BoMar replacement

[anachronism]

I have a lowmount BoMar rear sight on a Colt & want to replace it with something a little sturdier. What would you recommend as a replacement. I see Brownells list a few different possibilities, but am trying to sort out the "features vs. benefits" aspect. My front sight is dovetailed, so replacing that's not a problem if necessary.

[Army Chief]

Depending upon how it's cut into the slide, you might look at one of the Wilson Combat Lo-Mount adjustable sights (http://shopwilsoncombat.com/Lo-Mount-Adjustable-Rear-Sights/products/25/). These have proven to be suprisingly reliable in my experience over the years, and can be had in some excellent night-sight/blade configurations.

AC

[Chuck]

If you want 'STURDY' look at the Harrison Design fixed replacement.

[Robb Jensen]

Heinie makes a replacement fixed rear for Bomar cuts. If you still want an adjustable look at the Caspian sight for Bomar cuts.

[xXxplosive]

What about the Bomar do you find unsturdy ?
I have Bomar Low cut on my Gov't Model 1911 and they work just fine although sometimes hard to pick up in dim light. I wouldn't mind a white outlined rear blade or something comperable for the Bomar mount.

[Robb Jensen]

What about the Bomar do you find unsturdy ?
I have Bomar Low cut on my Gov't Model 1911 and they work just fine although sometimes hard to pick up in dim light. I wouldn't mind a white outlined rear blade or something comperable for the Bomar mount.

I shot a STI 2011 in Limited for 2 years in USPSA (shot over 33K rounds and broke 3 Bomar rear sights).

Sturdy varies a bit on your own frame of reference.

[Dave Berryhill]

What about the Bomar do you find unsturdy ?

The elevation screws tend to break and the hinge pins fall out or break. Based upon what I've seen, this is more common on the copies than on the original Bo Mar sights but even those break far more frequently than fixed sights.

When was the last time you saw a Novak or Heine rear sight break? ;)

[J-cat]

What causes them to break? The slide striking the frame under recoil or while going into battery?

[Dave Berryhill]

I think that the adjustable portion of the sight moves downwards, compresses the springs and bottoms out due to inertia when the slide stops moving to the rear. Then the slide moves forward and when it goes into battery and stops again, the adjustable part of the sight moves up again and this movement is stopped by the elevation screw. This is repeated every time the pistol is fired.

I'd like to see a slow motion video but that's my theory.

[dewatters]

I think that the adjustable portion of the sight moves downwards, compresses the springs and bottoms out due to inertia when the slide stops moving to the rear. Then the slide moves forward and when it goes into battery and stops again, the adjustable part of the sight moves up again and this movement is stopped by the elevation screw. This is repeated every time the pistol is fired.

I'd like to see a slow motion video but that's my theory.

There was a video from the early/mid-1990s that showed exactly what you described. Folks knew about it even earlier, and during the 1980s, one shop was making a buffer to wedge between the slide and sight. Others simply used an o-ring or a trimmed Shok-Buff for the same effect.

[xXxplosive]

Geezzzzz........I never knew that.
Thanks for that info, I just learned something new to look out for.
How do the new type low cut Bomar repros/copies adjust for this?

Thanks Again...

[anachronism]

One of my concerns is ripping the rear sight blade off if it becomes necessary to catch the rear sight on a table edge (or whatever) during one-hand drills. This is one of my "prepare for the worst & hope for the best" scenarios. I do like my current sight picture, but my Novaks on the other guns are much sturdier, especially taking the lower parts count in mind. More pieces = more opportunities for Murphy.

[Dave Berryhill]

See Chuck's post above. If your slide is already milled for a Bo Mar sight and you want to replace it with a beefy fixed sight, John Harrison has the answer.