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S&W Revolvers: 1980 to the Present All NON-PINNED Barrels, the L-Frames, and the New Era Revolvers


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Old 01-19-2017, 08:51 PM
josp josp is offline
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Default 640 front sight stuck

Alright fellas,
got my police trade in 640 and I'm trying to upgrade the beat front sight to a XO dot sight and I can't get the pin to move. I've soaked it in PB Blaster, and broke a 1/16" punch. No go. Heck it won't budge. Good news is if I scar the finish, well I won't be the first.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Thanks
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Old 01-19-2017, 09:08 PM
Dave Baird Dave Baird is offline
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Join the club, sorry to say. I've just spent numerous hours over a few days trying to remove mine, but it does not budge either. The proper size is a #54 drill bit, not 1/16". ALK8944 taught me that from the smithing forum. The 1/16" is too big. Make sure the gun is on a hard surface so all the force gets absorbed by the pin, and try to stabilize the gun from moving.

I gave up just a couple hours ago. I was thinking how to improve the stuck stock sight, but it is pretty small.

Dave
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Old 01-20-2017, 02:19 AM
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Lou_the_welder Lou_the_welder is offline
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It should come off, if it's pinned. #54 or .055 is the right diameter. 1/16th is .0625? Too big.

Keep in mind that after the pin comes off, the sight still won't simply fall off (like I expected). You would then need a good set of vise grips and two very small pieces of thin brass sheet to lock the vise grips on the front sight and wiggle/pry it off. (I mention thin strip of brass to protect the sight on removal- but if you want to throw it away, you can "bite" the sight with the vise grips and yank it off.........

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Old 01-20-2017, 02:43 PM
Protocall_Design Protocall_Design is offline
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The punch needs to be less than .055. A good size is .050. The 1/16 punch is just too big to go through the hole. You can put a 1/16 punch in the cordless drill and spin it down on the side of a grinding wheel. Doesn't take much.

Last edited by Protocall_Design; 01-20-2017 at 03:36 PM.
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Old 01-20-2017, 02:52 PM
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Best to use a non-marring bench block with a hole so that the pin can pass out and you still have the largest support area possible.
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Old 01-20-2017, 09:07 PM
josp josp is offline
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Thanks. I did the size reduction on the punch, and soaked it all last night in a penetration oil. Even called S&W. They said it "should" come right out.
So it's off to the mothership. Spend a few bucks to have them install the sight for me. Waiting on the Lobo holster anyway so I can be patient a little while longer.
Thanks again for the ideas.
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Old 01-21-2017, 02:31 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by josp View Post
Thanks. I did the size reduction on the punch, and soaked it all last night in a penetration oil. Even called S&W. They said it "should" come right out.
So it's off to the mothership. Spend a few bucks to have them install the sight for me. Waiting on the Lobo holster anyway so I can be patient a little while longer.
Thanks again for the ideas.
S&W labor costs shouldn't be too bad... but the overnight shipping charges and the darn long wait to get it back is a killer!
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