Sight install question...

[TQFan]

I Have a Springfield Mil Spec that I am doing some basic tuning to. I have done a trigger job, full carry dehorn, bobbed the spur hammer, fit a match bushing, fit an EGW O/S FPS and full length guide rod w/ 16# recoil spring, 23# mainspring, beveled the magwell, tuned the extractor, beveled and pinned the ejector.

I am now going to tackle the sights next. I decided on the YoBo Retro rear and King's #104 white dot for the front. My question is this: Do I need to buy the staking tool from Brownell's or King's to stake the front site? This will probably be the last stake on front site I do and I just hate to have tools just sit in the box with no use. Can I use a punch to stake the site, or some other implement?
Any advice or info would be of great assistance. I am nearly finished. I just have the sights and then my Magnesium Phosphate finish and she will be lookin' good as new. Then my 6 week project that I started in February will be complete!! Oh well, I've been told the first one takes the longest :D

Thanks Again,
Chad

[Mgonz45]

I Have a Springfield Mil Spec that I am doing some basic tuning to. I have done a trigger job, full carry dehorn, bobbed the spur hammer, fit a match bushing, fit an EGW O/S FPS and full length guide rod w/ 16# recoil spring, 23# mainspring, beveled the magwell, tuned the extractor, beveled and pinned the ejector.

I am now going to tackle the sights next. I decided on the YoBo Retro rear and King's #104 white dot for the front. My question is this: Do I need to buy the staking tool from Brownell's or King's to stake the front site? This will probably be the last stake on front site I do and I just hate to have tools just sit in the box with no use. Can I use a punch to stake the site, or some other implement?
Any advice or info would be of great assistance. I am nearly finished. I just have the sights and then my Magnesium Phosphate finish and she will be lookin' good as new. Then my 6 week project that I started in February will be complete!! Oh well, I've been told the first one takes the longest :D

Thanks Again,
Chad
You can indeed find and improvised method without buying the commercial tool, I have even seen front sights silver soldered(i would not reccomend, but it did work). Just depends on how creative you are as to how well it turns out. you only get one try. When you order sights remember Springfield has thier own odd size for the front.

[Tom in Arizona]

I Have a Springfield Mil Spec that I am doing some basic tuning to. I have done a trigger job, full carry dehorn, bobbed the spur hammer, fit a match bushing, fit an EGW O/S FPS and full length guide rod w/ 16# recoil spring, 23# mainspring, beveled the magwell, tuned the extractor, beveled and pinned the ejector.

I am now going to tackle the sights next. I decided on the YoBo Retro rear and King's #104 white dot for the front. My question is this: Do I need to buy the staking tool from Brownell's or King's to stake the front site? This will probably be the last stake on front site I do and I just hate to have tools just sit in the box with no use. Can I use a punch to stake the site, or some other implement?
Any advice or info would be of great assistance. I am nearly finished. I just have the sights and then my Magnesium Phosphate finish and she will be lookin' good as new. Then my 6 week project that I started in February will be complete!! Oh well, I've been told the first one takes the longest :D

Thanks Again,
Chad
Just finished doing a sight installation on my parkarized '06 mfg Mil-Spec. Did not use any of those specialized tools you mentioned, although I considered them.
I installed the Meprolight tritium wide tenon set for the Colt which I bought from Midway as it was on sale and I had some other items to include on the order. Top Gun Shooter supply has that set regularly for a couple of dollars more and also carries the front sight separately in case you ever need to replace that alone.

Using small vice grips I wiggled the the front blade slightly then punched it out from the bottom. It came out clean and esay.


The Springfield Mil-Spec has a front tenon width of .080" and I could not find any available in that medium width. I contacted Meprolight and they said to use the Colt wide tenon which is .125" and have a gunsmith machine it down to .080". I used a cutoff wheel on my Dremel tool to take the sides down to .085" then some minature files to fit it the rest of the way. It was not necessary to remove any from the bottom of the tenon.

Before placing the front sight into the tenon hole I applied some Loctite 609 which is used for pressed fit bushings and pins on both the sight tenon and the tenon hole. You can get the tech specs from the Loctite website.

I then used a metal vise opened slightly to support the wings of the front sight without any pressure on the blade as I was concerned about damaging the tritium capsule. Then using a 1/4" pin punch I flattened the base of the tenon into the tenon hole. Applied some more Loctite 609 and it did not need any material removal for the barrel bushing to clear the staked tenon.

With the minature files I dressed the dovetail on the rear sight as I really did not wish to pound it in as was necessary to remove the factory rear sight on the Mil-Spec. If you go too far on the dressing and it is too loose, just lightly dimple the bottom of the dovetail on the slide until you get the resistance you would like. Also before pushing the rear sight in I applied some Loctite 609 to that dovetail.

The Loctite 609 is a transparent green which dries to a clear color. Just wipe off any excess while wet and it does not show on the parkarized finish.

I really like the larger size white outline dot on the Meprolight sights and it is so much easier for me with my vision.

Good luck with your sight replacement.

[gfavaron]

The unmentioned peril in performing most any repair on a 1911 is scratching the finish. Anytime I perform an operation on a slide that requires me to punch something out or stake something in, I wrap the whole slide in plastic electrical tape or masking tape.

Frankly, I am just too clumsy to take a chance.

[Tom in Arizona]

Forgot to mention for the areas of the front and rear sights that I dressed with the files that exposed to view after installation I used the Outers touchup blue kit. It's three felt tip pens with a cleaner, blue and shop chemicals. Matched perfectly on the white exposed steel of the Meprolight sights. Also for small areas on the Springfield parkarized finish it is real easy to blend that in to worn spots. Although I am sure it is not as durable as the parkarized finish, it sure looks good.