New 442UC Rear Sight Adjustment

[gstactical]

I bought a new Lipsey's 442UC (Ultimate Carry). Even though I own dozens of older S&W revolvers, this is my first brand new one in over 20 years. I am really disappointed in the quality control, and now one of the issues I have to deal with is an off-center rear sight. I was shooting this one along with my 340PD which has more recoil and noticed that at about 12-15 yards the 442UC was shooting a couple of inches to the right while my 20 year old 340PD was dead center. When I was cleaning the guns I discovered that the 442UC sight is pushed too far to the right where it's visible with a naked eye. I tried to tap it over to the left with a brass punch, but it didn't move. Is that possibly a set screw on top of the sight that needs to be loosened? Neither Allan no Torx wrenches want to grip it. If it needs to be loosened, what's the correct wrench for it? This is my first S&W revolver with that type of sight.

 

[505Gibbs]

Any idea it MIGHT be a metric allen screw? FWIW

 

[Marshal Tom]

One of the other members here had the same problem and if I remember correctly, he removed the screw but said that the sight was extremely tight in the slot. He also tried to drift it with a brass punch but was not successful. You probably need to get in touch with customer service to find out what wrench is needed and use a sight adjustment tool/ sight pusher or send it in S&W.

 

[steelslaver]

Any idea it MIGHT be a metric allen screw? FWIW

Looks like a torx to me. Torx or allen you need a tight fit

 

[pokey074]

That is a 1/16" hex screw. Good luck, that rear sight is on there TIGHT! My new 432UC shoots a little left for me and I had zero luck getting the rear to move with either a plastic or a brass punch.

 

[VictorLouis]

Sounds like a job for thee Mighty Kroil penetrant.

 

[Well Armed]

Next, can we get a full straight on picture of the sights from the top and rear so we can see what you're talking about?

 

[Well Armed]

That is a 1/16" hex screw. Good luck, that rear sight is on there TIGHT! My new 432UC shoots a little left for me and I had zero luck getting the rear to move with either a plastic or a brass punch.

Use a heat gun to heat it up first. My guess is that the used loctite of the threads.

 

[pokey074]

Use a heat gun to heat it up first. My guess is that the used loctite of the threads.

Screw comes out just fine. It's the sight itself that is welded in there.

 

[steelslaver]

Heat is still the answer, The coefficient of expansion of aluminum alloy is 13 and steel is the 9s depending on alloy. Plus there may be an adhesive on sight base and most of them give up around 260F. Even 300f is way to low to effect any temper

 

[gstactical]

Next, can we get a full straight on picture of the sights from the top and rear so we can see what you're talking about?

Here you go. You can see it's sett too far to the right.

 

[Well Armed]

After rereading his post, his organal issue was that he didn't remove the pin. OP, did you remove the pin and try again? Yes, the pin needs to be backed off.

I am not sure if S&W does this or not. I know I and some manufacturers do when I install dovetail sighs. I use red loctite at the base of the sight. I'd try heating up the frame a little, add some penetrating oil, and try again after removing the set pin.

It's situations like these that make me glad I purchased an an actual site pusher. Several years and several site changes, uninstalls, and reinstalls, it's well worth the small investment. Makes situations like this a non situation.

 

[gstactical]

After rereading his post, his organal issue was that he didn't remove the pin. OP, did you remove the pin and try again? Yes, the pin needs to be backed off.

What pin am I supposed to remove? I did not remove any pins. Are you referring to the screw in the middle? What tool do I need to remove it? Nothing in the manual I can find either. I just called S&W customer service which put me on hold for 20 minutes and finally told me they have no idea. He even tried to give me a hard time trying to tell me this is not a warranty issue.

 

[Well Armed]

What pin am I supposed to remove? I did not remove any pins. Are you referring to the screw in the middle? What tool do I need to remove it? Nothing in the manual I can find either. I just called S&W customer service which put me on hold for 20 minutes and finally told me they have no idea. He even tried to give me a hard time trying to tell me this is not a warranty issue.

Yes, the pin in the middle needs to be backed off. I don't have one of the new UC. All the M&P have set screws in the rear sight too.

[Edit]That looks stripped to me and there's nothing to grip.

 

[gstactical]

Yes, the pin in the middle needs to be backed off. I don't have one of the new UC. All the M&P have set screws in the rear sight too.

[Edit]That looks stripped to me and there's nothing to grip.

Yes, definitely nothing to grip. This is how it looked when I first examined it. I just got this message from S&W. What kind of a wrench is this?

Good Afternoon

This is Brendan with Smith & Wesson. We spoke on the phone this afternoon. The size of the set screw on the Lipsey 442 is a 5-40 X 3/32. I hope this helps.

Thank you
Brendan

 

[gstactical]

Finally got the site moved after I found a random tiny Allen wrench that turned that set screw. How hard would it be to include a 10-cent Allen wrench in the S&W box or at least specify in the manual how to adjust the site? Of course shipping the gun with properly aligned sights would be even better. Now I know why I haven't bought a new S&W in 20 years. Back to the old ones.

 

[dubshooter]

Yup. How horrible. You should send me that gun so you can focus on the old ones.

 

[John Adams]

Thank you Steel Slaver

Heat is still the answer, The coefficient of expansion of aluminum alloy is 13 and steel is the 9s depending on alloy. Plus there may be an adhesive on sight base and most of them give up around 260F. Even 300f is way to low to effect any temper

I have no idea what this means, but it has the ring of truth. I have both models of UC in stainless on order. When they come in I will throughly examine the rear sight. Especially since I can only guess at heat gun., Is that like a hair dryer?

 

[steelslaver]

Aluminum expands more than steel by a factor of 9 to 13 .

A heat gun is just a industrial hair dryer that get hotter. Most heat guns have a heat range on the adjustment.