Holy moly. This XD rear sight is a pita to remove!!!

Maybe I should consider bringing it in to a gunsmith!

Did you heat it first?  Might need to melt any LockTite used on the sight.   

The tool would probably work better with a longer wrench for more leverage but I'm afraid i might exert too much pressure and start scratching up my slide.

This ultimate handgun sight tool is hard aluminum but looks like it could scratch up the bluing anyway.

Did you heat it first?  Might need to melt any LockTite used on the sight.   

Ahhh good point. No I didn't heat it first.

That is one thing I don't have ... A hair dryer.

Ahhh good point. No I didn't heat it first.

That is one thing I don't have ... A hair dryer.

Also:

Note: Some sights can be very difficult to budge and may require soaking the base in penetrating oil for 24 hours.

^^ That I don't have either.  Would WD-40 work? 

Looks like I won't be getting this done tonight.   Defeated by the rear sight! 

^^ That I don't have either.  Would WD-40 work? 

Looks like I won't be getting this done tonight.   Defeated by the rear sight! 

The maker of that XD sight mover mentions Liquid Wrench as a penetrating oil.

Have fun!!          

^^ That I don't have either.  Would WD-40 work? 

Looks like I won't be getting this done tonight.   Defeated by the rear sight! 

Found this info in a forum post on another site:

The April/May 2007 edition of Machinist's Workshop did a test of penetrating oils where they measured the force required to loosen rusty test devices. Buy the issue if you want to see how they did the test. The results reported were interesting. The lower the number of pounds the better. Mighty interesting results for simple acetone and tranny fluid!

Penetrating oil . Average load .. Price per fluid ounce
None ................. 516 pounds .
WD-40 .............. 238 pounds .. $0.25
PB Blaster ......... 214 pounds .. $0.35
Liquid Wrench ... 127 pounds .. $0.21
Kano Kroil ........ 106 pounds .. $0.75
ATF-Acetone mix.. 53 pounds .. $0.10

The ATF-Acetone mix was a 50/50 mix (1 to 1 ratio)."

According to the force needed to move the rusty parts, Liquid Wrench performed twice as well as WD-40.  So, can you use WD-40?  Sure.  Will it do the same as another oil?  Probably not!!

Thank you, Darmok and Jalad @ Tanagra!  I am humbled and learned something today. 

Tomorrow is another day and I will try again! 

Ok got my stuff from city mill:
- liquid wrench... check
- clamp vise... check
- foot long wrench... check

Will try again tonight.

Thanks for the thread Jl,

This is awesome.

Post pics when you're done.

Hope everything goes a lot smoother tonight. 

Will do.

Fell asleep when I got home after dinner but wide awake now, so I'm gonna see if I can do this without waking the family with the hair dryer. :/

Well, guess what?  It worked!

BEFORE: Standard XD sights


AFTER: Advanced Tactical Sights


With the right tools and some good advice from folks here, I was able to remove the XD sight and install the new one.

Here's the setup I used after purchasing a couple more stuff from City Mill.  The sight tool is clamped on a vise clamp.   It would not have been possible to do this without the vise clamp and a wrench.



I applied Liquid Wrench Penetrating Oil on the front and rear sights a few hours before attempting to work on it. Then I just let it sit for a few hours.

First step was to remove the rear sight and I had to use the sight tool and a wrench to remove it.  The slide was flush on the shim that came with the sight tool so it was easy to align it up in the tool.  I added a dab of liquid wrench on the rear sight before pushing it with the sight tool.





Once the standard rear sight was off, the AT rear sight was really easy to install and only needed the tool that came with it to tighten it to the slide. I did not have to use the sight tool to install it.



The front sight was a bit harder to align on the sight tool as the slide would not it with any of the tool bottom shims installed. I had to remove the bottom shim for the slide to fit.  I ended up scratching up the bluing while trying to test the fit.



I decided to use masking tape to protect the slide finish and it worked well. It was better than trying to hold a piece of paper towel or patch against the slide while tightening the tool.



The front of the slide was harder to line up in the tool as the tool was looser than a Glock. Taking off the front sight took more time because it was hard to make sure everything was perfectly aligned while tightening the tool.



Aligning everything to install the front sight took even longer and I had to manipulate the slide and tool several times to endure they were lined up well. Once it was lined up well, it was easy to get the front sight pushed using the tool.



One thing about the AT front sight, I can imagine it would be quite challenging to sight this in because one would have to take the front sight out to add shims into the front sight.  To do so, you would have to unscrew under the front sight to remove the top component of the sight, insert the plastic shim with the appropriate thickness, then put everything back together again. The thicker the plastic shim, the lower the point of impact on the target.



For the scratches, I was recommended a Brownells Dicropan T-4 Touch Up from a guy at Security Equipment to fix the bluing. I'll have to do a separate review of this once I finish sighting in the new AT sights.

awesome!

Well, guess what?  It worked!

BEFORE: Standard XD sights


AFTER: Advanced Tactical Sights


With the right tools and some good advice from folks here, I was able to remove the XD sight and install the new one.

Here's the setup I used after purchasing a couple more stuff from City Mill.  The sight pusher is clamped on a vise clamp. 



I applied Liquid Wrench Penetrating Oil on the front and rear sights a few hours before attempting to work on it. Then I just let it sit for a few hours.

First step was to remove the rear sight and I had to use the sight tool and a long wrench  to remove it.  The slide was flush to the shim that came with the sight tool so it was easy to line it up. 





The AT rear sight was really easy to install and only needed the tool that came with it.



To be continued....

Ok so I spent some time at HFR this morning and here are some impressions on the sights.

- the instructions for the sights say that to use the sights, look at your target and bring up the firearm level to your shooting position. The sights are supposed to naturally align because of the triangle shape of the sights.  I tried this method and found it generally true.

- In fact, target acquisition is FAST at 7 yards. I noticed that I was focusing on the target still and the sights were quite visible anyway. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to focus on the front sight or the target. Focusing on the target instead of the front sight might create bad shooting habits?

- the red front sight color may not have been the best choice. Once the red front sight was on the red x ring, the front sight "disappears" (red on red) and it's hard to see if everything is still aligned. There was no way around this.

- the height of the front and rear sights are higher than the standard XD sights.  When aligning the sights to shoot, I noticed that I had to make the front sight protrude slightly higher than the rear sight when the target was at 7 yards as opposed to when the target was at 15 yards.   If I didn't protrude the front sight higher, I shot somewhat low.

Below is a pic of what my wife did at 7 yards.



Here's how I did at 7 yards shooting fast from low ready, shooting 20 shots aiming at the 3 of spades card.



Here's how I did firing 5 shots benched slow fire, aiming for the 2 of clubs at 7 yards.



So far so good. I need to see how I would do when consciously looking at the front sights. So far, even when I'm looking at the target, the target pyramid is recognizable, especially the red front sight.  Also curious how it would do at 25 yards at KHSC.

Macsak, curious what your opinion is on it. Thanks for lending me your laser bore sight today.