# XS big dot front sight removal



## Billy113 (Apr 1, 2014)

Hey guys,I need to send my slide back to ruger,but I have a aftermarket sight installed are the front sights dovetailed in,and can I tap that sight out? I have an XS Big Dot sight that I want to keep


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## lefty60 (Oct 13, 2012)

Why are you sending the slide back to Ruger?


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Use a wooden or Nylon punch, and a wooden mallet (so that when it slips, it won't do any damage).

Hold the slide against something firm, like a block of wood, and tap (don't pound) it out, from right to left. A padded vise will work quite well.

Maybe, before removing that sight, make a witness mark with a scriber so that you can push the sight back into exactly the same position again later. Half of the short, scribed mark should be on the sight, and half on the slide.
Put the sight back from left to right.

(Guys: Did I remember that correctly?)


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## Billy113 (Apr 1, 2014)

Thanks,Steve,you confirmed my general guess that it is dovetailed left,to right facing down the slide ass'y


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## Billy113 (Apr 1, 2014)

HI lefty60,I'm sending the slide ass'y back because the firing pin is striking on the casings instead of the primers.Have you had any similar experiences/ ?


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## Blackhawkman (Apr 9, 2014)

Go Right In & don't be Left Out. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

Blackhawkman said:


> Go Right In & don't be Left Out.


That's a good way to remember it.
Thanks.

Interesting: It's almost the same as "rightie tightie, lefty loosy."

How 'bout "red right returning"? (That's from back when I was about 15, and was learning about boats.)
It now also works with hearing aids! The one with red lettering is for the right ear.


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## win231 (Aug 5, 2015)

I recall reading an article by a gunsmith about replacing dovetailed sights. It stated that the metal in the sight's dovetail is softer than the metal in the gun's slide, which makes it a "crush fit." If you remove the sight, then re-install it, it may not fit snugly enough because it was already crushed down in size from the previously installation.

I don't know if that's true; I've only installed new sights with a sight pusher.


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## Steve M1911A1 (Feb 6, 2008)

There are ways to tighten the fit of a sight to a slide.
Chief among these, as I was taught, is to use a hammer-and-punch set on the thinnest parts of the lips of the cut in the slide (at its top), pushing the lips downward toward the dovetail-cut's bottom just a little.
Even though the sight's metal may be the softer part, working on the gun's dovetail cut is both easier to do and more accurately controlled.

If the looseness is quite egregious, you might insert a thin piece of shim stock under the sight's base. You do this at the same time that you press the sight back into place in its cut.

You could also soft-solder (or even silver-solder) a thin piece of shim stock to the underside of the sight base. But bear in mind that doing this may have some bad effects upon the sight.


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