Taurus PT99 AF-D rear sight

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jwamplerusa

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First, if you can provide any solutions to my dilemma I would greatly appreciate your assistance.

I have primarily lurked on various firearm boards, as I didn't believe I had much which I could contribute.

I now find myself posting to several with this question as I am simply running out of ideas. So here is my issue with some background for context.

The first handgun I purchased was a Taurus PT99 AF-D in the very early '90's. It has only had a couple of hundred rounds through it, before there was a long hiatus in my shooting opportunities.

Over the years I have installed an upgraded trigger spring, and a "DAO" hammer spring. I still enjoy the pistol immensely, and it is the pistol I use to introduce center fire semi-automatics to friends and family due to the low perceived recoil. I really do not want to give up on the weapon, but I now have a problem which jeopardizes its continued use.

In the 2010's I was again able to start shooting with more frequency. After an additional few hundred rounds though the weapon; I discovered after returning from a range trip that the rear sight of the pistol had broken.

The PT99 has an adjustable rear sight. The rear sight consists of a body pinned to the slide at the forward end elevated by spring and screw. Windage is adjusted by means of a sight blade which is moved with a screw through the sight body. The slide does NOT have a standard dovetail.
profile closeup.jpg rear blade-1.jpg
After a quick Google it was apparent that broken rear sight blades are a common issue with this weapon.

Unfortunately, sights are one of the items not covered by the Taurus warranty. I have also been unable to find a replacement sight. Numrich is out (Item 12 at http://www.gunpartscorp.com/Manufacturers/AutoPistols-42262/PT-99-35236.htm?page=2). I have written Taurus but they have not responded however; several years ago board posts indicated Taurus was no longer able to supply spares.

I am now to the point of asking the firearms community for solution ideas.

I have searched for a similar sight for which spares are available, in the hope I could cannibalize the sight blade, so far to no avail. (I had hoped this http://www.brownells.com/handgun-pa...-assembly-complete-rear-w-bump-prod12177.aspx might provide a solution, but it appears to be a dead end) I am now considering trying a sight blade intended for a S&W revolver.

After months of searching the Internet and gun Boards I have not really found a workable solution for me, and I am now reaching out to this community. The weapons value doesn't support expending much to solve the problem. Any significant professional gunsmith work is almost certainly cost prohibitive, which leaves the solution down to what I can perform.

I have seen posts which suggested that someone was able to fit an adjustable rear sight from an H&K pistol, but too few details were given for me to assess the post relative to my situation.

If someone "out there" has found a solution to this problem which can be implemented by the average mechanically capable gun owner, I would love to receive your feedback.

Thank you.
 
jw,

I too bought a Taurus PT 99 in the mid 1990's and had problems with the rear sight roll pin walking out of the slide causing the sight to fall off while shooting the pistol. This really made it hard to shoot well in the local pistol matches as I had to decide to finish the course without the rear sight or stop and look for it on the ground. I had problems with Taurus customer service in the past so I elected to file a dove tail in the rear sight slide cutout with a dovetail file from Brownells. The next problem was finding a rear sight that was thick enough from front to back to fit the dovetail. Most of the rear sights I had on other pistols or lying around were not thick enough from front to back. Finally I found an HK USP .45 compact fixed rear sight that would work (I think I had to file the HK sight down a bit). Since this was done about ten years ago I have forgotten whether I had to file down the ears of the sight to get it to hit Point of Aim.

Final result was good and it's worked well. Good luck with your quest.

best wishes- oldandslow
 
My solution was to take out the entire insert and just use the two ears as a very wide open rear sight. Completely acceptable accuracy for home defense shooting.
 
How about just replacing the whole slide with one from a fixed sight PT92.
I see them on eBay for $129.
 
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That blade does not look to be too complicated a part, maybe fabricate a new one yourself? If you are thinking of just removing it and using the wide opening for your home defense purposes a home-made replacement shouldn't be off the table.
 
To all those who replied with suggestions thank you.

THR member Railroader was kind enough to point me to a source for one, and I was able to successfully acquire a demilled PT99 slide with a serviceable sight assembly. There is a teeny bit of corrosion pitting, but nothing which is terribly bothersome.

The old girl is back in service!

Thank you again Railroader!


fixed.jpg

After I considered the dynamics of the sight under slide movement, I increased the elevation tension by replacing the elevation spring with a plugged AR extractor spring and O'ring. This sight blade is a far tighter fit in the sight body than my old one, with no noticeable longitudinal movement of the blade in the slot.

My hope is that with the elevation restrained to limit movement during slide movement, and the tighter blade slot on this one the sight will last far longer.
 
I too have a PT99. Would like to know the source for a rear sight/slide.
There was only one. It was part of a slide for sale on gunbroker that had the rear sight. Just keep checking gunbroker and ebay and maybe you will get lucky.
 
Ok, thanks.
Millet used to make a replacement with a different blade style. Maybe one of those will turn up. Mine ok now, but I shoot it a bit.
 
Never did find a blade for mine. I ended up having a gunsmith make a dovetail out of the opening. Currently has and M+P fixed rear as the smith gave it to me N/C.
Really bummed that this part not under warranty and worse yet Taurus doesn't even have them for sale.
Probably only cost Taurus about a $1 to make that part in the first place and you are kind of :cuss: when it breaks.
I do have 10000 rounds through the gun but still.
Major PITA.
 
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