loose front sight on Colt 1911

[handymanDon]

I hear this is a common problem with staked front sights. Is there any good, proper, lasting fix for this ? I have a stainless Colt, series 80 Gold Cup National Match 45 acp. Made around 1989 with Eliason sights. I had a gunsmith tighen it...but after firing a couple mags I noticed it was wobbly loose again

[DuWhat]

Have tou tried "locktite".

[handymanDon]

Nah, I haven't attempted to fix it myself...yet. I'd read alot about this online...seems like a number of people thought the "blue" locktite was the way to go. I'd imagine this would involve removing the sight, cleaning, glueing and restaking the sight with a staking tool. Sounds like something one would have to redo from time to time. Too bad the front sight and top slide aren't from one solid piece of machined steel. It's not like the front sight is adjustable anyway. It does adjust (loose) though. There revolvers are named after snakes...and is something else that makes their 1911 a Rattler...but I still love it.

[dfariswheel]

Usually, a front sight comes loose because it wasn't staked properly the first time.
In most cases, you can't re-stake a sight and have it hold because most of the staking is ground off after attaching the sight so the barrel bushing can fit.

What you can try is to soak the front of the slide in lacquer thinner for a few minutes to remove any oils from the sight and slide, dry thoroughly, then try to get some Loctite Red into the joint. Loctite also sell a type that's thin and is intended to wick itself into a joint.

However, in most cases, the only sure fix is to have the sight replaced with a new sight by someone who really understands how it's done.
The right way is to remove the old sight and use a carbide ball cutter to grind a small countersink on the under side of the slide over the sight tenon hole.
This way, when the new sight tenon is staked, the countersink gives the metal room to flow down into the countersink. When the excess is ground off for the barrel bushing, there's still enough in the counter sink to hold the sight forever.

DO NOT allow someone to silver solder the sight. This will destroy the finish on the slide.
Soft solder will also usually damage the finish from the flux bubbling out, and soft solder usually won't hold either.
Get the sight replaced properly and you'll never have to do it again.

[GyMac]

Usually, a front sight comes loose because it wasn't staked properly the first time.
In most cases, you can't re-stake a sight and have it hold because most of the staking is ground off after attaching the sight so the barrel bushing can fit.

What you can try is to soak the front of the slide in lacquer thinner for a few minutes to remove any oils from the sight and slide, dry thoroughly, then try to get some Loctite Red into the joint. Loctite also sell a type that's thin and is intended to wick itself into a joint.

However, in most cases, the only sure fix is to have the sight replaced with a new sight by someone who really understands how it's done.
The right way is to remove the old sight and use a carbide ball cutter to grind a small countersink on the under side of the slide over the sight tenon hole.
This way, when the new sight tenon is staked, the countersink gives the metal room to flow down into the countersink. When the excess is ground off for the barrel bushing, there's still enough in the counter sink to hold the sight forever.

DO NOT allow someone to silver solder the sight. This will destroy the finish on the slide.
Soft solder will also usually damage the finish from the flux bubbling out, and soft solder usually won't hold either.
Get the sight replaced properly and you'll never have to do it again.

+1. If done properly, the staked front sight is just fine.

[handymanDon]

I like your response dfaris ! Sounds like a solid and permanent fix can be done. Pre-shate it !