I shoot traditional WB category with a 60's era Colt government model. I plan on replacing the rear sight with a 10-8 sight and need to change out the tiny front post. The local gunsmith said that to cut a dove tail for the front he would have to weld up the tenon hole which would ruin the finish as well as affect the heat treatment of the  slide. That just didn't sound right to me. I know this has been done for others, just wondering if what he said is really required.

Thanks

Snake-eye

Nope, dovetail cut right through the tenon and you have plenty of steel to hold a front sight in place. 

 

If he doesn't like doing it, I can suggest a gunsmith I've used for 1911 work to do exactly that, and he fabricated a nice front sight of my specified thickness (0.140") to fit the 10-8 rear sight notch well.

 

Contact Mars Armament in Salt Lake City.

 

http://www.marsguns.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=36&sort=20a&page=3

 

They did one for my Colt Series 70 five years ago (old small tenon), and sight has never moved or wobbled or interfered with slide operation.  No rebluing needed.  And they only needed the slide sent to them, so it turned around quick.

 

Good luck, GJ

It actually depends on the old sight and slide.  Coming from someone who actually cuts them nearly every day, there are some slides with a wide tenon cut in them that does need welding up or it will show. Either way, it will need reblued. You're going to have bare metal showing.

Thanks for the replys so far. The existing sight is a small tenon and a very narrow sight. I don' t mind a little cold blue on the cut if that's what it takes to finish it, the rest of the slide is a high polish blue.

You certainly can't go wrong with Steve at MARS. He is a good, personal friend of mine.

Goatneck put a 10-8 rear and MGW plain black, serrated ramp on an early 60's Colt Commercial for me. They are $10.00 from Brownell's and have both narrow & wide tenon. Works well for me without messing up a Colt slide. Hope I did not screw up my first post! Hoodoo.

Goatneck put a 10-8 rear and MGW plain black, serrated ramp on an early 60's Colt Commercial for me. They are $10.00 from Brownell's and have both narrow & wide tenon. Works well for me without messing up a Colt slide. Hope I did not screw up my first post! Hoodoo.

How well is the MGW holding up?

Snake-eye---The MGW works great for me. It has been on the pistol for 2.5 years. Occasionally, very seldom, it will get a little loose. When it does, I peen it a little with a punch & is good to go. This is my main match pistol & gets shot a lot. I also have the same set up on a Springfield as my backup pistol. Also, if I ever want to put the Colt back to original configuration, it can be easily done. With a dove tail cut, not so much. I'm not trying to talk you out of cutting your slide, just advising of a ten dollar fix that works well for me....Hoodoo.

A dovetail front sight cut that doesn't need any welding.

Good picture. Getting ready to send out slide to Mars.

Finished product.

Just quorius, who cut the dovetail.

I did. It's a Rock Island import that isn't 100% square. Overal, they're great guns.

Just got my Colt back from Boggus.  On a scale of 1 to 10, my new front site replacement is an "11"

I can actually see it now!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Occasionally, very seldom, it will get a little loose. When it does, I peen it a little with a punch & is good to go.

 

A standard approach to a loose sight in dovetail is to center punch the bottom of the sight base a couple three times, enough to push up a ring around the punch mark.  This adds a couple thousandths to the effective height of the dove tail on the sight - which is the cheapest thing to replace.   

 

Folks sometimes just peen down the lips of the slot onto the sight base, which leaves marks on the slide and tends to loosen up again.