"Drift adjustable", my foot!
- Thread starter dahermit
- Start date
imashooter
New member
For future reference Ed Jennings http://www.sightpushertool.com/default.html in Alabama makes super sight pushers. I use his MK III on my 1911s. Some have needed dynamite yet his tool "adjusted" the sights very easily. Good guy to talk with too.
Fla_dogman
New member
Sight tool or build a jig and use a vise or press
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I have drifted, removed and replaced sights on a number of Hi Powers. The sights were all very tight. While I have other sight movers, I never got around to buying one for the Hi Power. I don't recall any of my Browning sights being secured with an adhesive. I lube the dovetails prior to beginning. Lube will usually wick into the dovetail to some extent no matter how tight. I tape the slide up with a couple of layers of that blue painter's tape and secure the slide on a padded vice. I have quite a selection of drifts and start with nylon, progress to aluminum or brass then as an "almost" last resort, steel if the sight will not move. I reshaped one of the aluminum drifts specifically to fit the MKIII front sight. If you have to use steel, and sometimes I've had to, the sight will be damaged. On a couple dovetailed fronts, I've had to resort to milling most of the front out to weaken it before it can be moved.
As tight as you indicate it is, the sight will likely be damaged in getting it to move. Not the end of the world. Brownells and Browning have factory replacement sights that are not expensive and easily fitted.......
I don't buy saplings, or green bananas either
As tight as you indicate it is, the sight will likely be damaged in getting it to move. Not the end of the world. Brownells and Browning have factory replacement sights that are not expensive and easily fitted.......
I don't buy saplings, or green bananas either
Any indication of staking? One would assume you've got it in a padded vise.
Sight pushers are horrendously expensive for a one time job. Been thinking a 1.5" hunk of padded 1.25" ID square tubing with suitable holes D&T'd and a padded eye bolt would work.
"...I don't buy saplings..." They make good tent poles. snicker.
Sight pushers are horrendously expensive for a one time job. Been thinking a 1.5" hunk of padded 1.25" ID square tubing with suitable holes D&T'd and a padded eye bolt would work.
"...I don't buy saplings..." They make good tent poles. snicker.
No they're not. What they are like any specialty is people with the right tools and it would likely cost less to have them do it than buy a sight pusher. If you want to do it yourself go for it.
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The reason I would not take the gun to a gunsmith to adjust drift adjustable sights is the same reason why I would not take my car to a mechanic to change the brake pads. "Take it to a gunsmith", is a "Captain Obvious" answer that offers little to any firearms enthusiast. If "take it to a gunsmith", is appropo for such a basic issue then there would be little justification for a gun-related forum at all, in that almost all firearm concerns could be answered in such a pedestrian manner.
dahermit,
I've had a couple occasions where for the life of me I could not get a rear sight to budge with a brass punch.
I ended up taking drastic measures.
I found a way to position the slide on a flat smooth concrete floor with a piece of cardboard and paper towel between it and the floor. Then I used a wash cloth or something to put over the rear sight and the slide. Then I stood on the slide with one foot to keep it from budging.
Then I used a good thick steel bolt that was laying around as a punch (my brass punches were becoming mutilated from my previous efforts) I put the punch at the bottom of the sights base where it meets the slide so that it was kind of locked into the corner between the two, then I used a regular heavy wood working hammer to tap on the bolt head, harder and harder and harder, checking the bolts position on the sight and checking the rag/washcloth to make sure the punch wasn't cutting through it.
Finally I noticed that I had knocked the sight over enough to be sure I had actually moved it.
Using some penetrating oil and possibly some heat are good ideas, but what did it for me in the end was basically steel on steel with a decent amount of impact and mass with a rock solid base.
Somehow I managed to do all this without marking up the gun.
Have someone else stand on the slide while you keep the rag, punch and hammer in alignment if you need to. But I really would recommend using a thick and wide steel punch.
Good luck buddy!
PS... Just a bit more elaboration to be sure I'm communicating this effectively. I really felt like the floor was an essential part of it all. I tried using a vise but there was too much flex and bounce from the vice and table and all that. I guess it depends on how solid your vice/workbench set up really is, but you can't do much better then a solid concrete floor. Having a good heavy punch is essential too, as well as a solid hammer. If you have flex or bounce anywhere you may not attain the solid deliberate shock needed to break it free. Just use whatever you can to protect the slide and sight from marring. I feel like regular box cardboard is good because it will cradle the slide and is soft, but it will compress so that it ends up providing a solid base after a few hits. A paper towel is good to protect the gun from the potentially rough cardboard. If you want you could try thinner cardboard from a cereal box, and that actually might be what I used if I remember correctly. Then good luck with whatever you use between the steel punch and sight, just make sure it will allow the energy to transfer but will still provide enough durable protection between the two bits of steel.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Once I found that I actually COULD move the sight, I went to the range to make my final adjustments. The formal range that I usually go to was ok with me removing the slide and barrel and all that and hammering on it on the floor just behind the firing line. I kept it up, resembling and firing three shots from a bag until I was satisfied that the sights were centered. Both those guns shoot great now, right to point of aim, and I can be sure they will stay that way as it would take an act of God to bump those sights out of alignment.
And yes, I was proud to have saved myself the time and money of taking it to a smith. Just be patient, careful and deliberate and I'm willing to bet you can get that rear sight to move without screwing it up.
I've had a couple occasions where for the life of me I could not get a rear sight to budge with a brass punch.
