View Full Version : M&P front sight woes
So a while back I got a set of Heinie strait eights for my M&P. Took it to a gunsmith down the road to install them for me. This is what I got back:
http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/12/11/af472d4674ed1a83ed34aa59438314f9.jpg
The front sight is bent and the freaking tritum doesn't work now. Guy rambled on about how difficult it was to get on and that he didn't understand why the tritum went bad [emoji15]
He obviously pounded the shit out of it instead of sanding the sight a bit, and also used whatever junk universal sight pusher or punch on the sight and not the dovetail. He didnt charge me for the install but blamed the tritium being bad on Heinie. I didnt feel like arguing with the dude so I went on my way and I won't be going back there again. Pisses me off because I paid 150$ for those sights and he broke the front and tried to tell me it wasn't his fault.
Anyways I contacted Heinie about getting a new front sight and I waiting to hear back from them so I know which one to get. I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to lend me a M&P sight tool so I can install the new one myself. Also what's a good sanding device to get the front sight to fit as they require a little sanding to get to fit.
Looks like that universal sight pusher he used was a hammer & punch and similar to the same handiwork as that other "smith" that welded that guy's gas block.
I can't believe you didn't jack him up about popping the tritium. That dude owes you a new sight.
Yeah I was really pissed. He kept saying it wasn't his fault and I left because I was getting real close to jacking him up lol
I've drifted my tritium sights on my M&P without any issues. Just gotta tap on the dovetail & not the post itself.
Got a brass punch? You'd probably be better off just doing it yourself.
Don't have one but I can certainly get one if its safe to do it instead of using a sight pusher. I also need something to sand the new sight down a bit as they come oversized. Also wasn't sure if I should use oil to get it in, and a bit of lock tight to get it to stay in place. I've heard from people that m&p sights are one of the more stubborn ones to get on and off.
vicious_cb
12-11-14, 19:29
There are tons of threads lately about their local "gunsmiths" making a mess of things. You would think people would take the hint and stop going to these places.
Right?
I would think a sight install would be easy enough. I would just have done it myself but I didn't have a sight pusher. Because of this debacle, I WILL be doing it myself.
Leaveammoforme
12-11-14, 19:39
Do M&P sights not install right to left? If so, I do believe I can see in pic why it is bent and vial is popped.
Front sights can go in either way as the dovetails on the slide are tapered on each side. The rear sight is supossed to move only to the right. My guess is he didn't file the front sight to fit and just beat the bejesus out of it. On the sight itself and not the dovetail portion non the less.
Yers.. It was punched out.. M&Ps are notorious for tight sights. That's a bummer.. sorry..
Robb Jensen
12-11-14, 20:32
MGW Sight tools are pretty cheap. The one for the M&Ps works wonderfully. On some guns one still has to use a brass or aluminum drift and a hammer but not all 'smiths know their limitations...
anachronism
12-11-14, 20:43
I have a drift from Brownells that has interchangeable nylon or brass impact tips. It didn't cost me much, and I use the hell out of it. You might check their website to see if you can find it.
MGW Sight tools are pretty cheap. The one for the M&Ps works wonderfully. On some guns one still has to use a brass or aluminum drift and a hammer but not all 'smiths know their limitations...
Cheap? Holy cow, I think I paid $130+ for my MGW & I still use a drift most of the time. I'd love to get the universal but that mo-fo is $330+. :(
Robb Jensen
12-11-14, 20:49
Cheap? Holy cow, I think I paid $130+ for my MGW & I still use a drift most of the time. I'd love to get the universal but that mo-fo is $330+. :(
I've installed probably 2.5-3K sets of M&P sights using mine so it's cheap to me I guess.
I plant on using it once so that's a no go for me lol
I've installed probably 2.5-3K sets of M&P sights using mine so it's cheap to me I guess.
