Night Sight installation Instructions

[wyntrout]

I was perusing the Kahr.com site and ran across a pdf instruction sheet for installation of night sights. The file is available for download here:

https://www.kahr.com/Night_Sight_Ins...structions.pdf

It's pretty simplistic... DO NOT USE A PUNCH TO REMOVE THE FRONT SIGHT... or the rear... and removal is from left to right using a non-abrasive sight press.

Kahr emphasizes NOT using a punch and NOT pushing on the posts of the sights, to preclude damaging the delicate glass vials holding the Tritium gas. Any pushing of the sights should be done as low as possible on the BASES with great care taken to NOT damage the dovetails or the sight/slide finish.

Any sizing adjustments should be made to the sights, not the dovetails... with the exception of deburring the entrance edges of the dovetails.

I copied and pasted the page here and edited/corrected the layout, as it did not paste in normal layout.

I hope this is helpful. I've used a minimal press to change and install sights, BUT... I don't recommend anyone do this. It would be best to let real experts do night sight installation. Saving $30 or $40 won't seem like such a great idea if you damage the sights and/or your pistol!

If you don't have a "Non-marking sight press", FUGEDDABOUTIT!

Wynn

"Night Sight Installation Instructions

Tools required:

1.Non-marking sight press

All of the following steps should be done with care using a non-marking, non-abrasive sight press. All work should be completed by a certified gunsmith. Please read and understand all instructions before attempting to install sights.

DISASSEMBLY OF FIREARM:

1. With the pistol pointed in a safe direction, remove the magazine and ensure that there are no rounds in the chamber. Visually inspect to ensure that the pistol is completely unloaded.

2. Remove the slide from the pistol.

3. Remove the barrel and recoil spring assembly from the slide.


REMOVAL OF THE EXISTING FRONT SIGHT:

1. DO NOT USE A PUNCH TO REMOVE FRONT SIGHT. THIS WILL DAMAGE BOTH THE SIGHT AND THE SLIDE.

2. Place the slide in a non-marking non-abrasive sight press designed to hold the slide in a fixed position.

3. With the muzzle end facing away from you, press the sight (from the base only) from left to right out of the dovetail. *

DO NOT press on the post section; this will damage the sight and or the slide.


REMOVAL OF THE EXISTING REAR SIGHT:

1. DO NOT USE A PUNCH TO REMOVE REAR SIGHT.
THIS WILL DAMAGE BOTH THE SIGHT AND THE SLIDE.

2. Place the slide in a non-marking non-abrasive sight press designed to hold the slide in a fixed position.

3. With the muzzle end faced away from you, push the rear sight from left to right out of the dovetail. Be careful not to scratch or damage any part of the slide.


INSTALLATION OF THE NEW FRONT SIGHT:

1. DO NOT USE A PUNCH TO INSTALL FRONT SIGHT. THIS WILL DAMAGE BOTH THE SIGHT AND THE SLIDE.

2. Place the slide in a non-marking non-abrasive sight press designed to hold the slide in a fixed position.

3. With the muzzle end facing away from you, press the sight (from the base only) from right to left into the dovetail. *DO NOT press on the post section; this will damage the sight and or the slide.


INSTALLATION OF NEW REAR SIGHT:

1. DO NOT USE A PUNCH TO INSTALL REAR SIGHT. THIS WILL DAMAGE BOTH THE SIGHT AND THE SLIDE.

2. Place the slide in a non-marking non-abrasive sight press designed to hold the slide in a fixed position.

3. With the muzzle end faced away from you, push the rear sight from right to left into the dovetail. Be careful not to scratch or damage any part of the slide.

DISCLAIMER NOTICE:

Failure to properly install this sight on your Kahr pistol may result in personal injury, death, damage to the sight system, or damage to your firearm.
Kahr Arms is not responsible for any damages as a result of the installation of this sight system.
Accordingly Kahr Arms factory warranty will void due to improper installation and or damage to the firearm."

[garyb]

Too late for me. Had I read this years ago, I would have sent my gun back to Kahr for an adjustment. I had to adjust the drift on my night sights on my PM because they were most definitely off to the left (consistently from a bench with varied ammo). They were extremely tightly fit. So much so that I HAD to use a punch to drift them to zero. In fact I damaged a brass punch on them and went to a steel one. I taped up the end of the steel one and I did mar the bases a little, but did not damage the glow tubes at all. The marring is barely noticeable but I know what I did. I was worried that I'd never get the drift correct. After about 5 trips from the home adjustment (in a vise) to the range...I got it zeroed. I guess perhaps I was just "DUMB" LUCKY!....HAHA. Thank GOD. It is zeroed now.

