What are the different sight options for a .45?

General Firearms Handguns - 1911
1

I more or less inherited this old mixmaster 1911 that seems to be mostly USGI parts and a “Crown City” frame.

*I did look up Crown City and learned that most of their stuff was garbage, but this specific frame seems to be fine.

I shot the pistol on Sunday. The gun fired but it FTEd every single time causing jams and double feeds. I checked the tension and it had none whatsover. I pulled it out and saw a seam on the part, so I’m thinking it was a crappy MIM part. I tried adding some tension but I am not sure it worked either. I plan on getting a decent Series 70 extractor and fixing that.

Here is a mandatory picture of what I have.

As you can see, the top half is USGI. It’s fine. It seems to work (except for that shit extractor) It wasn’t the ammo or mags because I shot those out of a 100 yr old Colt and those items worked as advertised.

Anyway, two things-----

  1. How/where do I find someone to modify this USGI slide for better sights? How much does work like this usually cost?

  2. What are all my sight cut options? (I know of Novak or Bo-mar). I am sure there are others.

Thank you Gentlemen.

(I would also like to change out the stocks to something flatter, and get a flat MSH, and a longer trigger); I probably should get an ambi safety since I am LH.

ETA: I sure as hell wouldn’t mind if the end result looked something along these lines.

2

Take a look at Brownells.com to see a large variety of sight options.

Slides are inexpensive to ship.
Be certain of the smith’s skill before making a choice.

3

Or perhaps I should just ask:

Are there any simple mods to improve USGI sights as they are?

4

Take a look at this offering from Harrison Customs. Well-known high-end 1911 gunsmith, and manufacturer of some very excellent 1911 parts. This particular sight is designed to fit original USGI rear sight cuts, and is designed to allow one-handed manipulation of the slide using face of the rear sight.

You may also take a look at Novak’s offerings if you want tritium drop-in replacement parts. The front sight, no matter what replacement rear sights you go with, will have to changed along with the rear sight.

5

I had my slide cut for Novak sights. There is a TON of sight options with that type of dovetail.
For this case, I went with a Dawson fiber optic front sight and a 10-8 U notch rear.

On the extractor… While you are getting a new extractor, I’d consider getting a new firing pin stop as well. When fit together, the firing pin stop will prevent the extractor from “clocking” (twisting in the channel)

Harrison Custom has a great new FP stop that dropped into two of my guns.

http://shop.harrisoncustom.com/hd-205-extreme-service-firing-pin-stop

It has a small radius at the bottom that helps take away some mechanical advantage from the slide (makes it a little harder to cock the hammer, which ends up reducing felt recoil a bit, helps prevent the slide from out running the magazine, etc) It’s a great part. I used to use EGW oversized stops, but I’d go Harrison first, less work to fit than the EGW, but still really good.

6

Guys, thanks for those links to Harrison!

That sight is pretty much exactly what I needed. (For some reason when I made this thread yesterday I forgot that there was such thing as a standard rear sight dovetail. D’oh!) I’d rather not screw around with a Novak cut because I honestly don’t need it.

I’ll admit that I am not at all that experienced with pistols outside of occasional shooting at a square range. Is it a big deal if that sight does not come with the two white dots? That’s the only thing that got me concerned about that Harrison sight. I noticed that the old school MEUSOC doesn’t have white dots, and those guns were intended for serious use…

One last question, is it worth it to get a new barrel for this gun at all? (Or should I just worry about getting decent sights and go learn how to actually shoot?)

7

I chose this one rear sight + his commander style ring hammer for a retro/classic build. Gonna be awesome…

8

Many shooters, especially professional ones, actually prefer running a plain, blacked out rear sight with a dot or colored front sight. Less clutter in the sight picture when aiming. I am fairly sure you will have to get a new front sight, though. Check out Meprolight, I think they have a set or two for 1911’s with USGI sight cuts.

9

Interesting. I didn’t know that about pro shooters.

I’m planning on getting a GLOCK for hard use, so I am not worried too much about getting super duper night sights on the 1911. I just more or less inherited this one and loads of .45 Auto (and 9mm for that GLOCK).

