Star B Rear Sight Removal

GuitarmanNick · Nov 5, 2017

I recently acquired a Star B and the only thing I cannot get apart is the firing pin because it requires drifting the rear sight to one side and mine is not moving.

I have used a 1/4" brass punch and a 2 lb. hammer without success.

I put the slide in the oven and heated it to 250 degrees and used a cold wet sponge to cool the sight and tried driving it out with the punch again without success.

I was hoping that somebody may have a tool or method for me to try that may be more fruitful.

toolness1 · Nov 7, 2017

Soak it with Kroil for at least a day then try again, and be sure to go right to left when you're drifting the sight.

I have one of these sight tools and really like it:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-...rear-Glock-1911-and-most-others-/192356001457

John from MD · Nov 7, 2017

Are you holding the slide in a vise? Some folks try to drift sights laying on a table and you can't get the hammer energy to the sight that way.

I'd suggest spraying kroil for a couple of days while leaving the slide in the freezer. When you take it out, immediately get it into a vise and whack the sight. This has worked for me when heat failed.

somd_mustangs · Nov 8, 2017

toolness1 said:
Soak it with Kroil for at least a day then try again, and be sure to go left to right when you're drifting the sight.

See the manual excerpt below, should go right to left (although I'm not sure it really makes a difference).
This may be a left-over from the early Stars with adjustable-windage sights that remove to the left.

From an original Star A,B etc manual (see page 16):
http://star-firearms.com/firearms/manuals/downloads/a,b,m,p,s_manual.pdf

The manual has a lot of good info, unlike many of today's that are full of liability warnings and little technical content

toolness1 · Nov 8, 2017

somd_mustangs said:
See the manual excerpt below, should go right to left (although I'm not sure it really makes a difference).
This may be a left-over from the early Stars with adjustable-windage sights that remove to the left.

From an original Star A,B etc manual (see page 16):
http://star-firearms.com/firearms/manuals/downloads/a,b,m,p,s_manual.pdf

The manual has a lot of good info, unlike many of today's that are full of liability warnings and little technical content

Oops. Thanks, edited my post

Sent from my SM-G920R4 using Tapatalk

GuitarmanNick · Nov 8, 2017

I have done this without an issue on another Star B and yes, I am driving it in the proper direction. The other one that I did had the rear sight in backwards so I completely removed it and put it back in so that the scribe marks lined up. It appears that they can be removed either way but if you are just servicing the firing pin, just moving it to expose the firing pin retaining pin is all that most will do.

It appears that the sight has never been moved on my latest acquisition. The firing pin channel seems to be clean and the firing pin works as it should, but I would like to be able to access the firing pin if necessary which means I have to get the rear sight free.

I do not have a access to a vise at home. Guess I need to set one up because I know that I am not getting enough of the hammer energy to transfer to the sight. Putting it the back burner until I set up a vise. I do not want to damage the sight or slide and waiting until I can get it well supported seems logical. In the mean time, I can grab some Kroil. I have never used it, but have heard only good things so I gotta try it.

I am trying to avoid buying an expensive tool just for this job because I will probably never need it again and funds are tight.

Again, thanks for the suggestions.

Doco Overboard · Nov 8, 2017

Use a shorter punch and a little heavier hammer.
Sometimes a different type material punch will get things moving.
I like to make punches from large diameter soft brass turned to fit smaller objects (for the heft) and some from hard bronze pad lock hasps.
Use kroil or atf mixed with acetone ( poor mans )

Doco Overboard · Nov 8, 2017

2 lb. or oz ? Make sure nothing else that your trying to get to doesn't have you bound up. Might have to add a little weight to slide and back it up with a piece of sheet lead.
Might help some.

GuitarmanNick · Nov 9, 2017

2 lb.

Doco Overboard · Nov 9, 2017

Dam that suckers stuck and that's a BFH. Dont crack the slide. Can you tell if the area outside the dovetail is bulged or stressed by looking at it. (Im assuming a Star model B has a drift adjustable site with metric dovetail at the rear of the slide)
Might be a job for a sight pusher if someone drove that sucker in to a damaged or altered dovetail and its galled. They may have even stippled it to tighten up a sloppy dovetail and its seized. Maybe someone near you has one and will help you. If you can get a replacement rear site and a pusher wont work, your going to have to get creative by carefully and slowly reliving the tension of the site to the dovetail.
Of course after trying all the other methods above, holding the slide as firmly as possible, copious amounts of kroil and freezing/expanding.
You'll get it, the important thing is to not rush!

John from MD · Nov 10, 2017

Doc, he isn't using a vise so it may not be stuck as much as you think. Hammering on a table doesn't allow for enough energy transfer to get it moving. I'd be willing to bet a couple of raps with it in a vise will free it right up.

Doco Overboard · Nov 10, 2017

I think your right. I looked at the PDF someone attached and that looks like a nice pistol, hope he gets it freed up.
A good shot of Kroil with even the slightest bit of penetration would do wonders. That stuffs amazing once a little seeps in.

GuitarmanNick · Nov 17, 2017

Again, I would like to say thanks for the suggestions and words of encouragement.

I will be picking up some Kroil later this evening and will soak the sight in it for a day or two.

This weekend, I plan on taking over to my dad's. He has a vise. I think that if I can get the slide held solidly, I will be able to get the sight out without damaging either.

I do not think it has ever been removed before. The sight had absolutely no marks on it at all until I used my punches on it.

GuitarmanNick · Feb 1, 2018

The continuing saga of the Star B rear sight removal....

After finally making over to dad's to use his good vise, I have exhausted my options. I told dad that it was time for plan "G". When he asked me what plan G was, I simply responded, "Gunsmith".

I got a call from him a few minutes ago and he has destroyed the brass inserts on his sight removal tool because the rear sight on my slide was forced in when the gun was manufactured and has stressed the metal on the slide. The only way for him to get it out without damaging the slide is to place it in a milling machine and put a relief cut in the sight. This will, of course, render the sight useless!

I guess that I am now in the market for a Star B rear sight. I may fit a 1911 rear sight into the slide temporarily, but since the rest of the gun is original and has not been rearsenaled I would like to have an original sight.

The search begins....

GuitarmanNick · Feb 4, 2018

Woohoo! A member of Gunboards found a rear sight for my Star B in one of his parts bins and is sending it to me.

Every once in a while, I do get lucky.

Sight on the way, recoil spring replaced and some steel cased ammunition now in my inventory so the next trip to the range will be coming up soon. I am hoping to get this gun hitting on target, and feeding reliably. I will also be paying more attention to my grip on the gun. I am told that if I push the magazine up into the gun while shooting that this can cause issues with failures to feed. Perhaps some one handed shooting will be first on the itinerary.

GuitarmanNick · Mar 13, 2018

Took the Star B back to the range last weekend. Got the rear sight adjusted so that I am now hitting in the center of the target.

I tried the steel cased ammunition and it started jamming almost immediately. If there is only one round in a mag it will feed and eject. If there is a second round, it will not fully eject the rounds.

When I loaded the 124 grain brass cased ammunition into it, I was pleasantly surprised that the gun was feeding perfectly with all three magazines that I have.

I am pretty sure that replacing the weak recoil spring has taken care of the feeding problems. I do plan on trying a few different rounds before I am willing to depend upon it in an emergency.

The gun is very accurate and a real pleasure to shoot now that it is running like it should. Definitely a favored shooter!

Star B Rear Sight Removal

The #1 community for Gun Owners of the Northeast

Member Benefits:

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

American Patriot

-----

Attachments

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

American Patriot

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Ultimate Member

Users who are viewing this thread

Log in

Forum statistics