need help finding compatible plain black rear sight for my 686

[shootist26]

I have a new 686 4" with a Dawson Precision tritium front sight which is .230" tall. Currently, I have the S&W factory rear sight and I have to bottom out the elevation in order to get it on paper at 25yds. Even with the rear sight bottomed out, I still need to use a 6-o-clock hold to hit, which I personally do not like. Seems like the Dawson front sight is a bit shorter than the factory front sight.

My issue is finding a plain black rear sight that would work well with this front sight. I'm not a huge fan of the factory rears and especially not a fan of the rear outlines.

Does anybody know if the Cylinder-Slide extreme duty fixed rear sight would work with my front sight? Or what other brands are out there with the necessary adjustment or proper sight height?

[gunnut315]

You might check with Warren at Protocall Design, in the Vendors tent. They make some custom S&W sights. Warren is at the Bianchi Cup this week so will not respond for a while

[gp100man]

You might try Weigand sights. I have his plain black rear on all of my S&W revolvers and they are great. It has a deeper notch and you can get them in different widths.

http://www.jackweigand.com/smith_wesson_rear_blade.html

Steve

[mwx40x40]

As long as you are looking ,try Googling up Bowen Custom Guns. He makes adj rear sights for S&W and Rugers.

[pskys2]

If you are shooting high at 25 yds you will need a .300 Front Sight, or a shorter rear sight. I think S&W even sells them, the problem is the notch gets so small it's hard to get a good sight picture. One option is to take a file to the existing rear sight and start whittling it down.

Try calling Bill Laughridge at Cylinder and Slide, he makes a fixed rear sight for S&W Revolvers and that might give you a chance to get sighted in and still have a decent sight picture.

Edited May 21, 2013 by pskys2

[revoman]

As long as you are looking ,try Googling up Bowen Custom Guns. He makes adj rear sights for S&W and Rugers.

You can order one of Bowen Rough Country for S&W from Brownell's

[NOSAJ19]

You can get a taller/shorted S&W blade for your factort sight. I run a black marker over the white outline, & all is good.

I currently use LPA target black rear sight on my revolvers with a Protocl Design FO front sight. Excellent setup & solid. The Weigand blade is similar when first installed, but comes loose over time & requires replacing. LPA is a complete sight replacemnt.

[Wilson]

Where is the best place to get that LPA rear sight assembly?

Thanks.

[310yuma]

Order directly from here

http://www.precisionsalesintl.com/Product/TXT_product_page.html

I have found this sight to be the best.I have been using a .300 SDM front sight for a perfect match

[pskys2]

Problem seems to be he needs a shorter rear blade and the smallest S&W has a pretty short notch. And any adjustable sights need some room for the screws. The Weigand will have the same problem, side note I always thought the looseness of the Weigand was a problem, I don't now as long as it's free it will return to the lowest point. I tried tightening mine up and then it did cause issues.

[Wilson]

310yuma,

Thanks for the PSI link. What is the rear notch on yours?

[NOSAJ19]

Factory S&W rear blade notch widths @ 3.0-3.5mm, depth @1.5-2.0mm. Notch can be deepened or widened if required.

LPA blade notch width @ 3.0mm, depth @ 2.0mm. Notch can NOT be deepened, but can be widened if required.

I have a S&W 617 with factory rear sight. This is the shortest factory sight available. It measures 9.5mm high when bottomed out to the frame. The factory front sight on this revolver is @ 4.0-4.5mm high. This shoots POA/POI for me at 25m. The rear sight has @ 1.0mm of adjustment down still available.

The LPA sight measures 10.5mm high when bottomed out to the frame.

I have a S&W factory sight that measures 10.5 high when bottomed out to the frame. There is a taller S&W factory sight available that I hazard a guess at 11.5mm high? Brownells has a catalogue with the sizes available listed.

.230" is @ 6.0-6.5mm on my ruler.