Cant get spanner screw to back out on 27

stepsez19 · Jul 15, 2017

Well I got my new rear blade for my S&W 27-2. I bought the .160 and watched the videos on utube to get a general idea on how it works..
I got the screw head off and went and bought #4 spanner bit to back out the blade....but the spanner bit broke..So i tried making make shift tools to try and get it out and just can't get anything that small to work...That sucker is in there and I don't know what to do next..Cant get that spanner screw to turn!!!(to back out the blade)those 2 little holes are a b!$%^......

Protocall_Design · Jul 15, 2017

Drill out the end of the screw with a 5/64 drill bit. Then the nut will come off and you can slide the blade with remaining part of the screw out the right side. The nut will come off on the drill bit or just fall out of it's hole.

stepsez19 · Jul 15, 2017

Toolguy said:
Drill out the end of the screw with a 5/64 drill bit. Then the nut will come off and you can slide the blade with remaining part of the screw out the right side. The nut will come off on the drill bit or just fall out of it's hole.

Thanks tool guy ill give it a shot ,,,thanks

stepsez19 · Jul 15, 2017

Toolguy said:
Drill out the end of the screw with a 5/64 drill bit. Then the nut will come off and you can slide the blade with remaining part of the screw out the right side. The nut will come off on the drill bit or just fall out of it's hole.

Perfect !!! Worked like a dream....Thanks tool guy

Protocall_Design · Jul 15, 2017

You're welcome!

Alk8944 · Jul 16, 2017

HOW TO REALLY CHANGE A SIGHT SLIDE!

stepsez19,

For future reference in case you change a sight slide again:

The reason you had problems is you followed a YouTube video!

Many of these, including the one by Larry Potterfield of Midway, are WRONG!! They tell you to turn the windage screw Left until it breaks, this jams the sight slide against the left side of the sight base and clamps it between the slide and the nut and jams the screw tight. Sound familiar?

The correct way is to read the instructions that came with the slide kit**, turn the screw to the Right until it breaks, the slide will be to the right side of the sight base. Simply push the slide all the way to the left then and the screw and nut will protrude from the left side of the base and can be un-screwed with the fingers and the slide then removed to the right.

** The kit that is sold by S&W comes with an instruction sheet.

Protocall_Design · Jul 16, 2017

I just unscrew the nut to begin with, then reuse all the parts, rather than destroy perfectly good parts.

TNZ71 · Jul 31, 2017

I had a heck of time today replacing a rear sight blade on a model 28. I ordered the blade from Smiths and Wesson. I watched the Potterfield/Midway video and couldn't get the spanner nut to budge. Had given up and was going to order a whole sight base. Then I found this thread and drilled out the staking. Everything came out fine then. Question: Are the screw threads supposed to match the sight blade or be lose in it?

Protocall_Design · Aug 1, 2017

The threads can be a bit loose, but not much. They are 80 threads per inch, which means they have to be a fairly close fit to work at all.

As far as unscrewing the nut, it depends on how hard it was staked to begin with. Most of them are lightly staked and the nut can be unscrewed with a light bit of effort. Some are more heavily staked and can't be unscrewed without drilling out the stake. If you have to drill it, then the screw is usually too short to restake when you put it back in, so a new screw will be required.

ImprovedModel56Fan · Aug 1, 2017

Alk8944 said:
stepsez19,

For future reference in case you change a sight slide again:

The reason you had problems is you followed a YouTube video! Many of these, including the one by Larry Potterfield of Midway, are WRONG!! They tell you to turn the windage screw Left until it breaks, this jams the sight slide against the left side of the sight base and clamps it between the slide and the nut and jams the screw tight. Sound familiar?

The correct way is to read the instructions that came with the slide kit**, turn the screw to the Right until it breaks, the slide will be to the right side of the sight base. Simply push the slide all the way to the left then and the screw and nut will protrude from the left side of the base and can be un-screwed with the fingers and the slide then removed to the right.

** The kit that is sold by S&W comes with an instruction sheet.

It's all very fine to do something the right way when you are using the factory instructions. The real question is whether you can do it without cheating.

TNZ71 · Aug 1, 2017

The replacement blade I received from S&W didn't include any form of instruction. I now notice the blade moves without turning the windage screw. Like the screw itself is too small for the blade. Thinking now I should have bought the whole assembly $50 vs $12 and a bunch of frustration.

Protocall_Design · Aug 1, 2017

If the nut is loose, the blade can move sideways a little just by sliding it. The fix is to tighten the nut till it just bottoms out, then back it off a bit and lightly stake it in place.

Gregmk · Jul 5, 2019

stepsez19 said:
Perfect !!! Worked like a dream....Thanks tool guy

Great! Saved me from asking a question as I'm attempting this myself at this very moment on my 686 no dash rear sight.

Cant get spanner screw to back out on 27

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