changing sights on xd

3319 Views 13 Replies 12 Participants Last post by XDSC, Jan 29, 2005

tarheellefty

Discussion Starter · Jan 27, 2005

How easy/hard is it to change the sights on the xd? I am mostly interested in being able to change the front sight(I really like my Ruger gp-100 for that - I change it quickly and easily). I see that the in sights are dovetailed; does that mean tapping l-r every time one is changed, or does the front at least have one spot it goes in to? there is a gun show in Greensboro this weekend , and I hope to get an xd. I just want to get a feel for the front sights. I have a glock 19 w/3 dot night sights ; i really don't like them........ I am also looking forward to the Ambi mag release.
Thanks for any help ( and I won't see any replys until tomrow nite....)

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GregD

· #2 · Jan 27, 2005

It`s not hard, but the sights are VERY tight in the dovetail slot. I have changed both my XD`s over to Dawson Precision and it was a chore. The results were worth the effort.
If you do not have a way to clamp the slide without making a mess of it while you hammer away with a punch on the sight, you may want to consider having the job done.

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RicochetJim

· #3 · Jan 27, 2005

It's easy for a gunsmith with the right tools. It's hard for a newbie with no special tools. A gunsmith fixed mine for $10. Thta's the way to go if you can find one.

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R/T Performance

· #4 · Jan 27, 2005

I belive chrome recommed putting the slide in the freezer a good brass punch see best night sight forum and poll theres some tips

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Fly-Sig

· #5 · Jan 29, 2005

That slide in the freezer trick sounds bassackwards to me. As the slide cools, it gets shorter. Thus the dovetail gets smaller.

This trick would only work if the coefficient of thermal expansion for the sight base material is significantly higher than that of the slide so that the sight shrinks more than the slide, percentage wise.

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one-eyed-fatman

· #6 · Jan 29, 2005

Fly-Sig said:
That slide in the freezer trick sounds bassackwards to me. As the slide cools, it gets shorter. Thus the dovetail gets smaller.

This trick would only work if the coefficient of thermal expansion for the sight base material is significantly higher than that of the slide so that the sight shrinks more than the slide, percentage wise.

Worked for me. Could not get my sights off. 10 minutes in the cooler did the trick.

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CahillXD

· #7 · Jan 29, 2005

The dove tail is shrinks less than the sight itself does. The sight is shrinking inward in all directions. The slide, and by virtue the dovetail, it contracting in all sorts of directions. The net result is a sight that is smaller than The dovetail.

This is a poor explaination without a drawing to go along with it, but it's the best I can come up on such short notice.

Hope this helps,
Chris Cahill

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Snake-eater 1

· #8 · Jan 29, 2005

Fly-Sig said:
That slide in the freezer trick sounds bassackwards to me. As the slide cools, it gets shorter. Thus the dovetail gets smaller.

This trick would only work if the coefficient of thermal expansion for the sight base material is significantly higher than that of the slide so that the sight shrinks more than the slide, percentage wise.

Metal contracts when freezing. The slide metal contracts, makes the dovetail slot bigger. The sight contracts, makes the sight smaller. We're talking mere hundreds of thousands of an inch here, but sometimes this is all that is needed. Doesn't work "every" time, but often enough to make the suggestion worthwhile.

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panther308

· #9 · Jan 29, 2005

I actually was lucky, my slide had some rusting issues so I sent it to SA under warranty and asked them to leave the sights out after they refinished the slide after I got my Armory Koted slide back I put in a set of TFO's I got from AJames took about 10mins by the way the refinish was $8 s/h to SA

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XDSC

· #10 · Jan 29, 2005

After 20 minutes of pounding with a large hammer and brass punch I decided there was nothing to lose by putting the slide in the freezer. Two minutes of more pounding and the sights broke free! It worked for me...

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jcaniz

· #11 · Jan 29, 2005

Does the fwd sight just slide out or does it have a pin/detent pin/screw
holding it in place. I called my local gun shop and they said they could
not install the sights. This same shop once installed night sights on a
glock in about ten mins.
Is it safe to say the XD sight install is identical to the glock ?
thanks

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Fly-Sig

· #12 · Jan 29, 2005

The slide metal contracts, makes the dovetail slot bigger.

This is not correct. The slide gets smaller in all dimensions. If we measured from front to rear, the slide gets shorter. Each segment along the length of the slide also gets shorter. This includes the ejection port, firing pin slot, and the dovetails.

Now it may be true that the sights shrink even more than the slide, and thus are easier to remove than from a hot slide.

I am mostly interested in being able to change the front sight(I really like my Ruger gp-100 for that - I change it quickly and easily). I see that the in sights are dovetailed; does that mean tapping l-r every time one is changed, or does the front at least have one spot it goes in to?

There is no dimple or anything to precisely set the position of the sights. They can be moved with a sight pusher or they can be moved with a punch and hammer. The aftermarket TruGlo TFO sights were easy to move with the Sig sight pusher, but the rear factory sight is too wide for the Sig tool, so I had to knock it out with a punch. If you are a bit handy with tools this is a pretty simple job. There have been some other threads on this subject with some good details.

I don't think it would be wise to repeatedly change the front sights, because the sight bases are softer than the slide and they get a bit distorted when installed. Repeatedly installing and removing the same front sight will quickly cause it to be loose.

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87-51

· #13 · Jan 29, 2005

I remember hearing here a long time ago (before the hacker) that the sights should be pushed from left to right or vice versa. Is this true? If it is, which way does it work?

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XDSC

· #14 · Jan 29, 2005

I'm not sure if it's necessary, but that's the way I pushed mine out of the pistol.

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