Back in 1995 I bought a Smith and Wesson 640-1 to carry off-duty and backup. After several years I sold it to one of my peers who wanted a backup. I had moved on to a new subcompact...

Fast forward to last year..my friend was willing to trade it back for something I had. It came back to me like this (basically the same as it was when I sold it in the early 2000's)... The old pachmyers were hard and slippery from age, losing most of its shock absorbing...it also slipped all over in recoil. The front sight was just the old blade and hard to see (I don't remember it being that hard when I was younger...)




Here it is now...added are a TruGlo TFX sight, new hogue grips, and APEX Duty Trigger upgrade...

Nice!

Whooo, very nice subtle upgrade

Wow that’s a nice facelift. I never even thought about changing out the front sight, I’m going on Truglo’s web sight now.

How difficult was swapping out the front sight? I have a couple of small revolvers that I'd like to replace the front sights on, but have been scared off because it looks like you need to drill the hole in the sight for the roll pin to go through. They way I've read to do it is to punch out the pin, remove the existing site, seat the new sight base in the slot, then use the roll-pin hole in the barrel as a guide to drill through the sight. I'm no machinist (don't even own a drill press), and I'm a little intimidated by the thought of drilling on my gun...

quote:

Originally posted by 92fstech:
How difficult was swapping out the front sight? I have a couple of small revolvers that I'd like to replace the front sights on, but have been scared off because it looks like you need to drill the hole in the sight for the roll pin to go through. They way I've read to do it is to punch out the pin, remove the existing site, seat the new sight base in the slot, then use the roll-pin hole in the barrel as a guide to drill through the sight. I'm no machinist (don't even own a drill press), and I'm a little intimidated by the thought of drilling on my gun...

I had a gunsmith do it. The sight was so old they had to weld a shelf onto the old sight just to move it. Any S&W front sight has to be drilled because each one is installed individually so there is no standard hole setup. If you're not comfortable, I'd pay the money to a local gunsmith. It's not super expensive and you're supporting local small business.

Nice looking gun. I love that front sight. For some reason or another,I am getting back into revolvers more and more and they are becoming my gun of choice.

Most S&W j frames have an integral front sight - part of the barrel. There is no pin to remove and replace the sight. One needs a few tools - or a good gunsmith to remove the old sight and prepare for a new night sight.

Jerry

quote:

Originally posted by j38:
Most S&W j frames have an integral front sight - part of the barrel. There is no pin to remove and replace the sight. One needs a few tools - or a good gunsmith to remove the old sight and prepare for a new night sight.

Jerry

XS does make a sight for the integral sight models - it involves some machining so it’s best left to someone who knows how to do that. (For me that would be a gunsmith.). The 640/60 magnums and a lot of the scandium models all use pinned front sights. These “can” be replaced by punching the pin and pulling the old sight - then replacing it with a new sight you drill and pin in. There are options which is nice.

Like an loyal old friend returning and a useful friend at that.

Nice you got it back, but no way I can bring myself to call a gun made of stainless steel from the 90’s old

That's a great make over you did on that one .

Looking good. Nothing like a Smith snuby in the pocket to keep you comfortable in troubled times.

John

Nice new accessories on her. Do those Hogues have storage at the bottom?

quote:

Originally posted by VictorLouis:
Nice new accessories on her. Do those Hogues have storage at the bottom?

No I guess it’s their new version that snaps in place with a hard plastic heel.

quote:

The 640/60 magnums and a lot of the scandium models all use pinned front sights.

Yeah my J-Frame is a 360 scandium, and it is held in place with a roll pin. The front sight in that gun actually isn't too bad, but I have an SP101 and a Speed-Six that use a similar design, and the front sight on the Speed-Six is pretty buggered (I got it used but before that it had a rough life). I cleaned it up a bit with a file, but replacing it would be a lot nicer. It looks like there are some nice options out there that would be a lot easier to acquire than a plain black blade, too.

Very nice! I'm going to replace the front sight on my Combat Masterpiece now.