I'll try to include enough information so that the staking process of the narrow or wide tenon front sight can be better understood. In the hopes that others can do this operation themselves successfully. It's really nothing more then a riveting operation.
As I said there are two basic tenon sizes and then there are others. The Colt early sights where narrow tenon pre 1988, and wide tenon post 1988. They can be identified by simply noting that the narrow tenon has a tenon that is narrower then the sight blade itself and the tenon on a wide tenon sight is the same width as the sight. The others are just that, the others, and enough said.
If you simply want to change the front sight or if it is loose or lost and you want a new one. Removing the old one, loose or not, needs to be done with care, so as to not damage the slide and tenon hole. I use a small burr 1/16"- 3/32" and grind the tenon on the inside of the slide. It's pretty easy to see where it is and just try to only grind the tenon itself. Forget about trying to save the old one as it's a goner now that you ground the tenon down and carefully grasp the blade with a pair of Vise-grips. Gently wiggle it back and forth while pulling out, if it's still kinda tight grind a little more and then it will come out like a bad tooth. Ahh. No damage to the slide, good.
Next clean the tenon hole and area under the sight. With a 3/32" - 1/8" burr carefully grind a bevel sort of like a countersink on the inside of the slide around the tenon hole as this wasn't done originally and is why some fail. The purpose as you can see is to give the tenon a place to lock into when you peen it in place. Keep it clean so that after peening you can apply a drop of Loctite #290, which is a wicking formula and can be added after you're done. I use this also on dovetail sights and it works great because you can do it last after alignment and not have a mess.
Okay lets put the new one in and go shoot. First though, there are two tools that I like to use, besides a hammer and a vise. You can do without one, but you'll not be sorry if you buy both. Here's the staking tool I use;http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/sto...SIGHT%20STAKER and here's a better design with a replaceable tip;http://www.brownells.com/aspx/ns/sto...SIGHT%20STAKER. I'm happy with the first one myself. And now here's the fixture you could do without, but it just makes it easy to not damage the sight or your slide and heck I love tools;http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/sto...00-454&s=49852.
Try to push the new sight into the tenon hole, sometimes they can be tight, but the tighter the better, only file the tenon a little to fit if you have too. This is another reason I like the fixture as you can use it to seat the sight. Once the sight is seated and the fixture is snugged down and put in the vise. The fixture has a recess cut on the corners that go in the vise so it's nice and solid. Now take your time using an 8-12oz. hammer begin to spread the tenon with the staking tool hit and look, hit and look, move the tool a little to one side and then the other as you hit and check. Once it starts spreading out and you get the hang of it you can start hitting and moving in a smooth operation. As soon as the tenon is spread out well you're done with that and can check how it looks off the fixture. Good? Good.
Lastly the excess metal from the tenon must be removed so the bushing will go in. I use a 1/2" stone in my Foredom, but a Dremel will work fine and carefully remove only as much as you need to so the bushing fits without pressing against the tenon. The bushing pushing against the tenon can loosen it as you fire the gun. Now if all is well and clean add that drop of Loctite #290, and say,"all right!" Enjoy!
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