Shield SIGHT INSTALL no joke... Why no taper in the dovetail?

Does anyone have the regular Truglo Brite Site Fiber Optic Non Tritium sights? I'm curious how well they stack up in terms of visibility. I'm a lot more willing to pay 40 bucks for those than 100 bucks for the TFO's...especially considering i'm redoing the trigger and getting it coated.
 
TAPER: the only reason I didn't think there was a taper, besides reading it somewhere, is seeing the APEX video for the SHIELD install--he clearly takes the sight off left to right and INSTALLS the new on left-to-right (see 19:20 mark of video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuVeqLc-ESU ).

TACTICAL404:
The tru-glos will still light up bright during the day, but at night they'll just be like any black-on-black sight (unless you
re using a flashlight held at face-level, which some--like Kyle Defoor--use, but others--like Kyle Lamb--call the "shoot me in the face method").
I don't care about night sights--I would have gotten black on black Defoors for $45 if they were in stock ANYWHERE. But since they weren't, and I find the simplicity of 2-dots faster, I went I-dot. My only problem is I like more space between the front sight and the sides of the rear. I want a .115 front if the rear is .150...I think these are .130 with a .155 rear (I could be wrong).
 
If you file (and re-blue after filing) the sights so they fit about one third to one half way in before stopping by hand, that's just about the right adjustment. Half way in works better; very tight without having to really beat it in.
 
agksimon said:
If you file (and re-blue after filing) the sights so they fit about one third to one half way in before stopping by hand, that's just about the right adjustment. Half way in works better; very tight without having to really beat it in.
Click to expand...
Just to piggy back on this, he's talking about half the sight base not the slide.
 
If the dovetails were cut with a taper, the sight would literally fall out once it moved just a bit. There is probably some metal displaced when the slightly oversize sight is rammed into the dovetail with a hydraulic press. That's why it's recommended that the sights be removed in the direction from which they were installed.
 
I had LGS certified armorer crack my Shield slide with pusher. Luckily the shop had another slide in stock. I ended up with front night sight only. Be careful with yours......Bill
 
epj said:
If the dovetails were cut with a taper, the sight would literally fall out once it moved just a bit. There is probably some metal displaced when the slightly oversize sight is rammed into the dovetail with a hydraulic press. That's why it's recommended that the sights be removed in the direction from which they were installed.
Click to expand...

When I was changing out the sights on my M&Pc9 and Shield9, I filed the bottom of the sights, to the proper amount, so they would slide in from right to left and they went in about half way pushing by hand. I tried installing them from the left side and they went about a quarter of the way, again pushing by hand. Doesn't that mean the left side of the dovetail is slightly smaller?
 
Not necessarily. The dovetail on the right side might have been stretched slightly by the force of installing the sight at the factory. When two machined surfaces are a tapered fit, moving one piece back just a few thousandths usually results in the two pieces falling apart.
Besides, just how would one go about cutting a tapered dovetail? The cutter doesn't shrink as it moves through the slide.
 
epj said:
Besides, just how would one go about cutting a tapered dovetail? The cutter doesn't shrink as it moves through the slide.
Click to expand...
Oh, I don't know, two cuts? It's really not that complicated when you think about it.

Even so, I don't think the dovetail is tapered. It should be sized just right so that the sight requires some force to put it in.
 
Actually, it would be very complicated. The cutter is spun by a mill. The slide passes through the cutter. Unless the cutter reduces in diameter as it cuts through the slide, it will be the same width on both sides.
 
epj said:
Actually, it would be very complicated. The cutter is spun by a mill. The slide passes through the cutter. Unless the cutter reduces in diameter as it cuts through the slide, it will be the same width on both sides.
Click to expand...
Um, well, OK, but it doesn't seem that hard to me.

Make one pass. Then change the angle of he piece being cut and make another. In essence cut one side first and then the other at a slight angle to the first. Voila! A tapered dove tail. I've done it many times, just in wood. I can't imagine it would be that much harder in a mill with steel.

Even so, what you said about how the sight would come loose if moved toward the open end is correct. Therefore, I don't believe it is cut with a taper.
 
Yeah, I guess after years of drifting out left-to-right, and installing them right-to-left, I just started to assume that there was a taper...in hindsight, it doesn't make sense.

So when I saw APEX install it left to right (the same way he pushed it out), I think it just made me think the Shield was different than other guns.

(Did I mention I'm averaging about 3-4hrs sleep for the last week!?)
 
Dovetail cutting is a 3 pass operation. First pass is with a straight cutter to remove the middle part of the metal, then the dovetail mill is used for finishing the 2 parts of the dovetail. With modern CNC machines it is simple, the machine programs the path and switches the cutters. Using a dovetail cutter to cut the complete dovetail with one pass is asking for failure (and one couldn't get a tapered cut)
 
I guess the CNC machines can do just about anything. I still do it the old fashioned way, so that's all pretty foreign to me. I just have trouble believing they would bother to make the cut a few thousandths tapered. If they were tapered the sight should move very easily as soon as it moves just a smidge. Most I've replaced don't. They do move easier, but that's because the corrosion is broken loose and there is less surface area in contact causing friction.
 
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