adjustable rear sights

[M1911]

I remember reading advice from some gunwriter about not using adjustable rear sights on a carry gun, because they were relatively fragile. I kind of scoffed at that.

A couple weeks back I met up with several NES folks at Harvard for a little shooting. After taking a few shots with my well-used Wilson Combat 1911, the rear half of the adjustable rear sight parted company with the front half:

Maybe there is something to that advice about adjustable sights after all

I'm sending the slide off to Wilson for them to fix it.

 

[Gammon]

I gave up on adjustable sights many years ago, but for a different reason; cost. For a long time all of my match guns had adjustable Bomars installed and they worked very well. What I eventually noticed was that I adjusted these sights once and never touched them again, unless I dropped the gun or the sights were otherwise disturbed.

I then bought a gun that needed sights (Para P-16) and couldn't find a gunsmith to do the job within a reasonable amount of time. I bought a Novak competition rear sight from Brownells (the sight picture is similar to Bomar) that fit the stock rear dovetail and installed it with no problems. This rear sight required a taller front sight so I installed an over sized (height) front sight as I had the tools to do so. A trip to the range served to sight the Para in. Drift the rear sight in its dovetail to get the windage right (a sight pusher is a big help) and then file down the front sight to set the elevation. Granted, this is more work than simply adjusting screws but you only have to do it once. The sights I used cost less than $50 while a Bomar installation went for about $250.
I got a Bomar sight picture for short money; I was sold on fixed sights. The durability was an added plus.

Fixed sight installation has gotten even easier. When I did the Para installation I needed a front sight staking tool ($100 at the time, now over $250!) which would make a one time installation cost prohibitive. Times have changed, now gunsmiths will cut a dovetail in your slide and install a front sight for about $60. This will allow you to easily change your front sight to match any fixed rear you choose to install. Sighting in is still a chore but you only do it once and you will still save some $ and end up with a very durable set of sights.

My most recent project was a .40 Para long slide. I bought a six inch slide from Fusion Firearms with a Novak cut for the rear sight and a dovetail cut for the front; $200. The 10-8 rear sight and fiber optic front sight cost me a little less than $70. Again, sighting in was a chore but I have the sight picture I want for a fraction of the cost of set of Bomars. This type of installation can be done on many pistols and the use of dovetail front sights is becoming commonplace, making the job cheaper and easier.