If I had a hammer, I'd hammer in the morning...

[Hughree]

I'd hammer in the evening, just to move my rear si-i-i-g-ht.

I DO NOT understand why manufacturers are fitting rear sights into the dovetails so tightly that they cannot be moved with a sight pusher, if not by hand. My XD .45 shoots ever-so slightly to the left. It's barely discernable at 21', more apparent at 33', and easily a full inch left at 50'. Great groups, to be sure. But great groups just left of where I'm aiming. So I take a peek at the factory sight and, sure enough, the rear sight is about half the width of the witness mark too far to the left. Okaay...I tried moving it with a commercial sight pusher I frankensteined to fit (Glock lower, Colt upper). No good. The shoe was a fraction too narrow to keep the slide from clocking when pressure was applied and I didn't want to mess up a rail groove. I then tried the old padded vice and brass punch. No joy. Despite my own version of the Golden Spike ceremony at Promintory Point, the sight didn't budge. It was going to require a whack harder than I care to give my new pistol. Even if I am able to move it, assuming it ever does move, there is no way I'm going to be able to make a small adjustment using the requisite sledge hammer. I can envision me knocking it too far right, then, oops, too far left --swinging the hammer like I'm playing Whack-A-Mole. Don't even get me started on Kimber's use of a hydraulic press to put in their rear sights. That's like buying a car with the lug nuts welded on. I mean, there's a pretty good chance that some purchasers will need to adjust their sights, much less change them out for night sights or sights of different configurations. Sending it to the factory doesn't work, as these types of minor adjustments are best done at the range where you can make adjustments after you shoot a group - us old timers refer to it as trial and error. But you've got a bigger trial awaitin' and you've made a bigger error if you think you can easily adjust these "windage adjustable" rears. If the factory is worried about the sights shooting loose or falling out, a little Loctite or a recessed set screw works just fine. I promise.

I'm not going to hammer on these anymore today. I may put some Kroil under the rear sight and give it one more whack, but probably not. I have a friend with a machine shop and the next step is to persuade him to CNC a custom shoe for the sight pusher that fits the XD rails perfectly. Then, theoretically, I can get enough leverage with the screw-type pusher to get this thing moving in the right direction.

Ad interim, I'd welcome any suggestions.

Thanks and God bless. Hugh

[RonS]

If they are that tight, they are more at risk of breaking the ears of the dovetail than if they applied a reasonable amount of pressure. My guess, and it is just a guess, is that there is a hydraulic press in the factory that puts the sights in under power to a set position, and that since no one in the factory has to do it by hand, the fact that it is way too tight goes unnoticed.

[Hughree]

I believe you are right. I've read that Kimber uses a hydraulic press. Their sights are even more difficult to remove as the "meaty" portion of the sight is to the rear (as opposed to over) the dovetail. My 1911 sight pushers are designed to push directly across the dovetail cut.

[tec]

This may be a strange suggestion, but what about heating up the slide with a heat gun in that area, heat expands. Waint a minute, try cold, throw it in the freezer, maybe that would work. ?? Just a wild thought.

[farmer]

Not a wild thought. If fact, it is probably a good idea.

['Card]

The ideal would be if you could heat the slide and freeze the sight, although I can't think of any way to do that. Unfortunately, I think if you heated the slide with the sight mounted, the sight would expand too, meaning it would still be stuck.

BUT, since the slide is a larger piece of metal, it should retain heat better, right? So if you heated the entire thing up, and then plunged it into cold water, then the sight, being a smaller piece of metal, should cool faster than the slide. So if you did it just right, and caught it at just the right time, it should pop right out. No problemo.

Honestly though, this whole thing is a load of crap. Springfield should have had adjustable sights on it all along, and since they didn't, they need to start doing it now. Or, they need to see if they can find someone who speaks Croat and have them calls those guys over there at IM Metals and say "Hey, stop letting Helga mount the goddamned sights!!"

[tec]

[quote="'Card"]The ideal would be if you could heat the slide and freeze the sight,



What about heat the slide and hit the sight witha few squirts of "keyboard" cleaner compressed air, It always is freeking cold, might just be enough to shrink it down.