Canman Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 Got a set a Dawson's on the way. Am I going to have to cut the old sights out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aandabooks Posted February 29, 2016 Share Posted February 29, 2016 I don't know why you would. I've never not been able to get sights out with a punch and a brass hammer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbob21 Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) It's incredibly difficult, depending on which xd model you have... I froze my slide over 24 hours, put it in a vice and tried to hammer it out of an xdm 4" and ended up snapping the front sight. Ended up buying a cheap sight pusher from eBay, bent the crap out of the pusher, but managed to get the sight out... Getting new one in was much easier, just filed it down a bit and hammered it into place. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited March 1, 2016 by bigbob21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexmg Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I ended up using dremel to cut it out, scratched slide a little bit so be careful if you do not want to scratch the slide. I think it is also glued because once removed there was a definitive outline of the sight that I had to remove with alcohol. I think the only realistic method to remove it without cutting is to use pneumatic hammer. PS: r u getting .100 blade? good choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoomy Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I ended up clamping it down on my milling machine table and using a steel punch. This helped transfer a greater amount of energy. Came out easily. Clamping the slide in a vice did not work for me. The steel punch marked the sight but I was changing it out anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trouble Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I cut one with a small cut off wheel in a dremel. I covered the front sight area with many layers of electrical tape in case of a oops. I cut the sight almost completely through without hitting the slide. Then it came out easily with a punch. I don't claim to have changed many pistol sights, but that XD front sight was absolutely the hardest one I've encountered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapribek Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Our shooters just let a local gunsmith do it, $10 and it's done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loves2Shoot Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 We have done thousands with our special vise and a steel punch. I milled a few stubborn early ones before I built the vise jaws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I cut one with a small cut off wheel in a dremel. I covered the front sight area with many layers of electrical tape in case of a oops. I cut the sight almost completely through without hitting the slide. Then it came out easily with a punch. I don't claim to have changed many pistol sights, but that XD front sight was absolutely the hardest one I've encountered. ^^^ That is exactly the way I took mine off Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nebwake Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 My STI Trojan was the same way. It would not come out with a punch, it had to be cut out with a cutoff wheel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canman Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 Got my Dremel on standby. Sights should be here today. Are the rear sights any easier to remove? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canman Posted March 6, 2016 Author Share Posted March 6, 2016 Well it wasn't hard at all. I put the slide in the freezer over night. Got my son to hold it against my work table and used a steel punch. The hardest part was the install. I used the aluminum punches that came with the Dawson's. Getting them centered is the hardest part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbob21 Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 Well it wasn't hard at all. I put the slide in the freezer over night. Got my son to hold it against my work table and used a steel punch. The hardest part was the install. I used the aluminum punches that came with the Dawson's. Getting them centered is the hardest part. Sounds good! You could also file down the new sights a bit to help get them started and punch them in to finish them off... Just don't take off too much or they might move later... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete627 Posted March 7, 2016 Share Posted March 7, 2016 I was actually able to push out the front site on a 4.5xdm and a 3.8 with this "fisher" sight pusher. http://www.sightpusher.com/Handgun-Sight-Tool.html It flattened the "push" side of the sight base just slightly on the 4.5 (easy to clean up if you wanted to save it for some reason) ... and ... the base is so short you have to check your alignment very carefully to make sure you don't run up the side of the sight or drag/mark the slide. The 3.8 had a night sight so no biggie. However ... if "I" can do it ... anyone can do it (just put the pusher frame in a "big" vice and put cardboard where the blocks touch the slide). I have to say though ... I appreciated the pusher the most when it was time to put the new "dawsons" back in the slides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerealbyter Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Only way ive gotten factory sites out. http://www.shop.xd-hs2000.com/he's also very knowledgeable about the XD lines altogether. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmo Posted March 13, 2016 Share Posted March 13, 2016 Our shooters just let a local gunsmith do it, $10 and it's done! My local gunny took care of me for the cost of the front sight. When I asked him why I didn't get the original sight back he said he broke it trying to get it out. I tried to back charge him....he laughed and told me I could change the next one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrimaryBruce Posted March 14, 2016 Share Posted March 14, 2016 (edited) We've removed and replaced sights on every popular make and model gun out there in our shop. Xd's are EASILY the hardest sights to remove. I have heard different things about how Springfield installs them, but one thing is for sure,they're no fun getting out! Edited March 14, 2016 by bruceg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTGlass Posted March 15, 2016 Share Posted March 15, 2016 (edited) I was actually able to push out the front site on a 4.5xdm and a 3.8 with this "fisher" sight pusher. http://www.sightpusher.com/Handgun-Sight-Tool.html It flattened the "push" side of the sight base just slightly on the 4.5 (easy to clean up if you wanted to save it for some reason) ... and ... the base is so short you have to check your alignment very carefully to make sure you don't run up the side of the sight or drag/mark the slide. The 3.8 had a night sight so no biggie. However ... if "I" can do it ... anyone can do it (just put the pusher frame in a "big" vice and put cardboard where the blocks touch the slide). I have to say though ... I appreciated the pusher the most when it was time to put the new "dawsons" back in the slides. This what I used on my first XDm 5.25 front sight. I also made a fat shim of Trex decking to keep the slide from rotating in the pusher frame, and I put brass shim stock between the pusher and the frame to take up the heinous amount of slop. I used a ratchet on the first one. I'll either use a torque wrench or a breaker bar on the next one. I have another to do and may try to make a YouTube video of it. Edited March 16, 2016 by MTGlass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bunsen Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 I have always used a sight pusher tool and never had any issues. I use frog tape to keep from marring the slide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diddomatic Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Knocked mine off with a brass punch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ML1911 Posted May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Put my slide in a vise, protected it with several layers of masking tape. Then applied an airhammer. Knocked it right out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kmarsh1966 Posted May 30, 2016 Share Posted May 30, 2016 I used Dremel. Go slow!!!!!!! IT was really easy, compared to beating on it with the Hammer method. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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