rcmodel
Member in memoriam
Ho boy!!! 
My son came by yesterday with his Springfield XD-Compact and a new set of Trijicon night sights he got for Xmas.
First
All the horror stories of Springfield factory sights being Super TIGHT/Welded On are only half true.
At least on this particular gun.
*Penetrating oil and light taps for awhile in an effort to get some of it soaked in under them.
*Cut some 3/4" sq brass bar stock to support the slide in a machinists vice, as you can't clamp against the wide flats as they are not supported internally.
*Initial test fitting indicated they come off Right to Left, NOT left to right as one might expect
*The factory front sight has the ends of the base tapered off to nothing, so there is very little to push or pound on except the sight blade itself.
After regrinding four brass punch tips several times each, I finally gave up on the sight base and pounded it off with a 3/8" tapered brass punch against the sight post, with a big ball-pein hammer.
*Rear sight was not as tight, and had a flat on the side to drive against, so it came right off with the big punch & big hammer!
*Fitting the front Trijicon found it too hard to file off the bottom for fitting.
So I finally worked it down on 320 emery paper on a flat steel plate. Didn't have to take very much off to get the proper fit.
*Rear Trijicon was softer steel, enough for a file to cut it, so it was just a matter of file & try until I got the proper fit. Took quite a bit off before it was right.
*Greased dovetails with Lubriplate grease to prevent galling, and drove them in with a Delron punch & smaller hammer.
*The XD slide has two witness marks in the bottom of both dovetails, so centering them was a no brainer.
*Cleaned off brass punch "tracks" with Copper Solvent bore cleaner on a Q-Tip.
In all, it was a little hard, but not impossible.
But I have my doubts they make a sight pusher that would take that factory front sight off without something breaking!
rc
My son came by yesterday with his Springfield XD-Compact and a new set of Trijicon night sights he got for Xmas.
First
All the horror stories of Springfield factory sights being Super TIGHT/Welded On are only half true.
At least on this particular gun.
*Penetrating oil and light taps for awhile in an effort to get some of it soaked in under them.
*Cut some 3/4" sq brass bar stock to support the slide in a machinists vice, as you can't clamp against the wide flats as they are not supported internally.
*Initial test fitting indicated they come off Right to Left, NOT left to right as one might expect
*The factory front sight has the ends of the base tapered off to nothing, so there is very little to push or pound on except the sight blade itself.
After regrinding four brass punch tips several times each, I finally gave up on the sight base and pounded it off with a 3/8" tapered brass punch against the sight post, with a big ball-pein hammer.
*Rear sight was not as tight, and had a flat on the side to drive against, so it came right off with the big punch & big hammer!
*Fitting the front Trijicon found it too hard to file off the bottom for fitting.
So I finally worked it down on 320 emery paper on a flat steel plate. Didn't have to take very much off to get the proper fit.
*Rear Trijicon was softer steel, enough for a file to cut it, so it was just a matter of file & try until I got the proper fit. Took quite a bit off before it was right.
*Greased dovetails with Lubriplate grease to prevent galling, and drove them in with a Delron punch & smaller hammer.
*The XD slide has two witness marks in the bottom of both dovetails, so centering them was a no brainer.
*Cleaned off brass punch "tracks" with Copper Solvent bore cleaner on a Q-Tip.
In all, it was a little hard, but not impossible.
But I have my doubts they make a sight pusher that would take that factory front sight off without something breaking!
rc
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