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Thread: DIY Sights Installation

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  1. #1
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    Post DIY Sights Installation

    Background:
    As a long time lurker, I've gotten some pretty good advice from this board, so I thought I might take a moment to give something back. The RIA Gov't 1911 is a fine piece of work, and a bargain to boot, but the as-issued combat sights are just a little small for my eyes :^). To remedy this, I purchased a set of LPA 3-dot sights from Precision International (P/N SPR45CT30). (I believe that you can purchase these from Brownells as well, but I got great service from Jay Hard at Precision International, so I thought I'd give a shout out.) This went so well, I'll probably put a target set on my other Rock!

    Also, I'd like to point out that I'm not a professional Gunsmith, so be sure to read through these instructions a few times to see if this is something you'd even like to try. I got most of these instructions off the web, some at blindhogg.com (great site), and others from newsgroups. It was interesting reading all the notes. It all worked great for me, it was educational, and it was fun too. I like working on this gun! Total time was about 2 hours, much of that waiting for Loctite to dry.

    John's note: The same instructions are still valid, if you want to install any sights which use the standard dovetail at the rear and a tenon at the front. So whatever is mentioned here can be applied to other pistols as well, and with other sights as well. For example, owners of the Springfield GI model, who want to change their sights to those used on the Mil-Spec can follow the instructions below.


    Step 0. Gather the tools and equipment.

    You will need the following to remove and replace the sights on your RIA 1911 Gov't model

    1. Your RIA Slide and new sights. Be sure to purchase a set of sights with a narrow-tenon stake-on front sight!
    2. A small drill press vice (flat vice) and some shop towels or other padding.
    3. A sturdy punch and hammer (medium size ball-peen worked for me.)
    4. A small triangular hobby file. (This is a very small file, found it in a set at Lowes.)
    5. A Dremel moto-tool w/round carbide ball cutter and small grinding stone. (This is, strictly speaking, optional, but highly recommended). BE CAREFUL.
    6. Loctite (Red - good stuff. I used 271)
    7. Vice grips or pliers for pulling off the old front sight.
    8. Brownells 1911 front sight staker tool. (p/n 080-817-000) Invaluable. A must have.

    Step 1. Remove the rear sight.

    Carefully mount your slide in the vice, being sure to pad the jaws and bottom of the vice with a shop towel, or better-still, some scrap leather. I have a cheap chinese 4" vice with smooth jaws -- I used shop towels, and it turned out fine, no scratches or dents. You want to mount the slide so that the ejection port/extractor is facing upwards, this way you can remove the rear sight by drifting it from right to left as you look at it from the rear. Be certain that you support the slide in a way that allows you to beat on the rear sight without hitting the slide or shifting it in the vice. Carefully line up the punch with the side of the rear sight and whack the punch with the hammer. Continue until the sight is out of the dovetail. My sight was *seriously* tight, but it did budge and come out eventually. Take your time and be careful not to hit the slide with the punch or the hammer. It might help to soak the rear sight in Kroil or some other penetrating oil before starting, I didn't, but I think it might have helped.

    Step 2. Remove the front sight.

    (Note: Some people advise that you can pull the front sight off with a pair of vice-grips. If you try this, be extra-careful not to scratch the finish on your slide. It didn't work for me, the front sight blade was just too tiny.)

    Remove your slide from the vice and carefully examine the area underneath the front sight. Clean it well. You will notice a rectangular, slightly rough, area directly beneath the front sight. This is where the tenon of the front sight has been staked to the slide. Staking, in this instance, means pressing the metal of the sight in such a way as to fill the cavity on the slide. This is what holds the front sight on. What we want to do is remove some of this material so you can pull the front sight off. Chuck up the carbide ball in the dremel tool and grind on the middle of this rectangle. Go slow and feel what you're doing. It's important to mention that the slide material is pretty hard, and the sight material is fairly soft, so you should be able to quickly tell when you're done removing the sight material, as the ball will *not* easily cut the slide. Put away the dremel. If you have a very small punch that will fit, you can try to punch the sight through the slot from the back, but I had to grab the sight and pull it from the top. It came out very easily. When you're done, be sure to check the slot for any obstructions and test-fit the front sight to see how cool it looks. (and to make sure you have the right size front sight - it should fit flush :^). Clean up the slide.

    Step 3. Install the rear sight.

    This was the most difficult part of the process, as, from the factory, the rear dovetail on my RIA was a) slightly small, and b) not perfectly at right angles to the slide. All guns are different, so yours may be more or less right on. With the triangular file, dress the sides of the dovetail, and the sides of the new rear sight, until you can start the rear sight into the dovetail. Note that the sight is meant to be driven in from one side. I had to open up the dovetail a bit and try to straighten it out as well. When you can press the rear sight into the dovetail about an 1/8", you may consider mounting the slide in the vice again. This time, mount the slide with the extractor down, sliding the rear sight in from left to right as you look at it from the rear. Try to drive the sight so that the base is even on both sides, I used a narrow piece of wood instead of a metal punch. You may have to remove the sight several times to dress the dovetail or the sight base. It should be a tight fit. Take it slow and you'll have no problems. Try to center the sight on the slide. (My sight sits at a very slight angle, maybe 5 deg., since the dovetail was milled not exactly at right angles to the slide, but it works great, and doesn't look bad, I think)

