640 front sight stuck

[josp]

Alright fellas,
got my police trade in 640 and I'm trying to upgrade the beat front sight to a XO dot sight and I can't get the pin to move. I've soaked it in PB Blaster, and broke a 1/16" punch. No go. Heck it won't budge. Good news is if I scar the finish, well I won't be the first.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Thanks

 

[Dave Baird]

Join the club, sorry to say. I've just spent numerous hours over a few days trying to remove mine, but it does not budge either. The proper size is a #54 drill bit, not 1/16". ALK8944 taught me that from the smithing forum. The 1/16" is too big. Make sure the gun is on a hard surface so all the force gets absorbed by the pin, and try to stabilize the gun from moving.

I gave up just a couple hours ago. I was thinking how to improve the stuck stock sight, but it is pretty small.

Dave

 

[Lou_the_welder]

It should come off, if it's pinned. #54 or .055 is the right diameter. 1/16th is .0625? Too big.

Keep in mind that after the pin comes off, the sight still won't simply fall off (like I expected). You would then need a good set of vise grips and two very small pieces of thin brass sheet to lock the vise grips on the front sight and wiggle/pry it off. (I mention thin strip of brass to protect the sight on removal- but if you want to throw it away, you can "bite" the sight with the vise grips and yank it off.........

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

 

[Protocall_Design]

The punch needs to be less than .055. A good size is .050. The 1/16 punch is just too big to go through the hole. You can put a 1/16 punch in the cordless drill and spin it down on the side of a grinding wheel. Doesn't take much.

 

[SAFireman]

Best to use a non-marring bench block with a hole so that the pin can pass out and you still have the largest support area possible.

 

[josp]

Thanks. I did the size reduction on the punch, and soaked it all last night in a penetration oil. Even called S&W. They said it "should" come right out.
So it's off to the mothership. Spend a few bucks to have them install the sight for me. Waiting on the Lobo holster anyway so I can be patient a little while longer.
Thanks again for the ideas.

 

[Beachcomber]

Thanks. I did the size reduction on the punch, and soaked it all last night in a penetration oil. Even called S&W. They said it "should" come right out.
So it's off to the mothership. Spend a few bucks to have them install the sight for me. Waiting on the Lobo holster anyway so I can be patient a little while longer.
Thanks again for the ideas.

S&W labor costs shouldn't be too bad... but the overnight shipping charges and the darn long wait to get it back is a killer!