3914 with dot sight

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RE-tired in Texas
Partly due to the recent rage for compact reflex dot sights on carry pistols,and mostly due to my increasing age, and loss of near vision. I decided to experiment with them. Have had dot sights on target pistols for 40 years since the first aimpoints came out, but frowned on their use on carry pistols. KISS ruled for that.
I have enough carry guns so didnt want to buy any new stuff, new mags,new sights etc. Then remembered John Pride having a Dot sight on a 3913/14 back in the late 80s early 90s. So I went to good ol' Jim Tiritilli at Aristocrat Product Inc. They had a mount that replaces the rear sight for 3rd gen S/W, and many others.
I didnt want to mess with my EDC 6906 compact yet,so dragged out my retired 3914 , that was my first S/W auto bought as a back-up off duty gun sometime in the late 80-or early 90s.
I was lucky enough to have a spare top end for this gun so I set it up on that ,and didnt even have to mess with my guns original. Bought the cheapist Crimson Trace reflex (might be the weak link) and put it together . All the stuff from Aristocrat went together like his products always do, perfectly . Had to do a slight( very slight) fitting of the dovetail key and the rest went together per the instruction. Will be going to the range tomorrow and see how it goes. Right now too many horses here foaling or just have, to shoot any guns on the place.
TUCO, yes named after that TUCO, from one of my wife's favorite movies. One week old yesterday.


Made it to the range a few days later at 50 FT it shot great after adjusting ther sight.
 

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Send'er to me to test fire, I've even got ammo for it. LOL!

I've been tempted to do something similar, so I'm anxious to hear how you like it. Having had cataracts removed, my vision is better, however the front sight isn't always easy to pick up rapidly. I just practice more "point shooting" than I used to.

It looks very nice, I bet you like it.
 
Very nice my friend! I am looking forward to your report on shooting it. Will a similar setup be coming on a 4566? ;) Regards 18DAI
 
I would be very interested in seeing such a setup on a 4500 series pistol.
 
Hello: I can tell you from trying the same sight kit on the larger frame 45xx and 10xx pistols that the Red Dot base is a bit too narrow or the slide is a bit too wide and the base does not sit flush to the slide. Might be able to get it to work with some skilled fitting. The dove tail Key does fit right in.
 
guzzitaco: Please tell us what you did to make the base fit. Was a mill required?
Thank you.

I did a bit of milling and a bit of sanding...

To fit without a milling machine: place 400 or 320 grit sandpaper on top of slide, coarse part up, with the base STRAIGHT, rub back and fwd. Base is aluminum, sandpaper will eat the base fast. Wrap your thumb and index fingers will tape, because they will rub on the sandpaper. Stop on regular intervals, clean and check fitting. This will take time.

Slide could get some scratches, because you will be dealing with sandpaper and things move. You could wrap the slide with some tape...

It is a bit primitive, but it is the only way that I can think to do it without milling.

Go slow. Check for fitting on regular intervals.
Bases can be found online for about $10 to $20.
 
Bob, this was John's 645 just as I got it from him with an Optima 2000 dot sight already installed on it. It had the adjustable rear sight so the slide was milled to mount the sight.
 

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3913/14

My 3913 is exceptionally accurate for me. Carried it for decades. Only retired it because of the small ammo capacity compared to the new Shield Plus. Now thinking whether accuracy or ammo capacity is more important …
 
If you have a SW auto, check out aristocrat's website they may have a way cheaper option for mounting an RDO. They created mounts years ago when it was still DOC Dot stuff..
 
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