Can the sight be tapped out with set crew in ? I have no access to a torch and trying to figure how to get it out. I do have a new sight and screw on hand.

I would contact BMCM and ask for his suggestion.

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Pine_Worker
Ex-LEO, NRA Life

NO, sight can't be tapped out with screw in.

I believe screw has red loctite , and sometimes it is hard to remove.

IMHO, the best way to remove it is to apply heat. You have to heat the part above 500 deg F, for the red loctite to loosen.

Please see the link with a video:
How to Remove Red Threadlocker - Henkel Adhesives

Do not force it out. You could damage the head of the screw (don't ask me how I know).

If you don't have a torch perhaps you could use a heat gun or a hair dryer.

It is already damaged from previous owner. Stripped out. And I have a new one and a new rear sight. Thinking about drilling it out ?

The tip of a high wattage soldering iron/gun directly of the setscrew will heat it up enough to melt the loctite. Give it time.

Even if I melt the loctite the screw is stripped

Has anyone drilled these out before ?

Is the socket head of the screw stripped?

That is, does the proper size allen wrench just spin in the hole and the screw won't budge?

If yes, then the screw can be CAREFULLY drilled out.

If you want to get fancy, take an old screwdriver and grind the tip so it fits in the socket screw hole.

Heat the tip of the repurposed screwdriver with a torch (or gas stove) until it is almost glowing.

Hold the hot tip of the screwdriver in the socket screw hole for 2 or 3 minutes to soften the loc-tite and then IMMEDIATELY drill with a properly sized REVERSE drill bit.

Screw should back right out unless it has been cross threaded in the sight body, in which case, drilling is probably the only remedy.

John

Once the red loctite is melted, the screw should be "easy" to remove...

Sometimes with the sight screws, I thought the head was damaged, but it was just the loctite was so hard that it gave the sensation that the allen wrench was "not grabbing" the screw head...

I would heat the screw, soften the loctite, and go from there..

Before drilling it out, I would try with different allen wrenches to see if you can take it out...

I like John's idea of grinding an old screwdriver...

A handy screw extractor for those stripped out hex grubscrews is a T5 or T6 torx power bit. Those screws are supplied with a threadlock patch which merely served to prevent vibration loosening, it's not very strong otherwise. If someone put high strength Loctite on there, well that's a big mistake.

Anyway... Heat the screw up with a soldering iron. just hold it on the screw for about 5 minutes. Then tap that T6 bit into the stripped hex socket 'till it bites. Don't hammer it in there hard though, you'll expand the screw and make it tighter. Tap the bit in then giv'er a try with a quarter inch wrench. Might take a few tries of resetting the bit and wrenching on it but they usually come out unless very rusted or corrosion welded.

If that doens't get it done it's time to drill it out.

I would not bump a sight off with the grubscrew in place unless your prepared to repair a big gouge in the cover plate & slide.

Like this here...


And this...



Cheers
Bill

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Because they don't make a .46

Ok thanks. I have a wood burning iron with different tips I can use to heat up. I hope

Thanks Bill

The person before me took out the magazine safety plunger and spring. And kind of hacked up the sight and stripped the screw.

There is no cover on a 5906. Careful about heating and melting the nylon caps on the springs or taking temper out of the springs. You probably aren’t going to “tap” the sight out. You may be able to drive it out with a punch and a big hammer. You need to get that set screw out. Easy out or maybe just a proper fitting Allen wrench and some heat. The original set screw is a 1/16” Allen wrench. If it’s really stripped, you may need a metric size to fit it. You need a quality wrench. The cheap ones are not sufficiently tempered to hold up. You may need a sight pusher. Good luck, but don’t get frustrated and try to get the sight out before you get the set screw out.

Don’t you just hate it when you have to pick up where Bubba left off? I just needed to take the screw out of a non-adjustable sight on an orphan 439 slide last week, and when I put the Allen wrench on it, the lock screw turned out easily and the sight virtually fell out. Sometimes luck trumps skill!

Froggie

If all else fails, send it to BMCM. He will make it right.

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Pine_Worker
Ex-LEO, NRA Life

I've used an soldering iron tip and a Torx bit with success... Been doing the Torx bit trick on stripped hex head screws of all sorts for a long time.

Heat it up, use a Torx bit that's a tad oversized for the hex opening, tap it in and then tap the driver handle while turning it to loosening, the rapping will help loosen the bond.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

Not a bad idea.

When I was an inboard boat mechanic, I often encountered steel nuts that rusted to the point of flaking off when a socket was applied. I got many off by hammering on metric sockets until something would bite.
This is a lot more delicate than a V8 exhaust manifold. I think the torex driver bit is a great idea.

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NRA LIFE
Reserve Officer 9yrs

Who / What is BMCM ???

A forum member who is very skilled in working on third generation S&W pistols. If I’m not mistaken, BMCM stands for Master Chief Bosuns Mate. That was probably a previous life.

If all else fails, a local machine shop can mill
It out pretty easily. Or if you can’t find someone to do it, send me the slide and I’ll get it out for you. I doubt it would take more than five minutes to mill it out.

Well it definitely needs to be drilled out. But I'm contemplating keeping it the way it is. I purchased this with the magazine safety removed. I have all parts to fix. My intent was to put it all back to original but don't know if it is worth all the effort.