M&P C.O.R.E. rear sight

[potentpoefie]

Hi

I'm well aware that the CORE's rear sight is more narrow than the normal M&P pistols. Hence sights are not interchangable. As far as I know Dawson Precision is the only company that makes replacement non co-witness sights for the CORE.
However they don't ship internationally and I'm stuck in South Africa.

Now finally down to my question. If I had the time and felt like making the effort would buying normal M&P rear sights and then sit with a file, can I make the sights fit the rear notch (well that is is duh question)? I mean will the sights work to point of aim as normal? Is the only difference the width of the dovetail?

Hope that makes sense.

The ideal would be if someone had both sights (normal and CORE) and see could compare the two.

Looking forward to your responses.

[OKFC05]

The CORE and M&P Pro 5" are essentially the same gun except for the machined cuts and tall sights on the CORE, which are specifically designed to co witness with an optic. If you have no intention of putting on an optic, just buy the Pro 5" with FO sights. That's what I did and it is just what I wanted for IDPA and USPSA Production. If you have already bought the CORE, a trade for a Pro is the quickest and easiest.

[potentpoefie]

Oh I get that. I already have the CORE. I've been shooting with it for the last 2 years but I really freaking hate the sights. It's so high. I would really love a FO on it and have the sights sit closer to the slide (not that tall).

The front dovetail is a standard M&P sight dovetail so front sight replacements are not an issue however then I'll have a very short (standard) front sight with this monstrosity still on the rear.

So I was wondering due to a lack of parts locally for it if I would be able to buy a normal M&P rear sight and just fit it to the CORE rear dovetail?
Or are there other differences in the non-co-witness sights that would still make this impossible?

I could always just invest in the sights and ruin them to check for myself but would like to know that I might have a reasonable margin of success before going down this route.

A trade is nearly impossible here. 1. availability 2. our draconian gun laws. It's about being trapped between a rock and a hard place. Most plastics in SA are either Glocktastics or standard M&P pistols.

[OKFC05]

Well, I'm no machinist (or gunsmith), but I don't think I could do it. Just looking at the CORE, I surmised the whole reason for the smaller slot size on the rear was there was precious little metal left after the cuts for the optic. The whole slide assembly will switch from frame to frame, so you could swap the slide to somebody who has a Pro and wants a CORE and keep the same serial numbers, if that's a concern in SA. Good luck! (ain't international politics and restrictions just bleedin' grand?)

[potentpoefie]

Oh in South Africa we license the barrel and frame. So no swapsies. :-)

It does make things a little bit difficult. That is true. From our side as stupid as our gun laws are parts are a free for all. No mag restrictions etc. However getting a company to ship internationally from your side is sometimes a mission. I totally understand why thought. The effort required to become an exporter versus the small amount of business we would generate.

And then the ITAR $100 limit that would require a export permit for all orders of gun parts over $100 really makes getting them impractical. I mean the cheapest quote I've seen to get an export permit application (non refunable) is $250. So now I'm looking at a $78 sight set but with an overhead of $250 for export permit and then add about $60 shipping. Most expensive sights ever. That's if you find someone willing to ship.

Anyway enough of my rant. Hopefully someone can still give me hope that it can be done.

[DNolan]

If you can replace the front sight with a shorter standard M&P, have you considered finding a machinist will to mill the rear sight to the proper height and cut the rear notch to suit your desires?

[potentpoefie]

Originally Posted by DNolan

If you can replace the front sight with a shorter standard M&P, have you considered finding a machinist will to mill the rear sight to the proper height and cut the rear notch to suit your desires?

Would it not be easier to machine the "dovetail" end of a standard m&p rear versus extensively machining the standard sight? That's pretty much my main question. Can I machine a standard m&p rear sight's dovetail part to fit and funation with a standard m&p front sight?

Or would the shape of the m&p standard rear sight not fit the slide at all. It seems the core sights are more straigh up version the m&p sights sitting a bit more behind the dovetail area.