    Step 4. Install the front sight

    This is pretty easy, but takes awhile. I thought it would be much harder than it actually was. First, degrease and clean the front sight slot. (You did try to mount the new sight in the slot, right?) Liberally apply your locktite to the front sight tenon and press into the slot in the slide. I had to check twice to make sure my front sight was facing the right way (blush). Press the sight in flush to the slide. Wipe off any excess loctite. I didn't wait for the loctite to dry before I mounted the slide in the vice, again using shop towels or other padding to secure it. You will want the slide to be in a position where the new front sight is facing down, is pressed against the slide and securely supported, and the slide is held steady. Be sure that the blade of the front sight is resting evenly on the vice floor, or whatever support you have available, as you will be pounding on the other end of the sight (and you don't want to just pop it off the slide).
    Place the staking tool point on the tenon inside the slide and hit the top of the tool. You don't need to beat on it very hard at all. What you're trying to do is to spread the tenon to fill the lower rectangular slot. You'll want to check the tool position after every hit to make sure you're still on the tenon. It takes a little time to do this, but it's really easy, just place - hit - check - repeat. The tool is very hard, and has a pretty decent edge, so it really works well on the relatively soft metal of the sight blade. When you've flattened the tenon as best as you can, remove the slide from the vice and set it aside for the loctite to dry. When it's dry, chuck up the small grinding stone in the dremel, and smooth over whatever lump is left over from the staking operation. Go easy on this, you don't want to damage all the work you just did, clean up just enough to allow your bushing to slide on like it used to. When you're done, clean up the slide and examine your handiwork. Good job! Now, put your Rock back together again!

    Step 5. Sight 'er in!

    Head on down to the range! If you've centered the sight then it should be pretty close left to right, and you'll just have to dial your elevation in or out. I had to adjust mine two clicks left, which worked for me. Take a non-marring punch and your hammer to the range the first time, tap left or right if you're substantially off, and lock the sight down once you're happy with your adjustments.

    I hope that these instructions save someone a little time, and maybe help you get a little more fun out of this great pistol! Thanks!


  2. #2
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    Great report, Why, didn't you take some pictures along the way?

    I'll make a sticky out of it, both in the Gunsmithing forum, since there is nothing specific to RIA about this.

    A couple of points if you allow me:

    First, centering the sight in the slide.

    This applies to every case where a dovetail is used to mount a sight. Be it the rear sight, on an installation like that, where the front one is a staked-on, or to both the front and the rear, if the installation includes a dovetailed front one.

    In order to center the sight in the slide, use the following technique. Take a piece of metal (aluminum preferably) that you are 100% sure it is totally flat. a 2x3" piece is fine. Rest the metal in the side of the slide (so that it is flat on the slide) and measure with your calipers from the one side of the sight opening (if it is a rear sight), or from the one side of the sight (if it is a front sight) to the metal mentioned above. Repeat the process on the other side, measuring the distance from the other side of the sight opening (or the other side of the sight). In that way, you can be sure, the sight is totally centered in your slide. Some times, as noted, the dovetails are cut strangely, and just eyeballing the difference to the right and left, based on the dovetail will not get you the proper centering.

    Second, if you are installing the sight for the first time, there will be this square opening inside the sight. Do not use the dremel to open it up and make it deeper or larger. Stake the sight in that opening. If of course, you have just removed an old sight from the slide, follow the instructions above and "dig" a little in the slide, to make a small dimple, in which the tenon of the sight will expand.

    Finally, if you want to be absolutely sure that you do not scratch your slide, when removing a front sight (after cutting of the staked tenon on the inside of the slide and before grabbing the sight with a set of locking plyers), cover the top of your slide around the sight with electric tape. Then grab the sight with the plyers and pull. It should come right out.

    Again, thanks for this report, I am sure everyone will appreciate it.
    John Caradimas SV1CEC
    The M1911 Pistols Organization
    http://www.m1911.org

  3. #3
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    Thanks fellas!

    Again, I see wonderful, helpful, easy to understand information from this site.
    And, since I'm getting ready to install fiber optic front sights on my Kimber and one of my Colts, this article caught my eye and was very helpful.

    I have visited many other forums, but M1911.ORG is by far my favorite hangout for all things 1911.

  4. #4
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    If you can find a round piece of BRASS this makes a great punch because it is solf and will not mark your part, also file or stone a small angle on the base that enters the slot first. This lets the sight work in the slot with out hanging up or digging into the slide, the shamfer helps to guide the sight in position.

  5. #5
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    Someone please correct me if I am wrong....but don't dovetailed rear sights get drifted LEFT TO RIGHT to remove them and RIGHT TO LEFT to install them?

  6. #6
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    I have read about the staking tools for front sight installation but for the one time replacement can a regular punch be used to stake on the front sight? In this string is mentioned a brass pin rounded on the end. I have the new sight but didn't know how much force was needed to stake on the new sight. Are there any home tricks or standard tools that can be used for this one time install?

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Bellino
    Someone please correct me if I am wrong....but don't dovetailed rear sights get drifted LEFT TO RIGHT to remove them and RIGHT TO LEFT to install them?
    I was thinking the same thing. I removed mine recently and it moved very nicely to the right with each tap in that direction. BTW, lacking a brass drift, they are rare these days, I used the head of an old brass door key. It worked fine. M1911

  8. #8
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    Actually, I think that the dovetails are parallel in construct. Rear sights are "drift adjustable" for "windage"

    b=

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by berkbw
    Actually, I think that the dovetails are parallel in construct. Rear sights are "drift adjustable" for "windage"

    b=
    Its probably somewhat of a individual situation thing. My xd has narrowing dovetail sights. But i think that a 1911 would only have narrowed rear dovetail if someone milled it too small on purpose and then filed it on an angle. Many rear sights it seems are either set with a set screw or loc-tite. So a narrowed dovetail wouldnt really be necessary.

  10. #10
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    Conventional wisdom has it that nearly all dovetail mounted sights are drifted out to the right.
    That being said, I recently replaced the sights on my Springfield Armory GI 45 Champion, and danged if it was nearly impossible to drift the rear sight out to the right, but it came out easily to the left when looked at from the rear of the slide.
    YMMV

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