BHP sight problem

I wouldn't mess with it since they are dead on. Unless it causes an issue.

You say that the sight is "dead on" ... if the 'smith had milled the dovetail deep enough to have the sight base flush with the slide , wouldn't the sight be too short?

9mmepiphany said:

Two possible issues immediately spring to mind.

1. Dropping it and bending it downward
2. Getting something caught under it and bending it up

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Good point, but unless one CCs the BHP, this is of little concern.

Do you have a pic of the rear sight. Did they re-cut the dovetails or did they use the factory MKIII cuts? IIRC that is the way Meprolights sit in the existing MKIII dovetail if you do not prep the sight properly. It is sitting a little higher than usual but not by much.They are never flush from the factory. They match the dovetail but like Novaks they need minor fitting. A proper gunsmith can correct it. What you need to do is file the sight so that it will fit flush with the slide or you need to weld it up. I personally would file the sights. They are the cheaper part and can be replaced later while welding on the slide won't be as easy to remove and you will need to refinish or at least touch up the gun. The rear sight might also need to be adjusted depending on how much material needs to be removed.

sparkyv said:

Good point, but unless one CCs the BHP, this is of little concern.

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Yes , and that patridge-like sight is not configured to draw anyway.
If that were mine to deal with , I'd be thinking along these lines:
Leave it as is ; it is for pleasure shooting , and it works well.
Or---
Welding , shaping and refinishing - or re-dovetailing - is so much work I may as well send it off to Novak and have it done right , from scratch.

I consider the latter approach to be the more desirable - IF you wish to put more money into that High Power. If that is the case , you may as well have Novak replace trigger , springs and hammer while you are at it - you will then have a truly fine BHP.

Devil's advocate time - a wise man once said "If it ain't broke - don't fix it!"

9mmepiphany said:

I'm thinking the installing "gunsmith" didn't that you're supposed to fit the dovetail by filing the bottom of the sight

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I am not sure what you mean here. Are you agreeing that the smith did not properly prep the sight?

Rittmeister said:

I bought these sights as straight replacements for the factory sights, and my assumption is that the smith simply swapped them into the factory dovetails. The rear sight has a tiny gap above the slide but nothing that concerns me.

I suppose I can live with it as I don't carry this pistol, but in future I may look into having it fixed for aesthetics.

I am amazed at how complicated something like this can be though. Both in terms of the physical fitment of the metal parts - i.e. they fit and work but don't look great - and the complications of the transaction between me, the store, and the smith. It was a real issue and I let them know. The smith was totally fine to talk to before the work (I had other questions about the gun) but I didn't speak to him afterwards, as it turns out the shop didn't want him to come out and "waste time" talking to customers in the first place. I think it's the height of stupidity not to allow the actual expert to communicate directly with the customer and told them so pretty bluntly. I continue to use the range at this store (it's by far the most convenient to my home) but will not have them do any more work for me.

I do have a 'smith at another store who I have had good luck with and will most likely go back to him in the future. I wish I could find someone in my area to deal with directly, rather than always having to deal with an intermediary.

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Rittmeister said:

Also, I don't understand how filing the sight would make it sit lower. I mean obviously if you filed away part of the bottom of the sight's dovetail it would do so, but wouldn't it then fit loosely in the slot on the slide? Also, just looking at it, I don't know if there's enough material to remove to get it to fit flush.

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There might be some slide variance in the factory dovetail. It is most likely shallow. The sight might be little too tall. These 2 things stack and you get an install that is not correct. This is why even thought sights like these and Novaks will say direct replacement there is always the caveat "some fitting may be required". Prepping the sight to fit the dovetail falls under "Some fitting..." Also you always file on the cheaper part which is the sight. You could file on the slide but if you mess up and take off too much metal it is much more costly. Any good gunsmith should have been able to get a much better fit than you got.

If it bothered me that much, I’d mix a dab of JB Weld epoxy and fill in the area. After it cured, I’d touch it up with matte or flat black paint.

The gunsmith just set the sight in a milling machine and recut it.
I’d have hand filled it using a needle file and vise. As a PPC shooter, I’ve replaced and fit quite a few front sights. But none quite like the OP’s photo. Though I have seen a few factory guns with such...

I've fitted a number of dovetailed front sights. All required a little, or a lot, of fitting and none turned out like that. While firearms and aftermarket manufacturers are more and more utilizing front sights with a tiny gap to simplify production, none I've seen are like that. Something is not right with that installation. Unfortunately, there are no standards at all for those calling themselves "gunsmiths". I have seen the results of some of these "gunsmiths" work. Results are sometimes much worse than what you have there. Regardless, I would not be content with that sight installation......ymmv

FWIW, Brownells lists different factory front sights for MK IIIs, pre and post 1990, and a rear for post 1990 guns. The sights look the same, but are apparently different heights. I wonder if there is some other dimensional difference between pre and post '90 front sights, sight cuts,etc. If so, the sights you bought may simply be of the wrong vintage and dimensions for your slide and dovetail cut....

