1911 night sights maybe just the front sight

[bluedog46]

Howdy all.

I have a colt 1911 commander. Its not the fancy one or light one. Has a standard trigger not the 3 hole kind. I was told the current 3 dot sights are considered staked. I know the front is staked and they are not dovetailed. I was thinking of having night sites put on and was told I could almost buy another gun.

I was also told that the front sight is much less work to get off. its hte rear sight that often ads to the expense.

What I was wondering will any pistol front sight with a stake work or does it have to be for a 1911 also what are some good ones and what should a front sight run me?

Thanks alls.

[762xIan]

Personally I am a fan of Trijicon and Novak....they can be pricey >$100 on up. As my eyes get older I am starting to appreciate the brightness and hi color of the fiber optics. Ed Brown and Mepro make nice ones with tritium filled holes. Nice and bright.

Rear sight dovetail isn't that bad to change out, but if your front sight is staked it takes a special tool/jig to install "correctly".

Other than the cost of the sights, expect a good smith to charge $50-$100 bucks to install.

[Gunsnwater]

Front sight is staked. That's what the refrence is about. The rear is a dove tail. Most after market rear sights for the 1911 are longer front to back and require milling the top of the slide flat to accommodate that rearward of the dovetail slot. Also, different dovetail angles are used depending on the manufacturer. Then add a reblue before final assembly. This is what they were talking about.

You can do just the front site. You could go laser grips.

[MasonArmsGunsmithing]

The staked front sights can be a bit of a pain in the neck. Also if you use a Tritium front sight you have to be very careful not to break the vial!! Check out FusionFirearms.com they have a ton of sights for the 1911, even tritium rear sights that will fit right into a mil-spec GI dovetail, sometimes need a bit of fitting, but nothing a stone or file cant handle. Also the front sight comes in 2 different sizes, thin tenon, and wide tenon. I do believe most of the colts are all thin tenon's, but i would double check to be sure. Also there is one other size tenon, the Springfield tenon, it's thinner than the wide and wider than the thin, and i have yet to find an aftermarket sight that drops in, this shouldn't concern you, it's just good to know, just in case. I would bring this to a gunsmith to have done, they can without a doubt be a real pain in the neck to do and do well. There is nothing worse than spending money on new sights, and have the front fall out after 50 rounds due to bad staking!