Removing the stock sights on xd ?

[Desert Wolf]

Originally Posted by tennvol

Which way did you hit them? Left to right or right to left?

If your holding the gun as you normally would and looked down at it i knocked the sights out the left side, i was hitting them on the right side

On the front sight i hit on the upper portion of the sight not down by the dovetail. Im also a little paranoid about scratching things so i had a rubber nipple on the punch for an extra protection

[tennvol]

Thanks. I looked at my 45 compact and it looks like the sights went on from the left side (when holding the gun as normal) so I think I might try and bang it out from the right. I'm going to try and install some Heinie Straight Eights. How do I know when I have the sights centered on the slide?

I've always wondered how gunsmiths can take just a slide and install sights and have the sights be dead on without firing the pistol.

[Desert Wolf]

Originally Posted by tennvol

Thanks. I looked at my 45 compact and it looks like the sights went on from the left side (when holding the gun as normal) so I think I might try and bang it out from the right. I'm going to try and install some Heinie Straight Eights. How do I know when I have the sights centered on the slide?

I've always wondered how gunsmiths can take just a slide and install sights and have the sights be dead on without firing the pistol.

I have no clue about installing them centered, i just took mine out to save a few bucks at the gun smith, i let him install the new sights for me.

[mandohack]

It took my gun shop 2½-hours to remove the original sights and place the SureSights. In the process, the frontsight channel was gouged when the slide twisted in the tool due to the force being applied to the sight base. A similar thing happened when placing the back SureSight, the slide twisted out and caused some cosmetic damage.

It's too bad they can't go with something like a retention screw, because these were certainly not intended to be adjustable, let alone removable.

So, I've got SureSights and a dinged-up slide.

[Wrangler]

I own one but it is not intended to break sight loose just move them. It takes a padded vice, a hammer and a punch to get them off.

[rogerxd45]

my gun range (impactguns) has a deal if you buy the gun there and the part there they install for free. well the gunsmith said my sights were by far the worst he has ever done. so now for walki n people with xd's he charges extra when compared to sig or other gun companies. but i still would try to do them myself since the cost of getting them put in is usually less then a 100 pack of WWB just doesnt seem worth it to me

[chuckels59h]

I installed my own Truglo's with this pusher, the rear original popped loose sharply when it unseated. It didn't damage the slide and pushed the originals off and the mepro's on, two weeks later I installed truglo's and didn't have a problem. The way i made sure it didn't cock the sights on removal or install was to push a little and loosen the pusher to let it self align. Same with install. My xd 40 sub had detents on each side of the original sight that caused it to bind on removal. I could feel the new sights sliding over these detents as the new ones installed. I would push a little then relax the tool, then push some more and then relax the tool. this is the tool I used, well worth the money!!
Sight adjust/install tool - Springfield XD - SIGHT INSTALLATION TOOLS - TOOLS - Top Gun Supply

[highscore]

My XD9 shoots to the left, the same as two others that people I know have bought recently. One friend tried to move the rear sight with a drift punch but said it was impossible. Ya right. When you have access to the right tools, you can do anything! After determining that I needed to move my rear sight .036 to the right, I mounted the empty slide in the vice of a Bridgeport, protecting the finish using thin cardboard and supporting the bottom with parallels. I made up a brass punch with aproximately a .125 diameter on the bottom, length of the .125 diameter was .100. I mounted this punch in a drill chuck in the spindle and brought the slide up until the punch just contacted the sight, as close to the bottom of the dovetail as possible. After zeroing the dial out, I then raised the table to move the sight. I had to put a decent amount of pressure on the sight before it moved but it did move. It moved .022 and I will try to shoot it tomorrow to see the difference in my windage zero. This time, I will measure the exact distance to the target so I can move it once more to a dead zero windage. What will I do differently next time?

Make the pin out of steel and use a small brass .005 thickness shim to protect the finish.

Mount the pin in a collet instead of a drill chuck so I can better control the movement of the sight. The pin will have a step so it can not slip in the collet when pushing the sight.

I'll try to take a picture of the set-up and post it this weekend.
HS