1911 staked front sight
- Thread starter a454me
- Start date
- Status
Sunray
Member
Hi. It's not so much getting the current one off as it is putting the new one on. Staked sights, even if done by a smithy have a tendency to come off. Usually in the middle of a match and they're never seen again. Silver soldered on staked sights tend to stay where they're put. Spend the money and have it silver soldered on . 20 some years and still there.
ulflyer
Member
And the Norinco's use a Narrow Tenon front sight in case you haven't bought one yet.
If you do want to stake, but don't want to go the silver solder route, thoroughly degrease the sight and area of the slide that'll mate with the bottom of the sight. Painta little 640 Loctite on the bottom of the sight and on the tenon before you stake.
Standard GI type sights and light sights like that on the Norinco should stay on just fine with staking. There is no need for silver solder or any other method of fastening.
High and heavy steel target sights are another story. With heavy loads or lots of use, the inertia of the sight tends to cause the sight to break at the tenon or come loose under recoil. Silver solder won't prevent this, since the tenon breaks above the solder. The only solution is to make sure the tenon is wide and thick enough to stay in one piece when staked, or go to a dovetail type sight. (No, Loctite won't do the job either; it won't hold even a light sight in place, let alone a heavy one.)
Jim
High and heavy steel target sights are another story. With heavy loads or lots of use, the inertia of the sight tends to cause the sight to break at the tenon or come loose under recoil. Silver solder won't prevent this, since the tenon breaks above the solder. The only solution is to make sure the tenon is wide and thick enough to stay in one piece when staked, or go to a dovetail type sight. (No, Loctite won't do the job either; it won't hold even a light sight in place, let alone a heavy one.)
Jim
ulflyer
Member
Let A Smith Do it
Rick, I had a local Smith put a front and rear on one of my Norks, and a rear on a Colt and he only charged $35. Course it took 2-3 weeks to get them done but I wasn't in a hurry anyway. I've got a couple more for him soon as I decide what kind of sights I want and get them ordered from Brownell's.
Now, if you get good at it, let me know and I'll ship my slides to you.
Rick, I had a local Smith put a front and rear on one of my Norks, and a rear on a Colt and he only charged $35. Course it took 2-3 weeks to get them done but I wasn't in a hurry anyway. I've got a couple more for him soon as I decide what kind of sights I want and get them ordered from Brownell's.
Now, if you get good at it, let me know and I'll ship my slides to you.
usp_fan
Member
I just found out that an AR15 armorer's wrench (the combo barrel and stock type) will work as a make shift staking tool. If you look at it, the end oposite the barrel nut pins has 2 legs. if you file a slight bevel on the out side of one of the legs to duplicate the staking tool profile, you can insert it in the slide and pound on the other leg with the hammer. It works wonderfully well for an improvised tool.
Just make sure you have your sight tenon prefit, support the sight, and firmly clamp the slide down.
--usp_fan
Just make sure you have your sight tenon prefit, support the sight, and firmly clamp the slide down.
--usp_fan
nyresq
Member
just have a dovetail cut and nevermind the the staking problems.
- Status