Topcat Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I decided to try out Dawsons adjustable rear and FO front on my M&P9L. Does anyone have any tips or pointers for the installation, except of course following the instructions from Dawson? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
want2race Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Put the slide in a good (padded) vise. Dawson has changed the metal on the front sights and it will tap in quite nicely. Follow the arrow on the bottom of the front sight. The rear will give you much more trouble. I use a 60* dovetail file to fit the rear sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robzilla Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 Put the slide in a good (padded) vise. Dawson has changed the metal on the front sights and it will tap in quite nicely. Follow the arrow on the bottom of the front sight. The rear will give you much more trouble. I use a 60* dovetail file to fit the rear sight. Is it usually required to file this area? I have been wanting to get adjustable rears for my M&P pro, but am afraid of having to fit it. How much know how is required to do this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
want2race Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I file on the sight. Using a persuader (big hammer) the sight stopped short of half way and would not budge. I took some material off the sights dovetail until it went in with a smaller hammer. LOL Once it finally went in it was still super tight. Took me about an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpeltier Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 (edited) I take the extra off the bottom of the sight. Just to the point about 2/3 goes in. Gently hammer it the rest of the way. If you go with the adj rear you will need to replace the front as well. Edited January 11, 2011 by mpeltier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robzilla Posted January 11, 2011 Share Posted January 11, 2011 I take the extra off the bottom of the sight. Just to the point about 2/3 goes in. Gently hammer it the rest of the way. If you go with the adj rear you will need to replace the front as well. Thanks for the info guys. Two more things: 1) Do you use a metal file or stone? I have some files and a block of fine stone. Which is better? 2) I see that the required front sight is the .305. Any issues with this being too tall? Thanks, Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Vigilante Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I just recently purchased Dawson Rear Adjustables and front black serrated sight for my M&P 9 Pro. Daniel at Dawson Precision recommended the .305 front sights for the 5" barrel-gives you more area to adjust on or something to that effect. I haven't had any problems with mine-shot USPSA on Saturday-dead on!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpeltier Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I take the extra off the bottom of the sight. Just to the point about 2/3 goes in. Gently hammer it the rest of the way. If you go with the adj rear you will need to replace the front as well. Thanks for the info guys. Two more things: 1) Do you use a metal file or stone? I have some files and a block of fine stone. Which is better? 2) I see that the required front sight is the .305. Any issues with this being too tall? Thanks, Robert 1) Niether, I will give you my Free secret to fitting sights. I use a 12x12 sample piece of granite floor tile (usually available free from a local flooring supply company, and perfectly flat) with a 8" self adhesive 150 grit sanding disc adhered to it. I will set the sight on it and gently slide the sight back and forth a few times and test fit. Do this as many times as necessary till it goes into the dovetail 2/3. To insure that you are applying equal pressure to ensure an even amount of material is removed, occasionaly blacken the bottom with a sharpie to visually see that material is coming off evenly. Before you hammer it in gently break the sharp corners to prevent them from digging into the slides dovetail. Its so simple a caveman can do it. I find this mutch easier to control than holding a stone or a file. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robzilla Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 I take the extra off the bottom of the sight. Just to the point about 2/3 goes in. Gently hammer it the rest of the way. If you go with the adj rear you will need to replace the front as well. Thanks for the info guys. Two more things: 1) Do you use a metal file or stone? I have some files and a block of fine stone. Which is better? 2) I see that the required front sight is the .305. Any issues with this being too tall? Thanks, Robert 1) Niether, I will give you my Free secret to fitting sights. I use a 12x12 sample piece of granite floor tile (usually available free from a local flooring supply company, and perfectly flat) with a 8" self adhesive 150 grit sanding disc adhered to it. I will set the sight on it and gently slide the sight back and forth a few times and test fit. Do this as many times as necessary till it goes into the dovetail 2/3. To insure that you are applying equal pressure to ensure an even amount of material is removed, occasionaly blacken the bottom with a sharpie to visually see that material is coming off evenly. Before you hammer it in gently break the sharp corners to prevent them from digging into the slides dovetail. Its so simple a caveman can do it. I find this mutch easier to control than holding a stone or a file. Sounds good. Thanks for the tip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-ManBart Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 Frequently, getting the old front out is the biggest problem. I tried everything with mine...sight pusher, huge hammer, freezing over night, and nothing worked. Eventually, I had to slice it with a dremel and cutoff wheel until it was almost all the way through, then it released and popped right out.. For installs I use a small file and only cut on one side, per Dawson's directions. R, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robzilla Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 G-ManBart Do you know if the FO front sight on the M&P is also as problematic. Others that have done it, let us know how you got it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpeltier Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 (edited) G-ManBart Do you know if the FO front sight on the M&P is also as problematic. Others that have done it, let us know how you got it out. I use heat (commercial duty heat gun) applied to the slide from the underneath side. And a big hammer. I do not put it in a vice. I use a wood clamp and rag to clamp the slide onto my work bench (slide laying on its side) with the sight I am working on overhanging the workbench just enough to fall out of the dovetail. I have found that a vice and the soft jaws are too forgiving for the amount of force to drive out the front sight. The work bench is much more solid. Some rear sights ae stubborn also, but I have had several M&P's that just slide out once you loosen the set screw. Edited to add that when I say wood clamp, I mean a clamp with wood jaws, such as a Jorgenson wood clamp, which is what I use. Some woodworking clamps are made with metal jaws, and I would not recomend anything other than a Jorgenson type wood jawed clamp for this. They are not that expensive and are extemely useful in a home shop for many things. Edited January 13, 2011 by mpeltier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
assaulter Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 My factory front wasn't hard to get out. It almost fell out while I was shooting. Now it is staked and loctited (blue) in. I'm considering a thinner and shorter Dawson to bring the POI up a bit though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topcat Posted March 13, 2011 Author Share Posted March 13, 2011 I recently replaced both the original front and rear sights with Dawson FO front and adjustable rear. As others have reported, the rear came out without too much difficulty, but I ended up taking a hack saw to the front! I sawed about half way through the base of the front sight, and then gently hammered it out. Both front rear sights from Dawson needed quite a bit of filing before they would fit into the dovetails. The front was glued with Loctite, but I decided not to glue the rear, except the threads of the pointed screw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierra77mk Posted April 3, 2011 Share Posted April 3, 2011 Refersh my memory, When REMOVING a sight, front or rear, you push it out from the right (move to the left) as viewed from the top and INSTALL the new one Left tapping it to the right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Topcat Posted April 3, 2011 Author Share Posted April 3, 2011 Refersh my memory, When REMOVING a sight, front or rear, you push it out from the right (move to the left) as viewed from the top and INSTALL the new one Left tapping it to the right? No, other way around. When removing, you tap the sights from the left, driving them out to the right. Opposite for installation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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