[gb6491]

Thanks for posting that Wynn
My own experience:
I've used both pushers and brass punches to remove Kahr sights.
Neither style tool caused any damage to the slide or sights.
If I had my druthers, I'll use the punch to remove the sights or at least to get them started moving. Installation: fitted sights and a sight pusher every time.
Regards,
Greg

FWIW, I slightly damaged one of my sight pushers trying to get a CW45 rear sight to move. I finally had to use a punch to get it off.

[muggsy]

You violated the most basic rule of gunsmithing, Gary. Never force anything! Always get a bigger hammer. I've gone to a twenty pound dead blow hammer for adjusting the sights on my Kahr Pistols. If there's one thing that I learned over the years it's that gentle persuasion beats whacking the hell out of it almost every time. Particularly if one of your ten thumbs gets in the way.

[garyb]

You violated the most basic rule of gunsmithing, Gary. Never force anything! Always get a bigger hammer. I've gone to a twenty pound dead blow hammer for adjusting the sights on my Kahr Pistols. If there's one thing that I learned over the years it's that gentle persuasion beats whacking the hell out of it almost every time. Particularly if one of your ten thumbs gets in the way.

Your are right. I forgot to mention that I went to a bigger hammer too. Man am I ever a dumb @$$. But my gun is on zero now.

[garyb]

Thanks for posting that Wynn
My own experience:
I've used both pushers and brass punches to remove Kahr sights.
Neither style tool caused any damage to the slide or sights.
If I had my druthers, I'll use the punch to remove the sights or at least to get them started moving. Installation: fitted sights and a sight pusher every time.
Regards,
Greg

FWIW, I slightly damaged one of my sight pushers trying to get a CW45 rear sight to move. I finally had to use a punch to get it off.

Kahr must be using a good locktite product on them or something. They are the tightest fit I have ever seen.

[TucsonMTB]

Greg mentions "fitting" the sight to the dovetail. This video illustrates the value of that step in the process, which requires removing material from the sight base to fit into the dovetail more easily. No, a 1911 is not a Kahr, but the principle is the same.

Like Greg, I had to resort to a punch to get the sights off both of my PM40's while they were each carefully secured in a vise. In my opinion, if Kahr were a little more careful to achieve a proper fit during their assembly process, their sights would be easier to change. Whatever.

And, I probably over reacted to the difficult removal experience. During my fitting of the replacement Trijicon night sights, I removed a little more material from their bottom edges than was necessary. Oops!

No worries! That made them easier to install without breaking anything. Then, during the first range session, after verifying that they were in the right place, a dab of Loctite made sure the sights wouldn't move unexpectedly.

They work great!

[garyb]

I've got the same sights on my PM....not too bad. Wish the rear was flat black and front was FO. Maybe someday I'll change them out...when the night sights fail.

[Foxrep1]

What sight pusher tool did you use? I have read that not all universal pushers work with the Kahr's.

I was perusing the Kahr.com site and ran across a pdf instruction sheet for installation of night sights. The file is available for download here:

https://www.kahr.com/Night_Sight_Ins...structions.pdf

It's pretty simplistic... DO NOT USE A PUNCH TO REMOVE THE FRONT SIGHT... or the rear... and removal is from left to right using a non-abrasive sight press.

Kahr emphasizes NOT using a punch and NOT pushing on the posts of the sights, to preclude damaging the delicate glass vials holding the Tritium gas. Any pushing of the sights should be done as low as possible on the BASES with great care taken to NOT damage the dovetails or the sight/slide finish.

Any sizing adjustments should be made to the sights, not the dovetails... with the exception of deburring the entrance edges of the dovetails.

I copied and pasted the page here and edited/corrected the layout, as it did not paste in normal layout.

I hope this is helpful. I've used a minimal press to change and install sights, BUT... I don't recommend anyone do this. It would be best to let real experts do night sight installation. Saving $30 or $40 won't seem like such a great idea if you damage the sights and/or your pistol!

If you don't have a "Non-marking sight press", FUGEDDABOUTIT!

Wynn

"Night Sight Installation Instructions

Tools required:

1.Non-marking sight press

All of the following steps should be done with care using a non-marking, non-abrasive sight press. All work should be completed by a certified gunsmith. Please read and understand all instructions before attempting to install sights.

