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Drifting XD-9 or XD-40 sights

2961 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Don
I am unable to make either the rear or front sights on the XD-9 and XD-40 4'' to drift in either direction using a brass hammer and brass punches. Why are they impossible to move or am I just chicken to really give them a wallop? Any suggestion for loosening them up? I have a Universal Sight Pusher but because the sides of the XD's are not flat they won't fit in the pusher. Thanks for any help. Please don't suggest going to a gunsmith.

Fred
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The sights drift right to left as you look from the rear of the pistol. You need a VERY sturdy vice and you need to really wallop them. You may well bend or break a brass drift punch. Are you going to reuse the sights? If not, you can make some dremel cuts into them to relieve some stress, they may come out easier. Also, put the slide into the freezer for a few hours before you try to drive the sights out. The sights contract with the cold, making them smaller. The slide contracts as well, making the dovetail larger. We're talking quite small numbers here, maybe less than 0.0005 inch, but it just "might" be enough to make the difference.

A Sig sight pusher will work, but you have to take a little off the sides of the rear sight (dremel or file) for it to work on the rear, the stock sight is slightly too wide to fit the pusher. You have to take the rear off first to get to the front. And, the Sig pusher won't work on the front sight of a Tactical model (I have no experience with the subcompact)

Good Luck.
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You better going with a vice and a punch, I do at least 3 sights a day and some do require a wallop. use a 1/4th size punch you will find that it fits nicely in the dovetail. Push the punch into the dovetail/as low on the sight as possible and give it a good whack. Use a ball peen hammer not a claw hammer. ball peen has a flat face that will make a nice level contact with the punch to transfer the energy. A claww hammer has a round face that will make it prone to letting the punch move when hit making a nice scratch in the slide. The main trick though is a big ass sturdy vice you cant hit what you cant hold.
Can you stick some shim stock onto the sides of the slide to make it work in your pusher?
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