XD front sight removal

[abs]

Got a Dawson fiber optic sight for an XD, was going to drift out the old and it will not budge. I heated the hell out of the slide area around the sight and still no go. I do not see any pins holding the damn thing in, anybody got any Croation glue remover?

Thanks!

abs

[kmca]

I had to take mine to a gunsmith who milled it out. He cussed and said he would never do another XD...lol.

Edited September 18, 2010 by kmca

[DyNo!]

I hit it so hard, I drew sparks and tore a muscle in my shoulder.

Then I cut it out with a dremel. :roflol:

[Marv Z]

I cut it in half across the slide with a 3.5 cutoff wheel. Take your time and when you get close it will collapse in and come out. I've done my last two guns, a XD and XDM that way and never left a mark. I ruined a MGW XD sight tool trying to get the last XD one out. THat's how tight they are. I did my XDM 45 front and rear this way and it took me 45 minutes start to finsh and didn't put a scratch on it. Carefull is the key word

[mike cyrwus]

soak the front sight in 3in1 oil for a couple days and then give it a try.

[Trail3]

Put the slide in the freezer over night. Then try to wack it.

[Avezorak]

The prefered method by those in "the know" is to use one of Jerry Miculeks mustache whiskers... Or if thats not viable, cut the sucker out with a Dremel and be done with it. It WILL break a sight pusher, dont ask me how I know.....

[blaster113]

I had a XD9 Tactical and tried the freezer trick, heating it up, oil, nothing worked. I ended up sticking the slide in a vise and beat the shit out of the front sight with a big hammer and punch . I'll never touch another XD's sights ever, ever again. I put in a Dawson sight set which was a breeze to install in comparison. It seems that XD's are notorious for hard to remove sights.

[el pres]

I've done a couple. Lock the slide down in a "real" vise and beat it with a good size hammer and a 1/4 to 3/16 punch. The trick is it goes smoother in only one direction, which one I dont remember but you can tell because one end is slighlty tappered. Thats the side not to hit on, it's like a wedge... Have fun

[RIIID]

Right to left, a padded vise, hammer&punch. Make sure the slide can't turn inside the vise when hitting the sight. I haven't had to mill one out in over six years.

Rich

[GunCat]

You are not going to remove the XD sights by holding the slide in a 3” or 4” Harbor Freight vise and using the brass punch you got at the hardware store.

I use a good quality 6” vise with padded jaws to hold the slide (the same wood/leather jaw pads I use to hold any part that I do not want to scratch or damage). The punch is a 6” length of ½” square CRS. The end that touches the sight is kept smooth and square. The hammer is a standard 12 oz ball peen hammer.

Hold the slide securely in the padded vise. If the slide twists or moves in the vise you are not holding it tight enough. Wrap a couple layers of Duct tape around the punch with only the square end is exposed (the tapes helps avoid scratching the slide). While most American dovetailed sights go in and out from the right, the factory XD sights go in from the left (Look at the bevel on the front sight dovetail to verify this) Lay the punch against the front or rear sight and hit it (hard…several times). If you can drive nails without missing and hitting your thumb or work piece you can take the XD sights out.

[abs]

Thanks for the info, I took the dremel to it with a cutoff wheel and it was a piece of cake. The factory site is DOA, but who cares? I guess I am not as big a wimp as I thought!

abs

[Field]

If the slide twists or moves in the vise you are not holding it tight enough.

this is probably the biggest problem especially with the XDm is the shape of the slide with its small amount of flat grippable surface area you realllly need to clamp that sucker down so it doesnt move.

Edited September 18, 2010 by Field

[Rob D]

+1 for cutting it out with a dremel. I completely destroyed the punch that Dawson sent with the new sight trying to get the old one out.

[Field]

that alluminum thing is a punch? wow

[cali shot doc]

just send it into Powder river or Springer precision. They work on xd's all the time and have that kind of stuff down pat. I've heard many times how great both companies are and how fast they are at doing them. I'm going to be sending mine in for a trigger job, sight replacement and extended mag release. Have to pro's do it and not worry about screwing up your slide or sights.