SW 686 4" barrel changing front sight

[cyrano_oneone]

On a SW 686 circa 1998 i am trying to change the front sight.

There is a stainless steel pin holding the sight in. It is very small pin.

What is the procedure to get the pin out? Are there punches small enough and strong enough to do this?

thanks

Jon

 

[IndispensableDestiny]

The smallest punch I have is 1/16 of an inch. But solid pins are often smaller. For these, gunsmiths use cup tip punches. Brownells sells them:

http://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-t...th-tools/punches/cup-tip-punches-prod656.aspx

In a pinch, people use the flat end of a small drill bits as punches.

My 686 does not have a pinned sight. If the pin is that small, it will present a challenge to remove and replace. You may want to seek out a gunsmith.

 

[cyrano_oneone]

Thanks for the link. I think it will prove very helpful.

Every other punch I looked at were much long making them very fragile...thanks again

 

[Boom Boom]

Maybe goes without saying, but be sure to use a good, solid vise setup to hold the barrel in place. Otherwise you'll have a bent punch and barrel damage in no time.

 

[aquashooter]

My 686 did not have a pin. Too old. Rich Freid in Damascus ground off the factory sight, machined a groove and pinned a new vis-a-line sight in place. EXCELLENT work.

 

[aaron.foulk]

I had my smith do it while doing an action job. I think drilling the hole in the new sight precisely and accurately enough could be the larger issue than removing the pin. To me, a bubba-ed front sight pin wasn't worth the risk of the nominal savings. YMMV.

 

[John from MD]

I have had several Smiths with pinned front blades and the pins were all split pins. In fact, I have a bag of them that I ordered from Brownells years ago. It may look solid because the end is peened.

Find a number drill bit that will fit the hole, break the fluted area off and use it to tap the pin out as it is smaller than a 1/16 punch. When you change the sight, use a small drill and chamfer the holes on the sides of the blade as it will be easier to push the pin in that way.

Regards,

John

 

[cyrano_oneone]

I have had several Smiths with pinned front blades and the pins were all split pins. In fact, I have a bag of them that I ordered from Brownells years ago. It may look solid because the end is peened.

Find a number drill bit that will fit the hole, break the fluted area off and use it to tap the pin out as it is smaller than a 1/16 punch. When you change the sight, use a small drill and chamfer the holes on the sides of the blade as it will be easier to push the pin in that way.

Regards,

John

Hi John,

I look at Brownells web site....is the correct term "split pin". I am not seeing anything.

thanks for you time.

Jon

 

[John from MD]

Well, I went down and dug out the bag of pins. They are split pins but Brownells calls them roll pins. Go figure.

The brownells part number on the bag is 080-000-125.

Regards,

John

 

[cyrano_oneone]

Well, I went down and dug out the bag of pins. They are split pins but Brownells calls them roll pins. Go figure.

The brownells part number on the bag is 080-000-125.

Regards,

John

John,

Once again thank you. I really appreciate your efforts on this.

Jon

 

[John from MD]

No problem, glad to be of assistance.

John