Rock185 said:

I've fitted a number of dovetailed front sights. All required a little, or a lot, of fitting and none turned out like that. While firearms and aftermarket manufacturers are more and more utilizing front sights with a tiny gap to simplify production, none I've seen are like that. Something is not right with that installation. Unfortunately, there are no standards at all for those calling themselves "gunsmiths". I have seen the results of some of these "gunsmiths" work. Results are sometimes much worse than what you have there. Regardless, I would not be content with that sight installation......ymmv

FWIW, Brownells lists different factory front sights for MK IIIs, pre and post 1990, and a rear for post 1990 guns. The sights look the same, but are apparently different heights. I wonder if there is some other dimensional difference between pre and post '90 front sights, sight cuts,etc. If so, the sights you bought may simply be of the wrong vintage and dimensions for your slide and dovetail cut....

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The 2 sights FN/Browning factory OEM sights Brownells list are different because one is for 9mm and the other is for 40 S&W.

Maybe just my perspective - the sight appears to be installed backwards (facing the wrong direction)?

I'm thinking the installing "gunsmith" didn't [know] that you're supposed to fit the dovetail by filing the bottom of the sight

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If you file the bottom of that sight enough to get the sight fitting flush with the slide -- i.e., quite a bit -- I think it's going to make the sight fit too loosely in the dovetail.

Making the dovetail deeper is going to create a similar problem -- the sight isn't going to fit snugly unless someone inserts a shim in the front or back of the dovetail when the sight is in place.

Could it be the wrong sight for your gun? Maybe the Amazon vendor sent the wrong set. Call Meprolight and then send them a copy of the picture shown above to see if they have any suggestions.

Meprolight may be able to do a cosmestic fix, like fitting a small piece of metal inserted the front of the sight (maybe SUPER-GLUED in place) to fill the gap. If they offer a fix (or a different sight) you can send the slide and sight to them by Priority Mail for $5-$6, but be sure to also pay to ensure it for the replacement value.)

The local “gunsmith” here begged off from cutting dovetails on my MKII because he didn’t have the equipment, and obviously never did this work before. And I wasn’t about to let him experiment with my gun.

I agree with Walt above. They may have sent you the wrong sights. That gap is larger than the ones I often see.

You say in the original post that the sights place your shots "dead on" so you are satisfied regarding that. Meaning the relationship in the height of the front sight in relation to the rear sight. If you change the height of the front sights it'll alter to point of impact. So filing don't seem a good option.

You can as someone suggested, speak with Meprolight.

You can also speak with a local gunsmith. I googled it for your area and there are a good number around you. I'd go see someone that works from an actual gun store and not a box store. Who you can speak to and discuss options. In this way you can also meet a new resource.

Walt Sherrill said:

If you file the bottom of that sight enough to get the sight fitting flush with the slide -- i.e., quite a bit -- I think it's going to make the sight fit too loosely in the dovetail.

Making the dovetail deeper is going to create a similar problem -- the sight isn't going to fit snugly unless someone inserts a shim in the front or back of the dovetail when the sight is in place.

Could it be the wrong sight for your gun? Maybe the Amazon vendor sent the wrong set. Call Meprolight and then send them a copy of the picture shown above to see if they have any suggestions.

Meprolight may be able to do a cosmestic fix, like fitting a small piece of metal inserted the front of the sight (maybe SUPER-GLUED in place) to fill the gap. If they offer a fix (or a different sight) you can send the slide and sight to them by Priority Mail for $5-$6, but be sure to also pay to ensure it for the replacement value.)

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They may have sent the wrong sights but I doubt it because they only make one sight set for BHPs. This is not a knock against the OP but the Meprolights are the cheapest and IMHO worst option for direct replacement night sights on the market. They even when installed properly are ill fitting compared to Heine, Trijicon or Novak. Price point not the end result drive people to get Meprolights for BHPs. Some of their sights for other guns are great but the BHP sight misses the mark. As I stated before even when installed properly into MKIII dovetails the front sits proud of the frame. BHSS does a lot of BHP work. I am not a big fan of them for other reason but they certainly know how to install sights on a BHP and this is what their install looks like.



Now compare it to the OPs installation. The OPs is worse but not by much. By the looks of it the front sight is not sitting flush in the dovetail. The front end looks a bit proud which is why the gap increases as you move towards the muzzle. This is why I suggested you the smith should have fit the sight better. The front dovetail might be off just a bit and my doing a little filing it would look better. It will not be flush but certainly not as proud or at what appears to be an angle. You could file it enough to get it to sit flush but then it would be off relation to the rear and it might or might not fit the dovetail without some peening, weld up or a shim which a good gunsmith could do.



I never local people touch my BHPs. Stuff like this is why I send my BHPs to guys like Yost, Williams, Garthwaite, Cogan, Sokol , Novak, C&S etc... There are tons of people who know BHPs. I always recommend Novaks for sight only work. They have it down to a science. You can send them just the side so you can ship it UPS Ground or even USPS. They can even mill your slide if you have and older MKII, C series, T series or older gun. They will tough up or refinish the slide if necessary. They will get it back to you withing a week or two depending on current volume. MKIII night sight sets are $160 installation is $70 IIRC. https://www.novaksights.com/Default.aspx

Other smiths can do it to but they are the fast. For example Don Williams of the Action Works who is a BHP master will furnish and install Novak or Heine sights for $175. You can add a gold bead, night sights etc... for additional cost. IIRC Gold beads are like $50 which is my choice these days but he has done nights sights for me. Trust me his work will not look like either of the above pics.