No, I figured that's where you were coming from. 'Cheap' is relative & if it's a tool of your trade, it'll soon pay for itself. I'm just a DIY gun guy but a technician by trade so I appreciate quality tools & the MGW is a quality tool.
vicious_cb
12-11-14, 23:22
Front sights can go in either way as the dovetails on the slide are tapered on each side. The rear sight is supossed to move only to the right. My guess is he didn't file the front sight to fit and just beat the bejesus out of it. On the sight itself and not the dovetail portion non the less.
Nooooo. Check the armorers manual. The sights must be drifted out left to right and installed right to left.
walker2713
12-12-14, 06:07
Yeah I was really pissed. He kept saying it wasn't his fault and I left because I was getting real close to jacking him up lol
Now that you've had time to calm down, a bit, I think you should go back to the butcher who calls himself a "gunsmith" and demand the price of a new sight. If not....BBB and/or small claims court. He's no gunsmith, and NEEDS to be "jacked up."
JMHO--YMMV
Now that you've had time to calm down, a bit, I think you should go back to the butcher who calls himself a "gunsmith" and demand the price of a new site. If not....BBB and/or small claims court. He's no gunsmith, and NEEDS to be "jacked up."
JMHO--YMMV
Agreed 100%... I usually do my own, but recently I wanted some trigger work done on one of my P238s with a stubborn trigger pin. Every gunsmith I called in a 30 mile radius had a huge waiting list. I attribute it to the last scare and increase in gun ownership. More and more people were buying guns but there weren't enough smiths to meet the demand (add into the equation a healthy dose of lowered QC by manufacturers who were rushing to meet that demand). There was no way that I was going to wait 2-3 months to get my gun back so I just bought an arbor press, chucked in a nail cup punch and pushed that sucker out myself. I imagine that there are a lot of con men out there with a rudimentary understanding of gun workings and access to youtube who are posting up doing the kind of work that the OP showed us. Is there any discernible damage to the slide?
Some sight makers allow the slide to be shipped to them for sight installation with little delay in returning the slide.
One Stoeger Beretta clone has its sights pressed in so tightly that the CZ Custom Shop guru will not attempt sight replacement.
It goes without saying that if the sight base is same or greater width than the slide slot, then a sight pusher will fail until one or the other is altered. Wide tolerance ranges will produce this occurrence.
The op's gunsmith is an idiot and best avoided. He's not going to do the right thing and should focus on installing slide on, removable recoil pads onto used Mossberg shotguns.
If the op can locate a beat up bolt action shotgun that doesn't function. He might take this pos to this gunsmith with the following work order: repair, reblue, refinish stock, and install recoil pad and then not pick it up. Let the idiot keep it.
Holy Be-Jesus! If that's how he does a rudimentary sight swap I'd hate to see the results of a trigger job or a mechanical repair of his. You got f'd brother
I'm just gonna get a drift punch and a file and fit the sight myself on a padded vice. Gotta pick up some calipers and the EZY Lap diamond hone. Punches and vice, I already have access too.
Oh and I don't recommend http://rayfordfirearms.com/ for ANY kind of gunsmithing work
Slvr Surfr
12-15-14, 05:22
Vice, punch, and any fine file will do. No need for anything else. Per 10-8 Perf's website, the sight should go on half way before needing a punch. Just take a little off at a time and test.
I used this trick to get old stubborn sights off my Shield.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWEY1r9E7so
Oh and I don't recommend http://rayfordfirearms.com/ for ANY kind of gunsmithing work
From their website:
"Whether the job is restoring your grandfathers gun to original condition, streamlining a pistol for competitive shooting or mounting sights, whatever we do, it is done to perfection!"
I guess they "perfectly" ****ed up your sights.
From their website:
"Whether the job is restoring your grandfathers gun to original condition, streamlining a pistol for competitive shooting or mounting sights, whatever we do, it is done to perfection!"
I guess they "perfectly" ****ed up your sights.
Haha he sure did.
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