JB weld and oversize sight dovetails

[Spartacus451]

A dubious fellow sold me a Springfield Armory 1911 slide with a grossly oversize Novak rear dovetail. The problem is that the sight leans forward and the rear lifts up when you tighten down the set screw and the sight slides in and out with no resistance. This is with an unmodified oversize Heirloom precision professional rear sight.

I will try peening the bottom of the sight with a center punch but if that doesn't pan out I am thinking of putting some JB weld on the bottom and filing it to fit. Would that work well?

Returning it for a refund is probably not an option. We agreed he would have a gunsmith fix it and he sat on it for six months with almost no communication until yesterday when it appeared on my doorstep. The "gunsmith" had simply slid the replacement sight I provided into the slide and tightened down the set screw and ignored all the problems. Why this took six months is a mystery to me.

 

[BBBBill]

It will probably work, but final appearance might be a bit suspect. What is your intended use/finish for this piece? How deep/wide is the cut? Someone like Chuck Rogers or Don Williams could silver solder an appropriate sized shim in there and recut to proper dimensions. Even Brownells Hi-Force 44 solder would hold more than well enough for that low stress area. Or even solder the shim on the back face of the sight dovetail....

 

[redneckrepairs]

JB is not a good fix for anything that works under recoil IMHO . While i am sure there are some " aerospace era " epoxies that will work , i have my doubts if they will work well . Were i to have to fix the issue i would think ( for an easy fix ) a layer of solder to firm things up and provide a bed for the set screw . The true answer of course is to replace the slide , or if its historic to tig up the dovetail and re mill it . I am assuming you dont have access to the mill or the proper tooling to do that , with solder you can easily fit the sight with a needle file , and it is unlikely to come loose with recoil .

 

[rcmodel]

You might consider using Stay-Brite silver bearing solder.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=813132&t=11082005

It is quite a bit harder then soft plumbers solder and will do a good job for your repair. Low temp means you don't have to have an acetylene torch to use it.

rcmodel

 

[dfariswheel]

A less noticeable "fix" would be to use a high-grade clear epoxy to literally "glue" the sight in place.
If you clean the metal well, and get a good mix on the epoxy, the front will hold more or less permanently.
JB Weld is nice, but the silver will show badly, and it's not all that much stronger than a good grade non-metal bearing epoxy.

One thing that can make the sight really stay in place is to drill a few shallow holes in the underside of the sight, and matching holes in the slide dovetail.
These shallow holes will give the epoxy a "lock" and will make it stay put even under heavy recoil.

Other options:
Solder or even silver braze (solder) a shim to the SIGHT, not the slide. (Always work on the part that's cheapest/easiest to replace).

Check with Novak for a possible over-sized sight, OR one made for a different gun with a larger dovetail.

Another technique for using solder or silver braze, is to drill or grind a long, shallow hole in the underside of the sight.
This will allow the solder to "puddle" better and will form a nice well-rounded lump that can be filed to fit.