I am replacing the front sight on my 629-6. I tried using a 1/16 inch roll pin punch but it only slightly moved the pin before becoming jammed in the hole. So, what diameter roll pin punch do I need? Maybe using a small nail? Thank you

I feel your pain. I'm always messin' with my Hi-Powers, and need several sizes of roll-pin punches. So after a few years of always needing a slightly different size, I finally bought a whole set of nine punches ( 1/16--5/16)punches from Brownells. Around $40

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John

The roll pin punch is for an .062 hole. The front sight pin is .055. You could grind down the roll pin punch slightly by turning it with a drill motor as you grind or file it. A punch around .050 to .053 is best. I have no idea why they didn't just use 1/16.

Alternatively, once the pin is out, you could drill the hole to 1/16 and use a 1/16 x 1/4 roll pin. A package of 100 is a few dollars.

GUNSMITH REPLACEABLE PIN PUNCH SET | Brownells

since you already have "moved" the pin a bit try taking a appropriate size drill bit,one you are willing to sacrifice, and put the blunt end on the pin and tap on the nose of the bit with a small hammer.....Mike.

Go to your local hobby shop and buy one length of Model Airplane landing gear spring steel wire. It comes in an assortment of diameters. IIRC, there is one available that is somewhere around 0.052". Cut a two inch long section with your Dremel tool and make sure the end is ground perfectly square to the world. That becomes your drift punch for the 0.055" cross pin in the front sight. The rest of the landing gear wire becomes one of the most useful tools you will have in assembly of firearms. I sharpen one end to a fine point and leave the other end flat ground but I bevel the edge just slightly so that it won't scratch blued surfaces. I use it to guide parts into place, align holes in parts, pry apart parts, scratch hardened deposits out of 90 deg. corners and a bunch of other uses that I can't recall right now. ......

BTW, there is also a heavier landing gear wire that is 0.063" dia. that is even more handy on the workbench. Buy one of those too. ....

Thank you for your prompt replies. I think I will use the drill bit solution.

Those aren't roll pin punches though.

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

If you buy a (3) pack of 1/16" drill bits you can use one bit to drill out the hole & then the smooth shank of another bit, cut to length for the sight's pin. (You can buy drill rod blanks, unfluted drill bit rods, of the correct diameter, to use instead but the drill bit pack is more convenient.)

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Waiting for the break of day