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Thread: S&W revolver rear sights and similar

  1. #1
    Boolit Master


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    S&W revolver rear sights and similar

    What is the proper procedure to install these? Or how do they work?
    Is the "nut" opposite the adjustment suppose to turn ?
    The sight is actually a Dan Wesson but they appear the same. The sight blade will not move to the right far enough shoot to POA.

  2. #2
    Moderator


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    I might be able to help a little. I don't specifically know about Dan Wesson sights, but if they are like the older S&W rear sights of the same time period the nut on the left side is actually broken when you disassemble the sight past the norm; for example, as if to install a white outline rear sight blade to replace a plain black one. This was just a fact of life, and the pistol smiths of that era had a little box or vial full of the nuts in their tool kits. I don't own a Dan Wesson, but I assume the front sight is fixed, and can't be adjusted in a dovetail (?) as is becoming more prevalent with modern revolvers. Usually if a revolver shoots that far off, and assuming it's not your eyesight or eyeglasses at fault, then there is often some other mechanical problem which you might look for. One would be a damaged barrel crown, easily re-crowned by a pistol smith, and another would be that when the barrel was screwed into the frame a small metal chip or two was left in the threads. Easy to fix by unscrewing the barrel, cleaning the threads and re-installing or completely re-barreling. If you have one of the earlier Dan Wessons with the do-it-yourself interchangeable barrels, then you might carefully examine the part that inserts into the frame, and the area that receives the barrel for damage.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master
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    I am currently rebuilding a S & W 25-2 rear sight to change the blade to get the pistol to be set at the elevation adjustment I want for my type of shooting.
    On the Pistol, I was able to carefully unthread the staked on Nut off the adjustment screw with out breaking the nut or the adjuster screw.
    But I ordered new adjuster screws and Nuts with the new blades before I attempted it.
    But as you see, the Nut does turn with the adjuster screw because if installed properly, it is Staked on to the adjuster screw.
    I had to make a special spanner tip to hold the Nut.
    You can buy the spanner tips from Brownells, but they are not that strong, and making them out of old broken Hex Drive bits made more sence to me for what I was trying to do.
    But like the other post said.
    If you have to have the adjuster turned all the way one direction to stay on target, there is a problem elsewhere, and it should be investigated first rather than trying to get more adjustment out of your rear sight.
    I am also going to change the rear blades to White Outline on my Model 27 and a Colt Model 70 1911 that I installed a S&W N frame rear sight on, that is Milled into the top of the slide.

  4. #4
    Boolit Bub


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    There are many internet videos showing rear sight blade replacement. Midway has one on their web site
    http://www.nra.org/
    MSGT, USAF, Retired

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