Anyone here have personal experience installing tritium night sights using common tools?

Please do not give me a lecture on why one should use nothing but a sight pusher. That is not the topic of my thread.

I am only interested in feedback from anyone who has successfully installed without a sight tool.

I take mine to a gunsmith that has been 100% with many guns for me. He uses a punch. Is this where I LOL...? Sorry, followed none of your rules, but still informative I hope.

If you have the appropriate punch and a good vise it can be done, just go on YouTube and you can watch the videos of people doing it. I used a Black and Decker WorkMate as the vise before investing in a sight pusher (which didn't cost that much, and really does make the job easier.)

Tritium night sights with the vials in them are subject to damage and breakage if "common tools" such as a hammer and punch are used. Not only that, they are fit quite tight on some pistols and to get them to poa=poi is a royal pain!

Either borrow, buy or make a sight pusher - they work well and won't cause damage to the night sights or pistol. I have installed a set of night sights and after trying common tools I stopped before any harm was done - then proceeded to borrow a friends sight pusher tool - it was the right move!

I won't say that it can't be done, but one slip and the tritium vial can be broken.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

I tried getting my sights off two different 3rd gen guns and an M&P Shield. Whacked the hell out of them and it didn’t budge. Brass punch and mallet. Soaked in Kroil. Didn’t matter. Had it done by a professional with the right tools. $25 we’ll worth my time and no aggravation or possibility of destroying $150 sights.

With the taped slide held in a solid machine vise SOMETIMES they can be installed or adjusted with a brass or hard plastic punch. The dot type night sight is more resistant to tapping damage than the bar type. I would not suggest installing the bar type with this method. These days all I will use is a pusher tool.

I changed the front sight on my gen1 shield with a shorter one, factory sight...using good padded vice,brass drift, got job done,but it was tight as all get out!..dont think I would try with a optic sight....I'd go the pusher route for that

I have NEVER used a sight pusher in my entire life and I have removed and installed many pistol sights (both night sights and non-illuminated).

I've NEVER broken a sight or even cracked a vial.

I use an appropriately fitted brass or aluminum drift, a heavy padded vise, and a BIG hammer.

Drive the sight AT THE BASE, not near the vials.

For ease of removal on a "stuck" sight, always soak the sight/slide in a penetrating oil for a couple of days.

For ease of installation, always relieve the sight base (NEVER the slide) so that the sight can be pushed on about half way.

It's NOT all that difficult.

John

I do use a punch, but not with a hammer but rather with a machinist's vice.
Brace the slide on one jaw (hold it with a C-clamp and pad for bonus points) and use the other jaw to slowly push the sight over.

I recently put trijicon NS on my kahr K9 with a vise, brass punch & hammer.
I asked a gunsmith if he could do the job and he said I think so.
I felt the same so I gave it a go and it worked out perfectly for me. I'm luckily mechanically inclined and rarely can't do any job that requires hand tools.
If my personal computer has problems I farm that out as I stick at stuff like that.
Good luck

I recently replaced the rear sight on my CZ TSO. I bought the new - windage adjustable - sight from a source that said, "Some gunsmithing required."

I used an aluminum punch to get the old sight out. My gunsmith gave me the punch to use to drift the old sight for windage. The aluminum punch puts some gray powder on it, but it is easily wiped off. No damage to the sight.

To fit the new sight in, I used a triangle file. And a Dremel tool. It took quite a while. Probably hours. I eventually got the dovetail slot to where I could get the new sight tapped in halfway. I then banged it on in the rest of the way with the aluminum punch.

I said that backwards. I didn't want to modify my gun. My work was performed on the sight itself. Even though Youtubers said, "Cut the gun."

If a tritium vile is sensitive to impact, you could work on it longer to where you can tap it in fairly easily, then use Loctite or equivalent to keep it in place. And/or work on the gun's dovetail, not the sight.

So, yes, it can be done. Be prepared to take a lot of time.

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I've still got it made.

Considerable experience here.....I don't use a sight pusher. If the new sights are overly tight in the dovetail, I simply remove a bit of material from the bottom of the sight body until they hand fit with the proper resistance.

Once the new sight body is sized properly, and after securing the slide in a padded vise, the new sights are tapped into the slide using a 4 ounce hammer and a small piece of brass bar stock.

(I do have a sight pusher. It sits in storage. Personal opinion.......it takes too long to set up, and can cause surface damage to slide finishes.)