DISASSEMBLY OF FIREARM:

1. With the pistol pointed in a safe direction, remove the magazine and ensure that there are no rounds in the chamber. Visually inspect to ensure that the pistol is completely unloaded.

2. Remove the slide from the pistol.

3. Remove the barrel and recoil spring assembly from the slide.


REMOVAL OF THE EXISTING FRONT SIGHT:

1. DO NOT USE A PUNCH TO REMOVE FRONT SIGHT. THIS WILL DAMAGE BOTH THE SIGHT AND THE SLIDE.

2. Place the slide in a non-marking non-abrasive sight press designed to hold the slide in a fixed position.

3. With the muzzle end facing away from you, press the sight (from the base only) from left to right out of the dovetail. *

DO NOT press on the post section; this will damage the sight and or the slide.


REMOVAL OF THE EXISTING REAR SIGHT:

1. DO NOT USE A PUNCH TO REMOVE REAR SIGHT.
THIS WILL DAMAGE BOTH THE SIGHT AND THE SLIDE.

2. Place the slide in a non-marking non-abrasive sight press designed to hold the slide in a fixed position.

3. With the muzzle end faced away from you, push the rear sight from left to right out of the dovetail. Be careful not to scratch or damage any part of the slide.


INSTALLATION OF THE NEW FRONT SIGHT:

1. DO NOT USE A PUNCH TO INSTALL FRONT SIGHT. THIS WILL DAMAGE BOTH THE SIGHT AND THE SLIDE.

2. Place the slide in a non-marking non-abrasive sight press designed to hold the slide in a fixed position.

3. With the muzzle end facing away from you, press the sight (from the base only) from right to left into the dovetail. *DO NOT press on the post section; this will damage the sight and or the slide.


INSTALLATION OF NEW REAR SIGHT:

1. DO NOT USE A PUNCH TO INSTALL REAR SIGHT. THIS WILL DAMAGE BOTH THE SIGHT AND THE SLIDE.

2. Place the slide in a non-marking non-abrasive sight press designed to hold the slide in a fixed position.

3. With the muzzle end faced away from you, push the rear sight from right to left into the dovetail. Be careful not to scratch or damage any part of the slide.

DISCLAIMER NOTICE:

Failure to properly install this sight on your Kahr pistol may result in personal injury, death, damage to the sight system, or damage to your firearm.
Kahr Arms is not responsible for any damages as a result of the installation of this sight system.
Accordingly Kahr Arms factory warranty will void due to improper installation and or damage to the firearm."

[wyntrout]

I used a Sight Master Sight Pusher Tool

T1003

1

$59.95

That I got from glockstore.com

It was "specifically" for Glocks with the angled pusher, but it had a straight side as well, and I used it on Glocks and Kahrs. It had to be held securely in a vise and use 3/4" wrenches or sockets... VERY carefully... to keep from damaging the sights (Tritium vials!) or the dovetails on the slide.



I used fiberboard to built up the slide's height to position it and to hold it securely without damage.

I'll try to find the post on that. http://www.kahrtalk.com/showthread.p...t=sight+pusher






These work if you're VERY CAREFUL and CONTINUALLY make sure that you're not damaging your sights or the slide. There's a lot of force being exerted and you can easily cause damage.

I used these sights, but there are others available on Amazon.com and from Google searches.

I've bought several other sets now and have sold all but the NcSTAR sight pusher that came in yesterday. I want to do a review and post on it, but I could see right away that the pusher part will only push against the part of the sight higher than the frame... NOT the lowest part of the sight within the dove tails as I would like. I think that this will wind up on the table at the next gun show. I'm dreading spending the money, but I still think the Wheeler Engineering Sight Pusher Tool is the best... except for use on Springfield XD's... that gave me pause when someone reported shearing the screws that hols the "pusher" part on the first attempt to move XD sights... notoriously hard to remove... evidently, more difficult than Kahr sights!

That one is $240 retail, but I've seen it for about $185 delivered. You have to do a lot of sight installation or adjustment to justify that price. There ARE more expensive setups. If there had been one in stock ANYWHERE, I would have bought one, but now I've bought several $50 sight pushers and have been disappointed in them enough to resell them without even trying them.

I would advise anyone to use a local COMPETENT gunsmith to have sight work done... especially if you don't need that service a lot.

Wynn