I ended up taking drastic measures.
I found a way to position the slide on a flat smooth concrete floor with a piece of cardboard and paper towel between it and the floor. Then I used a wash cloth or something to put over the rear sight and the slide. Then I stood on the slide with one foot to keep it from budging.
Then I used a good thick steel bolt that was laying around as a punch (my brass punches were becoming mutilated from my previous efforts) I put the punch at the bottom of the sights base where it meets the slide so that it was kind of locked into the corner between the two, then I used a regular heavy wood working hammer to tap on the bolt head, harder and harder and harder, checking the bolts position on the sight and checking the rag/washcloth to make sure the punch wasn't cutting through it.
Finally I noticed that I had knocked the sight over enough to be sure I had actually moved it.
Using some penetrating oil and possibly some heat are good ideas, but what did it for me in the end was basically steel on steel with a decent amount of impact and mass with a rock solid base.
Somehow I managed to do all this without marking up the gun.
Have someone else stand on the slide while you keep the rag, punch and hammer in alignment if you need to. But I really would recommend using a thick and wide steel punch.
Good luck buddy!
PS... Just a bit more elaboration to be sure I'm communicating this effectively. I really felt like the floor was an essential part of it all. I tried using a vise but there was too much flex and bounce from the vice and table and all that. I guess it depends on how solid your vice/workbench set up really is, but you can't do much better then a solid concrete floor. Having a good heavy punch is essential too, as well as a solid hammer. If you have flex or bounce anywhere you may not attain the solid deliberate shock needed to break it free. Just use whatever you can to protect the slide and sight from marring. I feel like regular box cardboard is good because it will cradle the slide and is soft, but it will compress so that it ends up providing a solid base after a few hits. A paper towel is good to protect the gun from the potentially rough cardboard. If you want you could try thinner cardboard from a cereal box, and that actually might be what I used if I remember correctly. Then good luck with whatever you use between the steel punch and sight, just make sure it will allow the energy to transfer but will still provide enough durable protection between the two bits of steel.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Once I found that I actually COULD move the sight, I went to the range to make my final adjustments. The formal range that I usually go to was ok with me removing the slide and barrel and all that and hammering on it on the floor just behind the firing line. I kept it up, resembling and firing three shots from a bag until I was satisfied that the sights were centered. Both those guns shoot great now, right to point of aim, and I can be sure they will stay that way as it would take an act of God to bump those sights out of alignment.
And yes, I was proud to have saved myself the time and money of taking it to a smith. Just be patient, careful and deliberate and I'm willing to bet you can get that rear sight to move without screwing it up.
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To apply heat to the area of the dovetail, use a soldering iron with the tip of your choice. No flame to mar the finish and the heat builds up slowly. The tip style provides choices for direct placement of heat.
Of note, I believe dovetailed sights are designed to be removed/drifted off from the left to right of the slide when viewed in the firing position. Probably tapered this way. You may need to go this direction first to knock things loose and then remount/drift sights to your desired position after cleaning the dovetail and sight base.
Of note, I believe dovetailed sights are designed to be removed/drifted off from the left to right of the slide when viewed in the firing position. Probably tapered this way. You may need to go this direction first to knock things loose and then remount/drift sights to your desired position after cleaning the dovetail and sight base.
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Yep, you've tried the "wack it til it moves route", I'd go to a GOOD gunsmith with a sight pusher, and get him to move it for you, the alternative is a ruined slide, scratches where you don't want them and a potentially ruined rear sight.
I have a sight pusher that works...most of the time and with no marring too...but there are times when sending it to somebody that does this sort of thing for a living is a better plan.
Sigs may be the opposite IIRC:
JMHO, Rod
Wow..some of the comments in here made me come back to re-emphasize the importance of a good sight pusher.
For example i recently micro tuned the drift sights on my P938 back and forth 2-3 times to get them just right....no pounding, no worries about dinging them up, just a turn of the Allen bolt until it breaks loose.
I am not a spokes person for sight-tool...i just know what works.
For example i recently micro tuned the drift sights on my P938 back and forth 2-3 times to get them just right....no pounding, no worries about dinging them up, just a turn of the Allen bolt until it breaks loose.
I am not a spokes person for sight-tool...i just know what works.
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erikrichard
New member
I had to move my Glock 27 tritium rear sight slightly to the right, the guy I bought the gun from had hired a professional gunsmith who did a very poor job.
Here's what I did: Take the slide off, place it on a solid surface with cardboard wrapped under and over it. C-clamp it to a solid surface. The trick is to find something that will sit nicely with the base of the sight - I used an allen wrench that I had cut into a straight shape from another project that fit - and smack it hard with a heavy hammer (I used a 4 lb sledge) a couple times.Check if it moved, if not repeat harder until it moves where you want. I finally got it to move, went too far, then moved it back a smidge and it's now perfect.
You can't use a normal hammer and some small punch and expect results, all you will do with that is mar the sight finish.
Here's what I did: Take the slide off, place it on a solid surface with cardboard wrapped under and over it. C-clamp it to a solid surface. The trick is to find something that will sit nicely with the base of the sight - I used an allen wrench that I had cut into a straight shape from another project that fit - and smack it hard with a heavy hammer (I used a 4 lb sledge) a couple times.Check if it moved, if not repeat harder until it moves where you want. I finally got it to move, went too far, then moved it back a smidge and it's now perfect.
You can't use a normal hammer and some small punch and expect results, all you will do with that is mar the sight finish.
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