Because I want to put some Weaver-compatible sighting equipment atop my Witness Elite, I bought the Weaver mount shown on page 7 of the current catalog. It arrived quickly and looks well-made. Unfortunately, it arrived with absolutely no instructions meaning that if there is a way to screw things up, I'll find it. I temporarily screwed it to the pistol and checked clearances and found that as long as I lowered the rear sight all the way, the slide could run back and forth with the rail attached.
That's great and it's just what I expected. After all, this is an accessory sold to fit this gun so it should, you know, fit the gun, right?
I took the pistol apart, carefully cleaned it, re-attached the Weaver mount to the frame (this time using LocTite since this is intended to be a permanent installation) and then tried to slide the slide back onto the frame rails. No go. While the rear sight clears the rear of the Weaver mount, is doesn't clear at the front meaning I can't re-assemble the pistol without removing the rear sight.
I unscrewed the elevation screw until the rear sight blade came loose, caught the two springs that were released, and examined it carefully. There were two set screws through the bottom of the sight, bearing onto the slide. I removed those. At that point, I assumed I should just get a drift punch and drive the sight sideways.
However, looking from the side, I still see two things, both in front of and behind where the set screws were, taking up the space between the bottom of the rear sight and the slide. I can't tell what they are.
Questions -
Since I don't know what those two things are, am I right to assume the the proper way to proceed is to drift out the entire sight?
Would it be preferable to drive out the pin that holds the rear sight blade to the rear sight base? That should allow the base to clear the Weaver mount for reassembly while still keeping the base in place to partially protect a spring that is exposed under the right, rear of the sight base when the blade is pivoted up out of the way. What is that spring, anyway, and should I be worried that total removal of the rear sight will cause either a problem with retention of the spring or anything else such as allowing a new avenue for dirt to get into the slide and foul things up?
Overall, just what is the preferred procedure to attach the Weaver rail and still be able to disassemble and reassemble the firearm?
TIA for any help,
Ben in Texas