Does anyone here have a dovetail sight pusher I can borrow for a few minutes?? I normally have been able to do remove dovetails at home but I have a zigana that just doesn't want to budge.  anyone have one I can borrow??

 

Does anyone here have a dovetail sight pusher I can borrow for a few minutes?? I normally have been able to do remove dovetails at home but I have a zigana that just doesn't want to budge.  anyone have one I can borrow??

 

Make sure there's not a small set screw on the top of the sight or under the slide that is keeping the sight in place.

First:  It's likely there is LockTite on the sight.  Have you tried using a hair drier or heat gun to warm it up?  You may need 500F degrees (i.e. a blow torch) to completely unlock the High Strength Red Locktite, HOWEVER holding a heat source on the sight at less than half that temp ought to be enough to loosen it.  Try not to cook the finish or melt the sites!  Just heat it, try it, heat it, try it, etc. until it moves.

Second:  Where is home?   

I have a B&J Machine P500 universal front & rear dovetail sight pusher if you need to borrow -- assuming you tried the heat thing and it fails.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1007120534?pid=658993

Thanks Flapp_Jackson, I'll try heating it up. I removed the set screw at the top of the sight and tried inspecting the bottom of the sight from inside the slide,  seems like there should only be one screw I hope. I'll update more at the next attempt 

 dove tail slots are tapered and directional. Sights need to be drifted in / out the proper direction or they will bind. I didnt know til a gunsmith clued me in that euro made guns generally taper their dove tails the opposite direction from US manufacturers, just like they drive on the wrong side of the road. he always checks with a micrometer before he starts pushing.

I use a table top vice with protective inserts for the jaws (I'd have to look up where I got it from) and nylon or delrin punches.  I have a sight pusher specific for Glocks, but I've found the vice and punch method to be universal. 

Like mentioned above, be careful on the particular cut of the dovetail.  I too learned that from feedback from a very wise and trusted gun friend.

I've also encountered where loctite had been applied to the set screw, and where it flowed into the gap between the sight body and the slide.  It locked up the sight pretty good.  Needed a little bit of heat and gentle persuasion to get it loose. 

Good luck!

I use a table top vice with protective inserts for the jaws (I'd have to look up where I got it from) and nylon or delrin punches.  I have a sight pusher specific for Glocks, but I've found the vice and punch method to be universal. 

Like mentioned above, be careful on the particular cut of the dovetail.  I too learned that from feedback from a very wise and trusted gun friend.

I've also encountered where loctite had been applied to the set screw, and where it flowed into the gap between the sight body and the slide.  It locked up the sight pretty good.  Needed a little bit of heat and gentle persuasion to get it loose. 

Good luck!

Amazon and eaby sell those vice inserts. What i found to work really well is leather scraps for slides or other flat faced objects.  If you have an old jacket that is all messed up, cut the leather into 4 or 5 inch squares. Im sure denim and some gorilla tape will work well too.  I literally wrap the leather completely around whatever object im clamping down on if it permits me to do so. The only time i use inserts is if i need to put a barrel or other rounded shaped objects in a vice cause my inserts have "v" notched cutouts in them.

If you need to heat it up, use a soldering iron or wood burner. Apply the tip directly to base of the sight. Thats worked for me before. My friend tried to hammer off his front sight on a p229. The post sheared right off. Luckily with time and effort and Lots of brainstorming, i got it off.

I've also encountered where loctite had been applied to the set screw, and where it flowed into the gap between the sight body and the slide.  It locked up the sight pretty good.  Needed a little bit of heat and gentle persuasion to get it loose. 

I bought a fancy after market  red dot plate and it came with vibra-tite instead of loctite. I had never heard of the stuff but that company was very specific about never using loctite anymore after too many customers ended up putting a teeny bit too much and it actualy getting into the works inside the slide / firing pins through the pukas tapped to mount the plate.

Vibra-tite is a totally different animal, you paint it on let dry 15-20 mins and assemble. It's very rubber- cementy. Hasnt come lose so far. Much easier to break apart.

'Unlike a traditional threadlocker which attempts to fix a fastener solidly in place; VC-3 is a cold flow material which works on the principle of dampening. VC-3 essentially isolates the fastener from the vibration of the assembly, absorbing any intense shock and vibration which keeps the fastener from rotating.'

