How hard is it to cut a dovetail for a sight?

[KarlG]

I have a Kahr E9 which has a pinned plastic front sight. I would like to get "night sights" installed. How difficult is it for a smith to cut a dovetail in the slide for a front sight? Would this be a job that would likely get messed up requiring purchase of a new slide anyway? Would I need to have the slide refinished? What would I expect to pay (for the machining (and fininhing if necessary))?

Thanks.

*edited to correct some of my spelling*

 

[mete]

All you need is a milling machine and proper cutter.It shouldn't require refinishing, not a big job.

 

[Traveler]

You need to look at what sight you are going to use. There are several different dovetails, although the majority use the same cut as the 1911 style pistols. A close inspection of the slide is also warrented to make sure there will be no problems with cutting to depth.

Using a mill the set up and cut should take less than an hour even for the inexperienced. Staying square to the line of sight is paramount. The cut can also be done by hand, but unless the smith is good it will look less than ideal.

The finish can be locally touched up to look original with no problem.

One person who specializes in this type of work is available at:

www.thesightman.com

 

[KarlG]

Thanks guys. I have a friend who has a mill and I have seen the dovetail cutting tools in Brownells. May be worth looking into. Could alo have a local smith do the work since it sounds like a small task for sombody set up for it.

 

[Sunray]

If your buddy is an experienced machinist then it's no big deal. I wouldn't give it to a new machinist though. The finished front sight height has to be correct or you'll be shooting high all the time. Not all gun shops have a resident machinist/smithy either. And pay close attention to Traveler's response.

 

[KarlG]

Thanks again.

I stopped by a local reputable smith (Gunsmoke). Their standard price to cut a dovetail is $40 with the purchase of the sight. That seemed too reasonable to even think about having my friend do it. They also said that the slide would not NEED to be refinished. The only issue would be right at the dovetail and that could be "touched up".