Got Apex. Can't get rear sight off.

SpringGunTunes

SpringGunTunes

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I've worked in industry almost 35 years and before that in automotive. I got my Apex trigger kit for my Shield. I can't get the rear sight to budge. I made some delrin punches and they just shattered. So, I made a brass punch. Driving the sight from left to right I can't budge it. Moved up to a heavier one pound ball pein hammer. And I mean I hit it too. I've drove hundreds of things off and out with a pin or drift punch. Nada. So, I tried going from right to left. Nothing. Tried to put heat on it from a soldering iron thinking maybe S&W used Loctite 680 retaining compound on it but I can't get it hot enough.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rob
P.S. Called Apex but they're not open yet.
 
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I know when I did mine I had to hit it pretty hard with a brass punch. I took the slide off and chucked it up in a vise with protection on the jaws and like you started with delrin. You could always try a heat gun. I would not use a soldering gun as you don't want to heat the sight but where it mounts
 
Hit it with some Kroil and then go to work with a brass punch. Make sure you remove the set screw all the way and drive the sight towards the ejector port.
 
I did not read that you loosened the locking screw on top of the sight! If you did fine, if not you need to heat it with yur wife or girlfriends blow dryer . Drive the sight from the left to the right(Looking from rear of pistol. The striker block,spring and small metal disc are just right of center. Apex sends a small plastic tool that slides into the dovetail, to hold that spring and disc while you slide the sight back on. Hope this helps, I wound up buying a sight pusher cause I have 5 M&P's and am slowly changing out sights on each of them. good luck, oh forgot on my first one I used a brass punch with masking tape wraped around the tip!
 
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You could also take it to gun smith, if you decide to do it yourself and scuff up the sights it's an easy fix with some rebluing stuff
 
SpringGunTunes said:
I've worked in industry almost 35 years and before that in automotive. I got my Apex trigger kit for my Shield. I can't get the rear sight to budge. I made some delrin punches and they just shattered. So, I made a brass punch. Driving the sight from left to right I can't budge it. Moved up to a heavier one pound ball pein hammer. And I mean I hit it too. I've drove hundreds of things off and out with a pin or drift punch. Nada. So, I tried going from right to left. Nothing. Tried to put heat on it from a soldering iron thinking maybe S&W used Loctite 680 retaining compound on it but I can't get it hot enough.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Rob
P.S. Called Apex but they're not open yet.
Click to expand...
Recommend you completely remove set screw, lube around the sight bottom, let the lube work for a day, then try to drive the sight toward the ejection port. Some are in very tight. Let us know how it worked out.
 
The rear sight can be the hardest part to remove. I heated the set screw with a propane torch, turning the slide upside down, and putting the tip of the flame on the set screw. It should only take 3-4 seconds of heat. Don't over heat as you can melt the spring cap, under the sight, that holds the blocker spring in place. By turning the slide upside down, this allows the heat to rise up into the set screw. Use an allen/hex head wrench and loosen and remove the set screw. Lock the slide in a vice, and protect the sides of the slide from scratching and damage. I used a steel punch and taped the end up. You are correct that you drive the sight off from left to right, towards the ejection side. Hit on the thick edge of the sight, not the thin lower lip. Pound hard and after every blow, check the tape on the punch. You don't want metal to metal contact. It will take several hard blows until the sight starts to move. Some guns take very little pressure to move the sight, and others, like on mine, are VERY tight and you really need to pound hard to get the sight to move. When you get the sight 1/2 off, tap slowly as you don't want to lose the spring cap or spring, when the sight comes off.

Most important is be careful the punch does not slip. You don't want to mark the slide. Replacement rear sights are cheap, the slide is expensive to replace or to get it refinished.

Bob
 
SpringGunTunes said:
I'm at the gunsmith now. He's beating on it and I'm sweating bullets.
Click to expand...

Ugh. Professional armorers SHOULD have sight pushers.

Hammering away at sights will either break or loosen the tritium vials in sights (if using NS's).


C4
 
Well I certainly know enough to take the set screw out. I work on machines that would make an automatic transmission look like a spoon.
I also know enough that no matter how many machines I've worked on or how many sheepskins I have on my wall that someone who does this all the time knows more about it than me.
I went ahead and took my slide off my M&P Compact and took it as well. The guy had a sight pusher. Getting them off was no problem. Getting the Compact sight on was no problem. Getting the Shield sight back on was a problem. That's what he was beating on.
He ended up breaking the edge of the floor plate off my sight. Nobody would know it but me but it still bummed me out. He said it was so tight he didn't think he would be able to get it back on. I wish he would have told me and I would have told him to stop.
What's done is done. I'm going to go ahead with installing the rest of the kits.
Thanks for the help,
Rob
 
The Apex Shield kit is in. I thought the trigger pull was too heavy so I went back in and put the factory trigger spring back in. NICE!
Now on to the Compact.
Rob
 
Got the Compact almost together but lost the take down lever spring. This aint my day. :-(
 
SpringGunTunes said:
The Apex Shield kit is in. I thought the trigger pull was too heavy so I went back in and put the factory trigger spring back in. NICE!
Now on to the Compact.
Rob
Click to expand...

The DCAEK (without polishing the internals) is right around 5LBS (with polish is around 4.8LBS).

By using the factor trigger return spring, the pull weight is right at 4LBS (FYI).



C4
 
SpringGunTunes said:
Well I certainly know enough to take the set screw out. I work on machines that would make an automatic transmission look like a spoon.
I also know enough that no matter how many machines I've worked on or how many sheepskins I have on my wall that someone who does this all the time knows more about it than me.
I went ahead and took my slide off my M&P Compact and took it as well. The guy had a sight pusher. Getting them off was no problem. Getting the Compact sight on was no problem. Getting the Shield sight back on was a problem. That's what he was beating on.
He ended up breaking the edge of the floor plate off my sight. Nobody would know it but me but it still bummed me out. He said it was so tight he didn't think he would be able to get it back on. I wish he would have told me and I would have told him to stop.
What's done is done. I'm going to go ahead with installing the rest of the kits.
Thanks for the help,
Rob
Click to expand...

Did either of you consider properly fitting the rear sight so it could be installed relatively easily? Especially night sights just don't need to be beaten on with a hammer. Sorry you had a problem, but it was entirely avoidable.
 
This is really insane... I, too am working on removing the sights on my new Shield, and have gotten the setscrew out of the rear sight- after soaking with penetrating oil, isopropyl alchol and heating the rear area with a pinpoint heat jet from a soldering extractor on light pressure. So far, I've gotten the rear sight to move about .030"- and the front sight about the same amount. In doing so, I have succeeded in chipping the tip off of the Fisher Solutions sight removal/installation tool. Will have to send the tip back to him for replacement... and use it to install the new Tritium sights... ensuring they're fitted so as not to be so tight. There's simply no need for them to be that tight.
ARE YOU LISTENING, S&W???? They don't NEED to be this tight!!
Wes
 
WBlacklidge- That universal tool you're referencing is the one I chipped the front blade on trying to get the sights off of my Shield... (in the post just above yours)
Wes
 
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