erwos Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Sorry, I'm a revolver newbie and this is a little embarrassing. I have a S&W 929. Shoots quite nicely, but I'd like a fiber optic front sight. I can live with the rear sight for the moment. Does someone make a drop-in replacement fiber optic front sight at the same height as the factory front sight? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pskys2 Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 (edited) Yes, Dawson, SDM come to mind. Get the "Pinned" model, the "Classic/DX" FS is for the removable without tools FS of the 627's. Don't quite understand why they went with the pinned FS though. You can get thinner, wider, taller, shorter too. Measure the existing FS though if you want the exact same thing. Drive out the roll pin and replace. Recommend a Roll Pin Punch though. Edited February 11, 2022 by pskys2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
practical_man Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Toolguy on this forum makes a darned nice fiber optic sight set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ysrracer Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 I like SDM, the fiber optic is bigger than the rest. I open the rear notch to .150 It give me a great sight picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwos Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 Thanks, gents. If I wanted to replace the rear sight, how difficult is that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzShooter Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Get an LPA rear sight. It takes two screws and you are all done. Very easy. I also use a Dawson Precision green fiber optic front sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ysrracer Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 1 hour ago, erwos said: Thanks, gents. If I wanted to replace the rear sight, how difficult is that? The rear blade comes in different heights. I use a .196. Cheap, like 10 bucks. Midway sells the whole kit. You need a blade, screw, nut, pin and spring. Lots of videos on how to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pskys2 Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Smith & Wesson Revolver rear sights are attached to the frame by a single screw and a T-Post stud that the elevation screw threads onto. Just remove the front screw and slide the sight assembly off to the rear. Several manufacturers make replacements. Millets (now discontinued) have a .125” notch width and a .088” depth, LPA has a .115” width and a .082” depth or, my favorite, the factory S&W .196” sight which has a .135” width and a .098” depth with or without white outline. All 3 give similar sight pictures with the S&W .196” having more depth allowing me to see more of the front sight. They can be found as a whole sight assembly or just the blade, windage screw and nut. My favorite set up is the S&W .196” without a white outline and a .250” x .125” serrated inset fiber optic front sight. This gives me the best sight picture, one where I can get a fine sight picture for those hard shots and yet plenty open for a flash sight picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ysrracer Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 4 hours ago, pskys2 said: My favorite set up is the S&W .196” without a white outline and a .250” x .125” serrated inset fiber optic front sight. This gives me the best sight picture, one where I can get a fine sight picture for those hard shots and yet plenty open for a flash sight picture. This guy gets me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwos Posted February 11, 2022 Author Share Posted February 11, 2022 1 hour ago, ysrracer said: This guy gets me This is what I just ordered. Thank you, folks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pskys2 Posted February 12, 2022 Share Posted February 12, 2022 20 hours ago, ysrracer said: This guy gets me Another trick I use is to get the whole assembly and if I have 2 widely different loadings, i.e. major/minor 45 acp, I sight in with one sight assembly, including stud, for each, add a little blue loctite and I can switch back and forth without adjustment. Especially good for my EDC 325 or M29 that I also use in IDPA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniperboy Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 Be forewarned that the Dawson front sight (and prolly all other blades out there) come UNDRILLED. You need to drill it yourself to accept the pin. Also I learned the cross pin on the front sight is .056 which is typically smaller than the size included in most pin punch sets. Maybe this is old news, but I am a noob myself so this is all fresh to me. In digging around in my garage I found that a cut off thumbtack is the perfect size for an impromptu punch. Do not use a 1/16" punch or you will ruin your front sight base... you're welcome : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzShooter Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 Brownell's sell the correct drill bit. It's not a difficult job. I did it to mine. Check YouTube for instructions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouperMan Posted February 21, 2022 Share Posted February 21, 2022 16 hours ago, Sniperboy said: Be forewarned that the Dawson front sight (and prolly all other blades out there) come UNDRILLED. You need to drill it yourself to accept the pin. Also I learned the cross pin on the front sight is .056 which is typically smaller than the size included in most pin punch sets. Maybe this is old news, but I am a noob myself so this is all fresh to me. In digging around in my garage I found that a cut off thumbtack is the perfect size for an impromptu punch. Do not use a 1/16" punch or you will ruin your front sight base... you're welcome : ) Go to your local hardware store, and get two #54 drill bits. Cut the first one to the shank to make a punch out of it, and use the second one to do the drilling. Go slow and easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwos Posted February 23, 2022 Author Share Posted February 23, 2022 On 2/20/2022 at 11:50 PM, AzShooter said: Brownell's sell the correct drill bit. It's not a difficult job. I did it to mine. Check YouTube for instructions. Yeah, this is what I'm going to be doing tonight. I got the drill bits off Amazon, and I dug out my micro drill press... I have a very similar vise, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzShooter Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 Good luck. It's really eazy now that you have the right tools. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Distant Thunder Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 AzShooter, how tall is the Dawson front sight on your 929? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzShooter Posted February 23, 2022 Share Posted February 23, 2022 .350 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwos Posted February 27, 2022 Author Share Posted February 27, 2022 On 2/23/2022 at 3:37 PM, AzShooter said: Good luck. It's really eazy now that you have the right tools. I went and did it tonight. Success on the first try! Measure fifty times, cut once gradually. Big improvement over the blade front sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzShooter Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 Congratulations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ysrracer Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 On 2/23/2022 at 3:01 PM, AzShooter said: .350 My, that's a big one --psycho in Dirty Harry movie Me, I use a .250 in all my Smith revo's with a .196 rear blade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AzShooter Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 With the LPA I needed a taller front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Distant Thunder Posted February 28, 2022 Share Posted February 28, 2022 2 hours ago, AzShooter said: With the LPA I needed a taller front. That's the setup I'm planning on. Now I just need to find out what front sight height I'll need for my 5" 627. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pskys2 Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 17 hours ago, Distant Thunder said: That's the setup I'm planning on. Now I just need to find out what front sight height I'll need for my 5" 627. .250 or .300 usually works. There is a formula to determine FS height on the Dawson Website. Try to make sure you figure it with the elevation close to the midpoint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ysrracer Posted March 1, 2022 Share Posted March 1, 2022 (edited) Rough Country blades come in different heights. I always use the tallest one, with a .250 front sight. Edited March 1, 2022 by ysrracer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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