that.” - Shane

  9. #9
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    I gave up on the tenon front sight.

  10. #10
    1. My FLG can put in a staked sight so it stays put. The only loose sight I have had was on my ACE .22. Vicious recoil from the floating chamber, maybe.

    2. A cross dovetail can be cut without marring the finish anywhere but in the groove itself. A dab of cold blue will darken that, what little might show.
    Code Name: JET STREAM

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