JasonV

You are going to lose some weight for your birthday? (Trying to attain “enlightenment” because of a loss of control?)

I plan to put my order in for the kit as soon as I figure out what front sight I want. I figure I've got a little time since they were out of stock on the Apex site.

I measured the sight on my PRO last night. It was tough getting an accurate measurement since my sight was dinged (which was why I was looking at new sights in the first place) . But it was definitely more in the .180" range than the .160" range as Beastfrog said. I'm leaning towards the Dawsons since I like the looks of what MM put up. Cyclone, thanks for the info that helps make my decision.

According to the SSS web site the replacement for the stock front sight is .160" tall. Stock height on the PRO is more like 0.180" to 0.185". I'll have to break out the calipers when I get home. Do they measure to the top of the slide or the bottom of the dovetail? Speed Shooters lists a few stock replacement sights that are at .160" but they don't distinguish between the 9L and the PRO. Is there a difference?

According to the SSS web site the replacement for the stock front sight is .160" tall.

I've been looking at a front sight from Hi Viz since I dropped my slide and damaged the stock one. From the replies it looks like the Dawson sight is favored. Any particular reason why the Dawsons are so good? The only reason I was considering the Hi Viz was because I read an article that said they were noticeably brighter than the ones they compared them to (don't remember which ones they were).

I was browsing through the "Things you've overheard at the gun shop" thread earlier. Someone was recounting how they were looking for components to load some self defense rounds. The shop owner told him that he should never do this since you can't load a reliable round. To which the customer replied "No, YOU can't load a reliable round" and left. I'm seeing a parallel here. I'm not saying anything about the ability of this particular guy to make his own bullets but I am a firm believer of doing it one's self. I'm dangerously close to going off on a rant here but I'm fed up with the "leave it to the experts" line that I've heard too many times. With enough know how, good tools and good information there is no reason you shouldn't be able to make something that can match or exceed commercially made products. That's where so much innovation comes from. Now this may or may not be a cost effective way of producing bullets but along the way this guy learned a little something about metallurgy, holding tolerances and ballistics. That's worth something in my opinion. Sorry for the rant. Just my luck some idiot is going to see this, get inspired and blow his hand off. *Sigh* Ok, make SURE you KNOW what you are doing otherwise it's best to leave it to the experts.

Thanks! I'm already impressed with the quality of information and people on this forum. I was hoping not to have to send it back to Smith. I have a bad habbit of wanting to fix things myself. Even if I have to spend some money if I can fix it and learn something it's worth it to me. But since my time has been in short supply lately I may have to go the return route. I would still be interested in hearing if Bobby finds a "smoking gun" (so to speak) in your reliability issue. Keep us posted.

I'll notify you when I ship it. I realize that this is a bit of an old post but hopefully is still active. I'm new to this forum and stumbled upon it specifically because I was researching the FTE problem with my Pro. That is a very generous offer by kgunz11 to try and trouble shoot the gun. The offer impressed me and I'll check out your store because of it. While I don't expect you to offer to fix all the troubled Pro's out there I would really appreciate it if you could post what you needed to do to fix the issues. I'm almost sold on a new extractor but if there are other mods required to make it reliable I would love to hear about it. Thanks, Jason