Any ideas how tall that front sight will have to be off the bat for .45 ball?

10

There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution to front sight height, especially when it comes to 1911’s. You’ll have to figure it out yourself. As per Harrison Customs’ website:

"While it’s possible that you will need a different height front sight to go with your new Harrison Design rear sight, I can’t tell you what that height should be. All 1911s are different in how they lock up and with all of the different makers of both guns and parts and all the different barrel lengths, there are too many variables. Since your windage corrections are all made by moving the rear sight from side to side in it’s dovetail, what follows below is only pertinent to getting your elevation zeroed.

I recommend that you install your new H-D rear sight, then go test fire the gun with the existing front sight in place, if possible. Shoot a test group at an accurately measured distance like maybe 15 yards, using the sight picture and hold in the adjacent picture. I would suggest for maximum accuracy that you shoot from a bag on a rest and shoot an accurately fired group using 3-4 magazines worth of ammo, all on one target to get a really representative group of where you, your gun and your ammo are hitting.

A round dot on your target about 3" in diameter will appear about the same width as your front sight at 15 yards. Once you find the center of your group and measure the distance from it to 6:00 on the round dot, you’ll know what the elevation (up & down) error is that you need to correct. Note that we are using the 6:00 point on the dot to aim at because it is more refined sight picture than trying to judge where half-way from top to bottom on the dot is. We are not setting up your gun for a 6:00 hold. This is point of aim = point of impact.

You can calculate your theoretical front sight height by multiplying the sight radius, times the error on target, divided by the distance to the target, all in inches. The sight radius is the distance from the rear aiming surface of the front sight to the rear aiming surface of the rear sight. For example, a Government Model pistol with a 6.875" sight radius that shoots a group 3" low at 15 yards (540") looks like this: 6.875 x 3 = 20.625 / 540 = .038" shorter front sight. Before you go buy a new front sight, I would suggest taking the extra step of shortening your old front sight by about 80% of the correction needed and test fire again, so .038" x 80% = .030" shorter to start. Go back to the range and shoot another group to confirm how much change you still need. This will let you creep up on the perfect height to get your gun to zero.

Of course, if your group on the test target is above the 6:00 position on the dot, you need a taller front sight. Follow the instructions below to be able to creep up on the perfect height, or calculate as above, add the change in height needed, add that to the existing sight’s height and go buy a new ready made sight as close to your measurement as you can find.

If your pistol has no front sight, like a build from parts, or your front sight is so short you can’t accurately see it like an old Colt, your best bet is probably going to be to install a plain black new front sight that’s obviously too tall, like in the neighborhood of .215". Then follow the above instructions and shorten the sight per the instructions to get your elevation zeroed."

As far as barrels go, if this is just a range gun then I wouldn’t bother. Fitting a new barrel isn’t rocket science, but it does require enough precision and knowledge that every custom 1911 gunsmith stakes part of his business and reputation on how well they fit new barrels. Finding the perfect combination of lockup, accuracy, and reliability takes a lot of experience, which is why said gunsmiths charge a fair amount for such a service. If it were me, I’d just keep it the way it is, albeit with different sights. It’s just not worth spending any more money on it.

If you like the MEUSOC, you can get you one of these. Be prepared for sticker shock, though. Or you can buy another 1911, like a Springfield Armory Mil-Spec, and have him or any other reputable gunsmith turn your gun into a MEUSOC replica.

11

Thank you for your input. I guess I’ll keep the barrel because it’s not like I am that good at pistol shooting where I could gain an advantage.

As far as going the MEUSOC route, perhaps I’ll just do some homage to it externally and cosmetically. Worse comes to worse, I’ll stick some griptape on the front strap.

*Here is the thing I that got me really curious—modern “good” 1911s are all hand fitted to exacting tolerances and things like that, whereas the old school fighting guns of our grandfathers were loose and rattly.
Are the good tight modern guns still as reliable?

12

Absolutely. However, they do require regular maintenance. Gotta treat it like a Ferrari, and not a lawnmower.

That’s also a large reason why custom smiths charge so much for their work. They build their guns to nut-squeezing tightness, but they’re still very reliable.