Kahr sight removal question...

[alank2]

Hi,

I ordered the B&J Machine universal sight tool from Midway so we'll see how well it does. I'm going to order Trijicons from kahr and put them on.

My one question is - is Kahr like Glock where from the back of the gun you push the sight to the right to remove and push it to the left to install? The front sight has some markings on the right side which would suggest this is the way.

Thanks,

Alan

[Kahrbon 14]

Don't force it,
Use a hammer

[RogerP9fan]

Which model Kahr do you have? I hear the CW is a b*#!h to remove the front site.

[alank2]

Hi,

It is a PM9, both sights are dovetailed. I got the universal sight tool in from Midway today, it looks pretty nice. I'm going to take the PM9 shooting first to make sure it does well and then I'm going to order some sights for it and give changing them a try.

Thanks,

Alan

[RogerP9fan]

Awesome. Sorry I don't know much about sights as I've never installed/removed them, however, in the near future I want to get night sights for my Glock 23 and possibly my brand new P9. Please post again if you learn more and perhaps others members will be by soon with the answers.

[alank2]

Hi RogerP3fan,

In a few hours I'm planning on removing the sights to see how easy it will be. I took the PM9 to the range earlier today and it shot very well for me for the 50 rounds I put through it. I'll take some pictures showing the process.

Glock sights are easy, rear sight needs to be pushed out and in and the front sight screws in.

Thanks,

Alan

[alank2]

Hi,

Well the job wasn't too bad. I just had to take my time and align everything. The front site made a pop noise as it first budged, but after that it came right out. The rear sight was not hard at all.

Yes, I took the sights off even though I don't have the replacements to put on yet! I wanted to test the tool and make sure I could get them off before placing the order at Kahr for the sights.

I've still got mixed feelings about the tool. I think it would have been better if the movable part that clamps the slide was also steel backed. I started with the square pusher blocks, but they do want to spin so I switched to the round one for the rear sight and that worked great. My Glock sights are slanted however and I don't know how well this would work with that.

http://home.earthlink.net/~alank2/kahr1.jpg

http://home.earthlink.net/~alank2/kahr2.jpg

http://home.earthlink.net/~alank2/kahr3.jpg

Thanks,

Alan

[RogerP9fan]

Very interesting stuff! You just got that B&J tool, so obviously you didn't use it for the Glock. What did you use to push the rear sight on it?
You look like you're on your way to becoming a gunsmith! Awesome pics.

[alank2]

Hi,

No, I've had a tool specifically for the Glock for a long time. I was thinking of selling that tool if the B&J proved itself, but I just don't see how the B&J would handle the 45 degree sloped nature of the type of sights I like for Glock's.

I put my order in for some Trijicon Kahr sights so hopefully they will ship quickly and I can get them on next week. I'll post some pics of that process as well.

Thanks,

Alan

[alank2]

Hi,

Well the sights arrived today via FedEx ground and I got down to business. They were pretty oversized in the dovetail so I had to file on them quite a bit to get them to match the factory ones I pulled off.

It was a much harder job than I thought it would be and I expected it to be a little bit of work. The P500 tool wanted to apply an upward force to the front sight as it pushed into the dovetail pulling it slightly out of the dovetail. I had to remove the sight and file it a bit more to smooth it out and reinsert it.

The rear sight went easier, but the P500 tool again disappointed me because it couldn't start working on the sight until I tapped it a bit with a brass punch.

I learned NOT to use a blue pen near the Kahr slide, even though it is stainless, the carbon part of it will darken!!! I had to polish it a little bit with some steel wool to get it silver again. Note to self - tape off any stainless before trying the blue pen on the sights again!

Bottom line, P500 is going back to midway. I consider myself a semi-gunsmith and the job was a bit of work. Next time I think I'll pay the extra $65 for installation/return shipping. I can't complain though as I got the job done and it looks great. I, as always, love Trijicons, they have an awesome sight picture, day or night.

Thanks,

Alan

[gb6491]

Which model Kahr do you have? I hear the CW is a b*#!h to remove the front site.
The front sight on the CW series is plastic. It's not hard to remove, but it's not reusable. It's mounted to the slide by two plastic posts that have their ends melted. You just rock/twist the sight with pliers (vise grips work well) to break the posts off.
Regards,
Greg

[deadhead1971]

How about a picture of the sights on the slide?

How do you know when the sights are centered on the slide? Do you just eyeball it to see if it's centered?

[gb6491]

How about a picture of the sights on the slide?

How do you know when the sights are centered on the slide? Do you just eyeball it to see if it's centered?
I'm not the OP of this thread, but to answer: since my sights (CW45) were dead on, I put a piece of masking tape on the slide and marked the position of the rear sight notch on that; then I pushed the new sight until it's notch lined up with the mark on the tape.

There are some photos here: http://kahrtalk.com/15666-post1.html

Regards,
Greg

[Bawanna]

That's exactly what I do also GB. If they are lined up, they make an excellent reference point. Otherwise I just center up. I noticed when I put new sights on my sons XD that it actually had marks inside the dovetail to show where the edges of the sights should be. The replacement sights actually lined up perfectly with the marks on each end. Thought that was pretty cool.

[deadhead1971]

Ok.

[jlottmc]

I've been known to tap a center line mark...