Colt Officer night sights

[JG01]

I took my colt Officer to the local and reputable gun shop to have a set of Trijicons put on. It's been five weeks and, as far as I know, the gunsmith has broken the front post at least twice. He said he is following the instructions to the "T", but...

Can anyone tell me what the major malfunction might be he is having?

Sure do miss my colt....

[BUCKMARK]

Sounds as if you have an older model Officer with the narrow tennon front sight. I hope to God he isnt breaking off wide tennon sights.

The tennon goes through the slide in a slot. The tennon is then staked in place from the inside of the slide. They make several good 1911 sight staking tools.

The job is not that hard. I use red Lock-tite and stake it using a G.I. type staking tool.

The good news is that you didnt break anything... so all of these mess ups are costing HIM. The bad news is wondering how long it will take until his work comes loose, and launches the front sight from the gun into outer space.

[JG01]

Thanks for the reply and the info, Buckmark.

You are right, it is an older model. I bought the colt in 1984 and and took it to Germany with me. One day at the range my front sight blew off. A local German gunsmith attached a new post in a week and it's been great ever since.

I hope the gunsmith at Bobs gun can attach it as it should be and I do plan on sending plenty rounds down range at their indoor range as soon as I get back to test it.

Last communications was it was suppose to be done today...

At least a nod for his perservience....

[d90king]

Send the gun to George at EGW and he will fix it right. He is one of the best in the business. There is no excuse for that to keep happening. Have you considered a lamp up front and a blank rear? I think you will find it to be a great set up. It really allows you to focus on the front sight. I find three dots distracting and much slower on target. Here is a pic.....

[TheSB]

Send the gun to George at EGW and he will fix it right. He is one of the best in the business. There is no excuse for that to keep happening. Have you considered a lamp up front and a blank rear? I think you will find it to be a great set up. It really allows you to focus on the front sight. I find three dots distracting and much slower on target. Here is a pic.....

Those are great example pics d90, you now have me considering a new rear sight on my Officer's.

Cheers,
SB

[BUCKMARK]

I run pretty much the same set up on all of my guns. A fiber optic front with a 10-8 Performance rear, or a night sight front with the 10-8 rear.

After years of shooting 3 dot sights I have found that I am much faster without all of those pretty dots to worry about. I simply put the dot in the notch and touch one off.

It works for me.

[JG01]

Got my colt back... finially (6 1/2 weeks later), good to have it back and the three dot sights are what I wanted. The indoor range at Bobs Guns is closed until the weekend so I won't be able to try it out for a few days. Can't wait to see how close to sitghted in it is (no signs of it being fired).

When I brought it back and disassembeled it, I noticed brown throughout the upper reciever, looks like rust. Can an adhesive compound cause that?

Talk about being freaking pissed... I know it cost them a bit with all the front posts they broke (3 that I know of), but damn, I take good care of my firearms and expect the same in return... If the front posts falls off, I'll let you all know what a caniption fit entails.

Rant off

[BUCKMARK]

A lot of times a smith will strip the slide of lube so the lock-tite will bond to the steel. The dry slide with no oil will cause rust... finger prints from working with the slide don't help!

Use a light oil with brass or super fine steel wool to remove the surface rust from the inside of the slide. Wipe out the junk, and lube the gun as normal. You should not be able to tell it was ever like that.

I'd be a tad upset myself.

[TheSB]

Pics of the new sights?

[JG01]

Thanks for the info. That makes sense striping the upper reciever. I did a good clean of it and it's looking good.

I took it to the range and put about 150 rounds through it. It seems to fire a little to the right, but I want to get a second opinion just in case it's me.

One glitch is that the slide isn't locking back after the last round. I fired Winchester, PNC and American Eagle ball and used four seperate magazines, so I'm thinking it's not the ammo or magazines.

I'll sort that out next, but the bottom line is I have my colt back and feels good to be firing it again.

I'll work on posting a couple of pictures