Sight Installation on a CS45

I am thinking of buying a set of Trijicon night sights for my CS45. Before I go ahead and purchase them, I was wondering if anyone has any experience installing sights on this pistol or any Chiefs Special.

Do I need a special sight pusher? Are the sights hard to come off like a Springfield pistol or will they come off easy like a Glock?

Thanks!

The night sights for the Chiefs Special handguns will be just like installing a regular 3rd Gen sight. Factory sights are in there fairly tight, but nothing like Kahr factory sights (the only other brand I can compare it to). Sight pushers can be used, as well as a hammer and punch.

The sights will go out to the right, and on towards the left (when viewed from behind). Good idea to pad your slide with strips of leather or rubber before securing it in a vice / sight pusher. If you haven't done this before, you will need to remove your safety assembly from the slide before doing the rear sights.

Here's another thread discussing a few different sight pushers, including one sold on the forums here by one of our members: http://smith-wessonforum.com/smith-...ols/493775-tool-replacing-sights-3rd-gen.html

Best of luck!

Be very careful when tapping off the back sight. The factory rear is a molded affair and skeletonized with a front to back strip for strength. It will hang on the two springs underneath resulting in spring damage and a call to brownells for replacement. Soak front sight in penitrating oil for a coulple days. It was a nightmare to drift off.

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I did once put night sites on my 4043. So if its similar - I got this!
Thanks for you help.
Cheers!

Out to the right in to the left. Use a brass or nylon punch. There should be a plate over the springs to prevent damage, but be careful not to lose the plate or springs. May not help, but sure won't hurt to use penetrating oil for a few days prior removing sights.

ShelbyV8 said:

Out to the right in to the left. Use a brass or nylon punch. There should be a plate over the springs to prevent damage, but be careful not to lose the plate or springs. May not help, but sure won't hurt to use penetrating oil for a few days prior removing sights.

Click to expand...

There was no plate or milled out spot for a plate on my cs9
Seems like at the end of 3rd gen production the took that step out to save $

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I provide tools for third generation sights that do not require removal of the safety levers. PM me if you have an interest or look in the classifieds for JMT.

Ashley Express big dots on my cs9

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grcoffman104 said:

There was no plate or milled out spot for a plate on my cs9
Seems like at the end of 3rd gen production the took that step out to save $

Click to expand...

I've only seen the plate underneath the rear sight on the later 3rd Gens like the 4040PD, so I think I was a later addition to the lineup. Your blued CS9 was only made from 98-99.

grcoffman104 said:

There was no plate or milled out spot for a plate on my cs9
Seems like at the end of 3rd gen production the took that step out to save $

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Click to expand...

The spring plate underneath the rear sight base was originally used on the larger/taller .45 slides, although I did see it in one of the newer, late production guns in another caliber in some other 3rd gen, in recent years. It escapes me at the moment, but it was just one of those moments of "(Shrug) Hmm, so they decided to do it in other guns toward the end, huh?"

FWIW, I can't remember seeing them use a spring plate in any of the CS9's, or some other 9 s', even going back to the very earliest of the first carbon steel (slide) black CS9 models.

I don't know for sure (since I've never asked), but my initial thought would be to think that maybe adding the spring plate in the taller slides might somehow have been to add some extra material above the plunger springs to offset dimension differences in the taller slides? Dunno. Just a wild SWAG ...

Maybe the engineers finally decided they could add the extra cut during CNC production of other caliber slides without adversely affecting the tension of the 2 springs? Dunno.

I do know, however, that having the springs covered by a spring plate is a really good benefit when you're installing a rear sight, as it captures the top of the springs and prevents the sort of damage that could often result in slides which lacked a spring plate, when the advancing left edge of the sight base being installed could cut, crimp, bend or twist the top spring coils.

Little wonder why they decided to keep the spring plate idea when designing the M&P slides. Except in the M&P's, the itty bitty spring plate used initially earned the nickname of "UFO", because of how easily it could slip out and go flying while trying to remove or install the rear sight. Some genius back there had a brain storm and figured out they could attach the plate and spring to make a single unit, so the plate wouldn't go flying if it slipped. Sheer genius (from an armorer's perspective, at any rate. )

The wide oval shaped plates used in the 3rd gen slides were much more easily managed during sight removal and installation.

Fastbolt said:

The spring plate underneath the rear sight base was originally used on the larger/taller .45 slides, although I did see it in one of the newer, late production guns in another caliber in some other 3rd gen, in recent years. It escapes me at the moment, but it was just one of those moments of "(Shrug) Hmm, so they decided to do it in other guns toward the end, huh?"

FWIW, I've not seen them use a spring plate in any of the CS9's, even going back to the very earliest of the first carbon steel (slide) black models.

I don't know for sure (since I've never asked), but my initial thought would be to think that adding the spring plate in the taller slides might somehow be to add some extra material above the plunger springs in the taller slides? Dunno. Just a wild SWAG ...

Click to expand...

My memory ( quite fragile ) of the popular YouTube videos of 3rd gen disassembly showed the plate. Said video jogs my 80's armorer school memories.
Can't remember if he was working on a 40 or 9? Or where I laid that book down.
Or where I put my wife's honey do list. I remember where the Jack Daniels is.

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grcoffman104 said:

My memory ( quite fragile ) of the popular YouTube videos of 3rd gen disassembly showed the plate. Said video jogs my 80's armorer school memories.
Can't remember if he was working on a 40 or 9? Or where I laid that book down.
Or where I put my wife's honey do list. I remember where the Jack Daniels is.

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Click to expand...

As long as the JD isn't hanging by a cord, around your neck, you're probably still doing OK.

I so seldom replace sights on 3rd gen's anymore, that I can't remember the last time I had one off a slide.

However, sometime in the next couple of weeks I've got to pull some older style Novak Ghost rear sights off someone's 4566 and 3913, and replace them with stock dot sights, so I'll be able to compare them again.

grcoffman104 said:

My memory ( quite fragile ) of the popular YouTube videos of 3rd gen disassembly showed the plate. Said video jogs my 80's armorer school memories.
Can't remember if he was working on a 40 or 9?

Click to expand...

Just checked, and he's working on a pre-MIM 4006 in that video and it has the plate, then a 1066 in the 'gunsmithing' vids that I believe also has the plate.

I've only seen them on a 4040PD and a later production 457, none of my 9's have had them. I recently changed sights on a 5906TSW and was disappointed to see that it didn't have the plate either.