XD Talk

Keltyke · 06-08-2010, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agalindo

The slide was held in place in the vice with a piece of cardboard.

Yup. I used an old leather belt for vice padding.

ggruber · 06-09-2010, 02:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NOYDB

The MGW tool works. So does this XD Sight Pusher

Removing the factory sights is the problem. The tools all say for installing and adjusting after market sights. They won't guarantee to remove the factory sights with out damage to the tool. Yes, they are that tight. On mine I got the rear sight out with a punch and about 3 whacks with a regular hammer. It took a three pound sledge and whailing away six times to *start* the front sight moving. However, installing the night sights I wanted to use was a breeze with the Modelandtool pusher (it's built like a tank). New sights may not be the right size for your dovetail out of the box and may require fitting. Grinding off the bottom of the sight till it barely fits and then using the tool to push it in. Having the tool allows you to adjust the sights with out banging on them with a punch. If you go with tritium night sights you don't really want to be hitting them.

i run an 1/8 inch high speed steel milling bit across the sights in my mill. they pop right out after that.

too easy to mar the slide with a punch and a hammer. the same thing can be accomplished with a dremel and a diamond cutting wheel -- if you know how to handle a dremel. you just need to grind down far enough to weaken the center of the sight, and then it will pop off fairly quickly.

out of 6 XDs, i have only managed to save one set of sights using the hammer and punch method. they are pressed on with hydraulics at the factory.

you really should not try to remove stock sights with an MGW pusher, and most aftermarket sights need no fitting at all. they will press on with an MGW (or other pusher) fairly easily.

some aftermarket sights are made from relatively soft steel, and will compress in the dovetail. removing any metal at all from Dawson sights will leave you with a sight that will eventually drift out all by itself.

the XD dovetail is too narrow to support anything but an interference fit.

Keltyke · 06-09-2010, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NOYDB

Yes, they are that tight. On mine I got the rear sight out with a punch and about 3 whacks with a regular hammer. It took a three pound sledge and whailing away six times to *start* the front sight moving. However, installing the night sights I wanted to use was a breeze with the Modelandtool pusher (it's built like a tank). New sights may not be the right size for your dovetail out of the box and may require fitting. Grinding off the bottom of the sight till it barely fits and then using the tool to push it in. Having the tool allows you to adjust the sights with out banging on them with a punch. If you go with tritium night sights you don't really want to be hitting them.

+1 on not banging on the tritiums. I actually had to cut one rear sight out with a Dremel and cut-off wheel. When fitting the new sights, go slow. If you take too much off, you'll suddenly have a sight that's too loose and you'll be hunting for some .001 shim. I used 400 grit sandpaper - a couple of strokes at a time until I got the fit I wanted. Sand ONLY the bottom of the dovetail, NOT the angled sides. Fit it until it slides in easily about 1/3-1/2 way, then use the pusher.

MrVvrroomm · 06-28-2010, 07:07 PM

I read all of the horror stories of removing factory XD sights.

My wife wanted some fiber optic sights on her XD9. Pistol was purchased new in January 2008.

I borrowed an MGW sight pusher from a friend of mine. I've got one for my Glocks, but it won't work on XD's (duh).

I sprayed both front & rear sights with Sili-Kroil industrial penetrating oil. It's flippin' magic, trust me.

Next, I tossed the slide in the freezer for about 2 hours.

I went after the rear sight first. Yup, she was tight, but never once did I touch a hammer, punch or bench vise. The rear sight was removed by aid of the MWG puller and bare hands. I didn't try to take her all in one move. If it felt like it was tightening up, I'd let a little pressure off then try again. Total time for rear sight removal once pusher was attached: 3 minutes.

The front sight came out even a little easier. No muss, no fuss. Add another 3 minutes.

The sights my wife chose as replacements were Dawson Precision wide blade rear and thin fiber optic front.

I cleaned out both dovetails with alcohol and a brush. I then gave them both a couple of drops of Loctite (I used blue, because it was handy). I understand the properties/uses of different colors/numbers of Loctite.

The Dawson rear sight slid in snuggly. I used a digital caliber to center them, then tightened down tightened the set screw with a drop of the same Loctite.

We're almost done. The Dawson front sight was a little different design than the oem XD sight. The base of the front sight is not flush with the top of the slide like the oem. This caused the sight/slide fit with the MGW pusher to be very tight vertically. In a perfect world or if I owned the sight pusher I would have milled a couple of .0001's off the base of the pusher.

I was able to fit it in, again, no hammer, punch, or vise needed. I centered the front sight the same way as the rear using my calipers.

My total time from start to finish was less than 30 minutes.

Notice oem sights could still be used.

MrVvrroomm · 07-01-2010, 02:02 PM

Just got back from the range. The sights were dead on as installed. I centered both front and rear sights in the slide.

Shots were fired resting on a sandbag.