Question on sight pushers and help in NE area?

[worddoer]

OK...I got myself into a pinch.

I am assembling my very first NG19 (Non-Glock 19). I bought a pair of the Larry Vickers Wilson Combat fiber optic sights.

I got the front sight on with no issues. That's pretty darn easy.

It's the rear sight that is giving me issues. After some filing to make it fit, I tried to tap it on with a delrin punch, but it is stuck half on and half off. I tried to drive the sight back off to file a little more off the bottom, but it will not budge. I ruined my delrin punch trying to get it off.

Does anyone in the North East area have a sight pusher I can borrow? I guess I will need to push the sight off and remove a little more material off the bottom before I push it all the way on.

Any additional words of wisdom? Evidently I need it.

I guess as a side note, what is the best sight pusher out there under $50? And is a sight pusher in that price range any good?

 

[hps]

BRASS punch

 

[Luckyoldguy]

I live on the NE side and have a sight pusher I would lend you. Unfortunately, I have to go out of town tomorrow and won't be back until Thursday (12/6/18). If this isn't too late PM me and we'll see what we can work out. If we get together I will give you info on pusher and you can decide for yourself if you are interested in one like it.

 

[worddoer]

I live on the NE side and have a sight pusher I would lend you. Unfortunately, I have to go out of town tomorrow and won't be back until Thursday (12/6/18). If this isn't too late PM me and we'll see what we can work out. If we get together I will give you info on pusher and you can decide for yourself if you are interested in one like it.

Thanks for the offer, but I life in NE area of the state....Fort Wayne area. You don't happen to make it up this way often...do you?

 

[praff]

Brass or aluminum rod will solve your issue.....Aluminum tends to leave an easier to remove mark from the finish. Neither will usually damage the finish on the sight, but they will leave a little brass or aluminum behind. I use aluminum all the time with no issues. I bet you can even find some 1/4" square bar stock at your local hardware store to chop up for a punch.

 

[croy]

I have installed dozens of sights and have never had to remove material from the sights. So I hope you didn't just mess up your sights. I just use a brass punch if I don't have a sight pusher.

 

[worddoer]

I have installed dozens of sights and have never had to remove material from the sights. So I hope you didn't just mess up your sights. I just use a brass punch if I don't have a sight pusher.

According to the Wilson Combat website, these sights are manufactured slightly oversized to be "fitted" to each gun.

They designed it to have material to remove. Not sure how I could mess up an iron sight once I can get it into the dovetail. They will go on tight or they won't. Right now they are too tight and won't go on at all.

And even if I do, they are $35 - $40. I won't enjoy having to buy another, but it's not the end of the world.

 

[praff]

According to the Wilson Combat website, these sights are manufactured slightly oversized to be "fitted" to each gun.

They designed it to have material to remove. Not sure how I could mess up an iron sight once I can get it into the dovetail. They will go on tight or they won't. Right now they are too tight and won't go on at all.

And even if I do, they are $35 - $40. I won't enjoy having to buy another, but it's not the end of the world.

you are fine....i remove material all the time when fitting sights. If it is stuck, its not too loose......

 

[worddoer]

you are fine....i remove material all the time when fitting sights. If it is stuck, its not too loose......

Ya, that is what I thought. I have installed probably 8-9 pair and I have removed material from the rear sight on quite a few of those. No issues with any of the old ones so far after 8-10 years. No drifting. No sights coming off or moving if I rack the gun on the sights. I can't be doing that bad of a job.

With the oversized sight in mind, it is also possible that the dovetail on the brownells slide is slightly smaller than a glock dovetail. It is supposed to be the same, but it's possible that the dovetail is slightly smaller. That would only make things interfere more.

Thanks for the ideas guys. I will stop by the hardware today to see what I can get and see what I can do.

 

[2Lucky]

I have 2 MGW sight pushers and they work fantastic. The only problem is that they are gun specific......

 

[worddoer]

Well, after some drama, the sights are installed.

I was able to get a brass punch. Using the punch, I was able to get the rear sight off the slide.

Once the sight was off, I was able to file more off the bottom of the dovetail. After filing a bit and checking, it appeared the bottom of the dovetail was just right. But the sights still had a fair amount of resistance going on. As best as I can tell, I think that my hangup was with the top narrower section of the dovetail. I did not want to mess with the slide and I didn't have a small enough file to get into that nook on the sight itself, so I made the decision to use the brass punch to push the sight on.

I was able to use the punch and a lot of elbow grease to drive the sight into place. After I was able to confirm with calipers that the sight was centered, I had another problem.

I had to really pound on that sight to get it in, therefore I had quite a bit of brass markings on the sight and a little on the slide.

After doing some research on the web, it seems most people said a copper remover like Hoppes #9 would remove that. Well, I don't use Hoppes due to the smell. The wife does not approve. I have had pretty good luck with Remington 40X bore cleaner and that is what I use in my bores. So I used a soft toothbrush and the Remington 40X bore cleaner and it only took about a minute to get all the brass marks off everything.

But then the sight showed some spots where the blueing was worn away. Good thing I already had some Birchwood Casey Perma Blue (cold bluing)...now things look much nicer.

And since .....

Thanks for the help Ya'll!!!

 

[Chance]

I am in Berne. Send a PM

 

[worddoer]

I am in Berne. Send a PM

Please reference post #11

 

[praff]

Good job!!!!

 

[seedubs1]

Yup.....brass punch if you don't have a good sight pusher. Delrin is not going to cut the mustard.

Regarding sight pushers:
I have a cheap one someone can have. Otherwise, it's going in the trash. I HATE cheap sight pushers. The slide cocks sideways once you start loading it, and everything is just a PITA. Reminds me of my grandpa telling me "only a rich man can afford cheap tools....."
Brownells had the wheeler sight pushers on sale for just over $100. If you're tired of using a punch and banging on your sights with a punch, I've already used mine, and they are AWESOME. MGW ones are nicer, but the Wheeler pusher actually works very well.

 

[Luckyoldguy]

Glad you got the sight installed. Was out of town longer than expected but I don't get to Ft. Wayne often so wouldn't have mattered anyway. I did learn some good things reading the thread. Sorry l couldn't help.

 

[Work]

This is an excellent sight tool

https://amzn.to/2QrO511

here's a video on it

[video=youtube;bpB3G5a6KTk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpB3G5a6KTk&t=1s[/video]