I bought a fancy after market  red dot plate and it came with vibra-tite instead of loctite. I had never heard of the stuff but that company was very specific about never using loctite anymore after too many customers ended up putting a teeny bit too much and it actualy getting into the works inside the slide / firing pins through the pukas tapped to mount the plate.

Vibra-tite is a totally different animal, you paint it on let dry 15-20 mins and assemble. It's very rubber- cementy. Hasnt come lose so far. Much easier to break apart.

'Unlike a traditional threadlocker which attempts to fix a fastener solidly in place; VC-3 is a cold flow material which works on the principle of dampening. VC-3 essentially isolates the fastener from the vibration of the assembly, absorbing any intense shock and vibration which keeps the fastener from rotating.'

LocTite 248 is made non-drip, too.  It's in a stick form.

https://www.henkel-adhesives.com/us/en/product/threadlockers/loctite_248.html

Amazon and eaby sell those vice inserts. What i found to work really well is leather scraps for slides or other flat faced objects.  If you have an old jacket that is all messed up, cut the leather into 4 or 5 inch squares. Im sure denim and some gorilla tape will work well too.  I literally wrap the leather completely around whatever object im clamping down on if it permits me to do so. The only time i use inserts is if i need to put a barrel or other rounded shaped objects in a vice cause my inserts have "v" notched cutouts in them.

If you need to heat it up, use a soldering iron or wood burner. Apply the tip directly to base of the sight. Thats worked for me before. My friend tried to hammer off his front sight on a p229. The post sheared right off. Luckily with time and effort and Lots of brainstorming, i got it off.

I've used some pretty thick cardboard (shipping boxes).  Sometimes they get torn up by the jaws.  I had ordered the inserts, so started used them.  They work well.  I think can do without, but I've found that they are very helpful.  That said, I don't have any guns that I am uber particular of the finish.  If I had a premium gun, say nicer 1911, I'd definitely be more cautious with protecting the gun slide. 

I haven't used the vice for ARs or other long guns.  I would want a true bench mounted vice.  My vice isn't locked down to a table top.  Though it's heavy enough for any handgun work. 

 

Whoa didn't expect this much response from my post haha. So I've tried multiple times to push out the dovetail but to no success. I have a small torch somewhere in this house I have to locate it, but in the mean time I saw some dovetail pushers on Amazon. I think I'll try ordering one just to try it out. It comes with inserts but I think when the pusher comes in I'll use some leather scraps to be safe.

Thanks for the advice guys! I appreciate it and will post updates if it ever comes out haha 

I bought a fancy after market  red dot plate and it came with vibra-tite instead of loctite. I had never heard of the stuff but that company was very specific about never using loctite anymore after too many customers ended up putting a teeny bit too much and it actualy getting into the works inside the slide / firing pins through the pukas tapped to mount the plate.

Vibra-tite is a totally different animal, you paint it on let dry 15-20 mins and assemble. It's very rubber- cementy. Hasnt come lose so far. Much easier to break apart.

'Unlike a traditional threadlocker which attempts to fix a fastener solidly in place; VC-3 is a cold flow material which works on the principle of dampening. VC-3 essentially isolates the fastener from the vibration of the assembly, absorbing any intense shock and vibration which keeps the fastener from rotating.'

Ive had some magpul screws come with a coating on them. Looked similar to that vibratite.

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Vc3 is better for the reasons glasser mentioned.

Idk what magpul uses. All the screws i get from them has a tan or light brown thread locker on it. It works tho so no complaints.

Vc3 is a very dark red, hardly noticeable. The only reason i noticed is cause i put it on the screws for my surefire light/ mount. I forgot to attach it (left it to dry for bout 2 weeks  ) lol. Been using it for many many years. Sometimes i use blue still if i dont have vc3 on hand.

Vc3 is better for the reasons glasser mentioned.

Idk what magpul uses. All the screws i get from them has a tan or light brown thread locker on it. It works tho so no complaints.

Vc3 is a very dark red, hardly noticeable. The only reason i noticed is cause i put it on the screws for my surefire light/ mount. I forgot to attach it (left it to dry for bout 2 weeks  ) lol. Been using it for many many years. Sometimes i use blue still if i dont have vc3 on hand.

I had the tan and the blue on various items.

The Streamlight TLR-1 comes with a spring loaded type of screw, so no loctite needed.  IDK about other models.