1911A1 Sight Recommendations

[Schofield3]

Afternoon all; I've been looking to upgrade the plain jane sights on my Springfield 1911A1 GI model... apparently this particular slide is very picky on what it will accept willingly, anyone have a model of sights that worked for this Springfield? thanks in advance;

 

[Oro]

apparently this particular slide is very picky on what it will accept willingly,

Um, you mean without milling a new slide cut? That's the same as any slide/frame on ANY gun. I don't think the SA GI rear sight is different than any other 1911 style GI sight, is it? The front tenon needs to be adjusted a bit, but no milling as I know of. You just have to get a wide tenon and then file it down a bit instead of using a narrow tenon like a true GI pistol.

For a basic 1911, I am a fan of the "tall combat" three-dot sights many manufacturers have put on basic 1911s for years. I believe that is what SA puts on the Mil-Spec model, for example.

You should be able to push out the rear sight and remove the front and put these on without much difficulty (a sight pusher and a front staking tool make this job pretty easy). There are many other style sights that will work in the GI rear cut w/o milling, though they all look a little kludgy. The Yost-Bonitz excluded, but it doesn't do much more than a standard "tall combat" for me and at much more cost.

If you want to get the sight milled, the sky's the limit.

 

[Schofield3]

Yeah I want to keep the rear sight the standard dove-tail cut but the front stake-on is the piece I’m having difficulty finding a compatible make for…

 

[jfdavis58]

A staked-on front sight WILL be a recurring source of annoyance! Get it milled and put something wide and tall up front. Many years ago---along with a low snag rear (both with nightsight dots) was the best low-cost improvement I could make on a students budget. Makes a world of difference.

 

[Schofield3]

Makes a world of difference.

Definitely, I’m sure it’ll be like a whole new pistol; So I was also thinking about adding in one of those Wilson Combat extended (what they market as "Tactical" ) mag releases, anyone recommend putting an extended mag release on the 1911?

 

[kentucky_smith]

Springfield uses a proprietary tenon size for their front sights. Between a narrow and wide tenon sized.

 

[Schofield3]

Thank you; would you say just take a wide tenon and shave it down a bit then? or stick with finding and upgrade from Springfield?

 

[Floppy_D]

Tagged, I'm in the same boat. I may just have to spring for getting the slide cut, who knows.

 

[Oro]

As I mentioned above, you can get a wide tenon and file it down.

I would find out if the SA Mil-spec uses a proprietary tenon, too. Just get some Mil-spec take offs and then you have tall three dot combats on the cheap and with little cost. Either get some take-offs from the classifieds or call SA and order the parts.