kamikaze1a Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 Running a fiber optic front sight on my Infinity and I have had four crack in half in the last year. It is the shorter height than original version and thinner blade too but they all cracked just at the rear edge of the dovetail mount. I know that I am not bumping it against anything and it is not the holster either. I think I need to try a different brand but can't seem to find anyone else that offers a .140 height, .090 or .100 width blade for the SV. I think it is obvious what I am using now but I am not mentioning the brand as they offer a lot of great products. It seems that this version of their front sight has a design flaw. They have replaced in the past and offering to replace the sight again but I need something that will hold up as the previous break was the day before a match... Any suggestions? Already checked with Novak and Warren and no short and narrow available. The closest so far is from SV but will have to modify the height or jact the rear sight up quite a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRush Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 Is the blade touching the slide at all when installed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamikaze1a Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 After every install I did confirm that there was an air gap and that I could see light under the blade. The funny thing is that it seems like I go through a lot of fiber rods too. Usually the melted blobs on the ends seem to errode away and the rod falls out. A couple of rod replacements later the sight would crack. This last sight the rod did not have a chance to "wear out" as the sight cracked in half in about a month... If you look at the sight blades the edges are still sharp with no blueing wear so I am confident that I am not banging it on anything and the holster covers the sight while holstered so well protected. There are no rub marks inside the holster so confident that it's not banging inside the holster while drawing or holstering either. web search indicates that a few others having the same issue...a real bummer as I like this setup! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgardner Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 (edited) I superglue them in (after the initial melting in) and they last for a year or more on my pistols. I'm thinking it reduces vibration. I started doing this on my archery sights and tried it on my pistols too. Edited September 5, 2014 by mgardner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamikaze1a Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 Thanks! I'll give that a try. If I only could get my front sight to last a year... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greyhounder Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 Have a fiber optic sight on different pistols and different brands,none have space between the bottom of the sight and top of the slide. Sounds like the base is too long and needs to be fitted better the added pressure from being too long and the beating it takes from the cycling must be causing them to snap.IMHO Have you had a humanity look at it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Postal Bob Posted September 5, 2014 Share Posted September 5, 2014 What powder are you using? In my limited gun I use titegroup. It runs hot, and the heat from rapid firing during a match eventually melts the melted ends of the FO rods. So if you're running a hot burning powder, expect this to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamikaze1a Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 The front sight mounts with a dovetail so I think it can not help but have a small air gap under the blade? If not wouldn't the sight blade gouge the slide as it was driven into the slot? As for the type of powder, I load 700X for practice and N320 for match. My slide gets pretty hot during practice but is that hot enough to cause the sight blade to crack? By the way, I called Brandon at SV and I was stoked to find out that they will build sights to my spec for a nominal fee! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckstur Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 My son has also broken several. He switched to a solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamikaze1a Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 Thanks! I was thinking that maybe the FO version did not have enough "meat" left and have the solid coming. Was his sight the shorter and thinner blade too? And how long has he been running the solid? I ordered the custom SV FO sight cut to .140 tall and .090 wide. Crossing my fingers that it will be longer lasting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturdy Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I am the afformentioned who switched to solid. I have broken 5 over 9 months. I spoke with Dawson today and they are sending me their new version with a shorter length. The rep was helpful as usual and suggested that they had been having harmonics problems causing the breakage. I'll give it another run but if it keeps up my Edge may end up being fitted with a sight tracker barrel. This last break occurred between stages 7 and 8 of the TN sectional. I have also verified daylight visible between the blade and the slide, but not enough to insert a sheet of paper. I also experimented with heavier recoil spring and a shokbuff to damp the impact and subsequently broke another blade off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturdy Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 I have broken 7 front sights this year in an Edge. Yet to find anyone with this amount of failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturdy Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Just read an older post. Are you putting glue in the air gap between the blade and the slide? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamikaze1a Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 Just read an older post. Are you putting glue in the air gap between the blade and the slide? Interesting...no I did not. That is an interesting thought though. I ended up contacting Brandon at SV guns and he cut down one of his front sights to .090 width and it has been running ever since. I should have done that several front blades sooner! It would have saved me a bunch of $ and aggravation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturdy Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Are the SV sight blades beefier? Have you broken one in the last 3 months? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kamikaze1a Posted March 4, 2015 Author Share Posted March 4, 2015 Are the SV sight blades beefier? Have you broken one in the last 3 months? It is shorter as in front to back length is less than the other brand. The version he made for me is not as "beefy" as their standard version but I think the length makes it stronger. The standard uses a much wider diameter FO rod while the narrow blade uses a .040 rod (same diameter FO rod as the other brand). I asked him to machine the blade .090 wide and after thousands of rounds, no problems so far. Previously he only listed the .125 wide blade but noticed that he now lists several narrower blades as an option. Happy customer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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