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Ret. LE, FA Instr, S&W Armorer

Used a hobby vise and a nylon toilet seat bolt for a punch on my gen2 glock 21.

Assuming this is a S&W, it does make a difference which direction you move the sights. Naturally, it's opposite what you do on a Colt 1911. You remove the sights left to right, install right to left with the rear of the slide toward you.

Besides what post #13 says, a little dab of grease doesn't hurt.

951 is correct, we had literally a dozen expensive sight installation devices, some left marks on the pistols, all were a PIA. Just remove material slowly till it hand starts, you cant put it back on. Installed thousands of different sights over 20 years with no problems. Some guns/sights are harder than others. S/Ws pretty easy,XDs very hard. Just take your time. Also sight are different Trijicon hard material, Heinie softer, so you need a bit more fitting, as the sight will deform if struck hard.
Usually hardest part is getting the old sights off. A little heat can be your friend.

Some sights you can do it without a pusher. Some you can't. I've destroyed a few sets with a brass punch and hammer. New sights usually need to be fitted with a file. If you do it properly they go in much easier then they come out. Most gunsmiths use tools like the MGW but they're expensive. I suppose some smiths can do it in their sleep with a punch and vice.

I see you're on Puget Sound someplace. So am I. Shoot me a PM. I have a pusher I can loan you or just try it with a punch.

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That's just somebody talkin.

Thank you to everyone that took time to comment.

Today I installed a new set of Night Fision sights on my Glock 42. The process was simple and painless using a vise, nylon punch and small nylon tipped hammer.

The rear sight required minor fitting (I used an Arkansas stone and oil).

I’ve heard Glock sights are very easy. M&P ones are notoriously tight.if I knew you were talking about a Glock I would have told you to try the punch first. The front sight is particularly easy with the screw underneath the slide.

I have always used a brass punch with a very light hammer. Small light taps may take a little longer but you don't mess anything up that way.

EDIT to add
The hammer is similar to this one only a little lighter.
Wheeler Brass/Nylon Hammer 8oz

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Freedom is never free!!
SWCA #3437

Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. In general, hitting Tritium filled glass vial insert sights with any impact tool is not a great idea IMHO. I have installed many many plain dovetailed metallic sights with a hammer and punch, but personally I use a good sight pusher with glass vile sights.

I only have a home made sight pusher which works with some sights - and sometimes I need to borrow a friends professional model which is more versatile than my home made job. To me, it's better to err on the side of caution when playing with Tritium sights - just my own opinion of course.

I’ve always had a trusted gunsmith do them, but starting at $50 a pop to have them changed, I too have thought of getting a sight pusher tool. With the general consensus here to use a proper sight tool over the hammer and punch method, which one do you guys recommend?

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USS Brewton FF1086
SWCA#3597

As time goes, LGS's (qualified ones) become more scarce, less talented, more expensive and wait times get longer and longer. I believe it's past the time for people to become more self sufficient - especially when it comes to simple tasks like replacing a sight. Buy the tool once - have it for ever.

I have a bunch of close friends and we all do our own work and we will routinely each buy a specific tool. For instance, I will buy an M1 Carbine "Bolt Tool" to replace extractors, someone else will buy a sight pusher, someone else buys a staking tool, a Reamer, etc. etc. We borrow whatever tool we need and because they all stay within our small group they never get misused. Works for us - just throwing this idea out.

If you’re buying Trijicon and don’t need the gun right away, send it to them and they’ll install them free. Same with Glock. I sent my Gen 2 Glock in to Glock on 12/20. They got the gun on 12/22 and called me that same day. They replaced all the internals for free and replaced the night sights. Only charged me for the new sights and I had the gun back in my hand on 12/24.

The difference between a professional gunsmith and an amateur is the pro will whack the **** out of the sight.

Amateurs are quite timid.

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I've still got it made.

There's a lot of folks who'd be horrified if they knew all the things certified armorers were trained to do to revolvers with the babbitt bar in the tool kit.

FWIW, when I tried to remove the front sight from a spare slide, it flat wasn't gonna move. After soaking the dovetail in Kroil for a while, it slid right out without much effort.

You just manufactured a sight pusher.

Where at in Ohio? I was thinking about taking mine to a gunsmith for sights and the Apex Aluminum trigger kit but it is very difficult to find one. I work all over Ohio, so hopefully its in one of my areas.

You should see an orthopedic surgeon work. It is TERRIFYING.