1911 Sights: Which front to go with Novak LowMount 10-8 rear?

[Daveo]

I am going to be adding a 10-8 rear sight to my Series 80 Colt, and I am unsure as to which front sight to get to go with, primarily the height. I am pretty sure I want a serrated front with a white outlined tritium insert.

The gun does not have the Novak cut in the rear, and the front sight is currently of the staked-on variety. I am going to have the rear cut to a Novak Low-Mount, and the front cut to accept a dovetailed (and to be roll pinned) front sight. How do I know which height to go? Has anyone here been in a similar boat?

Thanks.

[Joe R.]

Dave, there is no way to tell what front sight height you will need. It "should" be between .180 and .200" however that's a pretty broad margin.

Your best bet to to have a tall front sight fitted and cut it down to the height you want to hit the point of impact you want. Yup, that means you have to take the gun to the range and shoot it to see where it is impacting then adjust the front sight accordingly.

[Jason Burton]

Hard to say what front sight height will be required... each gun can be different as there are many variables that will determine exactly what height front sight your particular gun will need.

I have seen round top 5" 1911s take anywhere from a .160" to a .210... and the truth is there's no general range. Even "identical" guns can use different height front sights and I personally have an matched pair of guns that have a .025" difference between the front sights.

In the end the only way to know for sure is, as Joe R. mentioned, to correct the sight for the zero of the gun... anything else is basically a guess. ;)

[Daveo]

Thanks for the replies!

What do you suggest I do with regards to the tritium insert? I would just buy the tallest sight available and have it cut down until the gun is zero'd, but then I'd worry that the insert would get in the way of the removed material. Would it be reasonable to have a plain sight fitted properly and then purchase the closest height tritium sight to swap in its place?

Thanks again!

[Robb Jensen]

I am going to be adding a 10-8 rear sight to my Series 80 Colt, and I am unsure as to which front sight to get to go with, primarily the height. I am pretty sure I want a serrated front with a white outlined tritium insert.

The gun does not have the Novak cut in the rear, and the front sight is currently of the staked-on variety. I am going to have the rear cut to a Novak Low-Mount, and the front cut to accept a dovetailed (and to be roll pinned) front sight. How do I know which height to go? Has anyone here been in a similar boat?

Thanks.

I would have a pistolsmith open the rear notch to the Novak cut and have the front of the slide dovetailed. 10-8, Warren, YoBo and Novak make rear sights to fit the Novak cut. The front I would do something popular light the SA front cut. On my SA 1911 I use a .100" wide Dawson f/o front sight (SA cut for Novak height) and a 10-8 rear currently until the Warren (Novak cut) rear sights are available in the Spring 2008. The Warrens are made to the Novak height.

[Jason Burton]

What do you suggest I do with regards to the tritium insert?

If you're going to have a gunsmith do it then leave it to him. Any gunsmith capable of machining the slide for a set of sights should, once the desired front sight height is achieved, be able to drill the sight for the tritium insert. After which it can be sent to Trijicon for installation of the tube.

[militarymoron]

daveo - i believe i have just the setup you're talking about on this pistol in this thread:
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=8558

it's a 10-8 rear with white outline trijicon front on a series 80. the trijicon front was dovetailed and roll pinned (see pic links).
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/img/mars6.jpg
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/img/mars16.jpg
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/img/mars13.jpg

i think the front sight height was .190". i also had the 10-8 notch widened to .140" - i found the notch a bit too narrow and prefer some light on each side of the front blade.

[rob_s]

daveo - i believe i have just the setup you're talking about on this pistol in this thread:
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=8558

it's a 10-8 rear with white outline trijicon front on a series 80. the trijicon front was dovetailed and roll pinned (see pic links).
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/img/mars6.jpg
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/img/mars16.jpg
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/img/mars13.jpg

i think the front sight height was .190". i also had the 10-8 notch widened to .140" - i found the notch a bit too narrow and prefer some light on each side of the front blade.

That is EXACTLY the setup I would want.

[Daveo]

daveo - i believe i have just the setup you're talking about on this pistol in this thread:
https://www.m4carbine.net/showthread.php?t=8558

it's a 10-8 rear with white outline trijicon front on a series 80. the trijicon front was dovetailed and roll pinned (see pic links).
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/img/mars6.jpg
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/img/mars16.jpg
http://www.militarymorons.com/weapons/img/mars13.jpg

i think the front sight height was .190". i also had the 10-8 notch widened to .140" - i found the notch a bit too narrow and prefer some light on each side of the front blade.

That is EXACTLY what I want, awesome. I actually bought a .140" rear, they just released a few and I figured it was the time to pull the trigger on one.

Any idea how long the Trijicon retrofit would take?

Thanks for all the replies guys!

[snacks]

if your pistol is shooting right on with the standard sights then a .185 should be ideal with a standard 10-8 rear. After that you may need to fine tune it. Unless you don't mind shaving a front sight to your needs. You can get a tall front sight like a .210 and just shave it down until your groups are where you want them to be.

[Joseywales]

I highly recommend these sights:

TruGlo with tritium inserts

http://www.truglo.com/content/products/firearm/handgun_sights/handgun_sights.asp