Sight pusher tool info and suggestions?

[Hooper]

I have tried one of those with little success. My advice- buy once cry once. YMMV.......

That is a common piece of advice, buy once cry once, I see it in every gun forum, when I try and look for a cheap sight pusher, or screwdrivers, punches, etc. When you are dealing with Higher quality Firearms especially.
If I were not going to invest in one of the best like an MGW, I would just stick with a decent vise with good padding and grip and just use brass and nylon punches made for sight pushing. Lots of tape to protect from slips and I would not start with an expensive fire arm.
One problem I know you will run into is," that one sight that slides a little and then locks up." That is where a top quality sight pusher is going to help with that head ache. How much does a slide replacement cost when you ruin it. Guarantee you will run into that deal if you change more than two sights on guns. Murphy's Law of if it can happen it will happen.

 

[SPDguns]

Don't forget 60 degree safe side dovetail files. Unless it's a 65 degree sight. Jus'sayin'......

I worked on another members sights yesterday. The instructions said "May require some minor fitting". Shoulda said "will require major fitting".

 

[Fade2blue]

I have that blue Vism one. I've used it to install sights on about half a dozen Glock slides with no real problems. The shuttle piece that pushes against the sight can leave a small mark so I added some small tape pieces to prevent it from scratching. (Touched that one up with cold blue) I use calipers to center the sight on the slide. It's kind of a pain to make fine ( ~.001") adjustments but if i could find a way to mesure the offset without pulling the slide out of the clamps, that would fix it.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Don't forget 60 degree safe side dovetail files. Unless it's a 65 degree sight. Jus'sayin'......

I worked on another members sights yesterday. The instructions said "May require some minor fitting". Shoulda said "will require major fitting".

Way back in the early/mid 2000s when I was frequently installing sights, I found Kimbers to be some of the hardest to remove/install sights on. Springfield XDs were difficult, too.

 

[bigchuck83]

I have the Real avid Glock sight pusher, kinda thinking i should have bought the master sight pusher from real avid, it would be more useful overall.

 

[OK Corgi Rancher]

Decided to try the Real Avid tool. Under $100 black Fri special. Too good a deal to pass up.

 

[Ready_fire_aim]

Shout out to @mgssamn he saw this thread and PMed me. He sent me a Glock sight pusher and 2 mag holders he 3d printed for a heck of a price! It already worked adjusting some windage. Another great OSA experience!

 

[HiredHand]

A sturdy vise, some smooth jaw faces, a few sets of punches, nylon or Delrin round or square rod, and some small hammers is about as universal as you can get. (Oh good files, even a diamond file for those hard sight, like someone else mentioned.)

If you don’t know what you’re doing or you’re impatient, you can damage a slide with the sight removal tools. Slide rails weren’t designed with forces perpendicular to the direction of travel in mind. They can work well for making small sight adjustments, but a really tightly fitted sight might be too much. Plus, being able to hold the pushing tool firmly while moving the sight is helpful.

And you can start a sight crooked in the dovetail and really make a mess if you start cranking on it with the sight pusher.

Dave Dawson of Dawson Precision has some great videos of sight installation. I recommend watching them.