Need a little help/education for my Colt officer

[AndyH]

So.... I have this real nice Colt Lightweight officer and I want to replace the factory rear sight with a recently purchased Harrison retro rear sight

Harrison Design & Consulting, LLC.. HD-003 Retro rear sight

Having never tried anything like this before I was not sure what to expect or how it would go. I got the old sight off with out issues but the new sight is larger than the one I removed. My question is what is the best way to fit the rear sight and not mess anything up.

I assume you want to fit the sight to the slide and not the slide to the sight but what is the best way to do this??
I am half tempted to just drop off the slide at a gunsmith and pay the $50 for the installation.

Any advise?

Thanks

Andy

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[mjbskwim]

Well,my friend,that does all his own 1911 work,just takes some real fine stones or files and GOES REAL SLOW with taking material off.
And yes fit the sight to the slide.
The sight,and other parts are made a little over sized so they can be fit to most any gun.
Just take a little here and a little there,try the fit,repeat.

And good luck

 

[netcarrier]

Hi AndyH,
Well mjbskwim is right. Just go slow and remove a little at a time, then check to see if the sight will going on. If you were closer you could
stop by and we could do it.
Hope this helps,
Tony Portland, Oregon Area

 

[wichaka]

To get the proper fit, one needs to know the dimensions of the dovetail...exactly.

When cutting a dovetail to fit a certain sight, I measure the sight so the cut can match the sight precisely.

In your case, measure your dovetail on the slide, both slot width and depth. Then measure the same on the sight. Use the dovetail depth to figure out where and how much material to remove on the sight.

If you were closer, I would have you stop by and I'd do it for nuttin'

 

[jbett98]

I read somewhere that most dovetails sights should be inserted from the right side because they are fitted to be slightly tighter the further you move them to the left. This question is primarily aimed at Wichaka.

 

[wichaka]

An easy way to remember, the sight leaves the gun on the same side the cases get ejected.

Looking at the rear of the slide, tap out the rear sight from left to right.

 

[jbett98]

So you should try to keep the right side of the newly fitted sight slightly larger, so it tightens up the more you drift it to the left?

 

[wichaka]

That would be correct. But remember we are talking about a factory Colt dovetail. Not all dovetails are cut this way, especially those cut for aftermarket sights such as Novak, Heinie etc.