Debating on picking up a pistol-specific sight pusher at a decent price, yet it's just "in case", as I have no intention of swapping sights out at present but know I like to tinker and there's a chance I might use it in the future.

That said, I've so rarely swapped out sights on my pistols, and the last time I had to drift a sight (on a brand new gun mind you!) I just used my workbench and a brass rod (for the first time, worked well, actually, save for the brass rubbing in the sight channel).

So it's a question for you all as to whether or not you find it worthwhile to accumulate sight pushers, or just go old school and when you do have to drift adjust or replace a sight, just use a bench vise and punch to get it done. Thoughts?

I've done probably five or six sets of sites with my Glock sight tool so I feel it was a good investment. However, if I was doing a single gun, I wouldn't have bought the tool. No way would I buy one just in case. I've done many sites replacements with just a brass or aluminum punch...In those cases, I've taped the slide to prevent marring and have clamped it into a vise with wood jaws on my workbench. Not as quick and easy as a sight pusher, but certainly gets the job done.

Depends on how much you want to spend and how frequently you would use the pusher. A few months ago I bought a universal pusher off of eBay and it's worked great on all the Sigs I've used it on. The one I bought was only $65 and is simple to use and works very well; so to me it was money well spent and I don't have the concern of messing my slide up by hitting it with a punch or hammer.

Alot of guys on here have Sig sight pushers and will loan them if asked.

I bought one of the cheap NcStar sight pushers. On some of my guns the brass punch just wouldn't cut it. For $45.00 I was thinking it wouldn't be the best. I was wrong. It works great!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: 4859,

It kinda depends on the pistol. I've had good luck with a brass punch on Sig sights and a nylon punch on Glock sights, but I have an XD45 that I could NOT budge the rear sight on. Rather than buy a sight pusher, Springfield was nice enough to pay shipping both ways and straighten it for free (it was wayyyy off). Beretta 92 sights tend to be very tight as well...I should have started out with a sight pusher because both of mine needed minor adjustment, and I'm still not sure I have either one adjusted exactly like I want it.

But if you don't have an immediate or recurring need for a sight pusher, I'd think it's a waste of money.

I have an MGW sight pusher for Glocks. I bought it to change the sights on my six Glocks. Never changed sights on any of my other guns. The sights on all my other guns are metal.

It depends on your collection. If you only have a few pistols, it won't be cost effective to invest in one. I bought a MGW Sight Pro Tool here on the forum with several inserts. It has been a godsend for me. It has paid for itself 3 folds. Changing out sights on Glock, P320, and the 1911 has been easy as heck. They have come out with a smaller hobby version of it.

I bought an elcheapo sight pusher for a Glock. I thought it was cool with ghost ring sights, then bought another slide. Then put Hienie 8s on my p220. Fiber optic adjustable sights on a 2011. Then I started swapping sights on my Desert Eagles so they would match when using different barrels.

You haven't used any real swear words until you swap sights on a Desert Eagle!

Depends on whether you are a Mechanic or a Shade Tree Mechanic.

I don't believe I'd want to punch a night sight in or out.

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
I don't believe I'd want to punch a night sight in or out.

use the right size punch, and hammer, and no worries,

done several with out a tool, go easy,
not like you are driving a 16d nail

All it takes is one time ruining a $100+ set of night sights or dinging the slide (been there and done both) and you'll appreciate a sight pusher.

From personal experience it's much easier removing sights with a hammer/punch than installing sights. They have to be started straight, pushed in by hand, then driven home. An application of oil helps. Then minute adjustments to center. If you don't have a bench vice, have an extra set of hands.

Damage a slide or ruin a sight.....the cost of a real pusher is well worth it.

I fell into a MGW with a dozen different slide shoes for a mess of different pistols. I will change out sights for friends and I charge them 5 or 10 bucks to do it. FAR cheaper and FAR quicker than any gunsmith locally.

My rationale for a $250 pusher is that 5 and ten bucks at a time it will soon be paid for.

quote:

Originally posted by FN in MT:
Damage a slide or ruin a sight.....the cost of a real pusher is well worth it.

I fell into a MGW with a dozen different slide shoes for a mess of different pistols. I will change out sights for friends and I charge them 5 or 10 bucks to do it. FAR cheaper and FAR quicker than any gunsmith locally.

My rationale for a $250 pusher is that 5 and ten bucks at a time it will soon be paid for.

Same here.

I've used my MGW Sight PRO half a dozen or more times to come to the rescue of friends and co-workers who attempted, ( rather badly in a few cases ) to go the punch and hammer route.

A quality universal sight tool is well worth it to me.

quote:

Originally posted by 4859:
I bought one of the cheap NcStar sight pushers. On some of my guns the brass punch just wouldn't cut it. For $45.00 I was thinking it wouldn't be the best. I was wrong. It works great!

Have you used it on Sigs?

quote:

Originally posted by JBP55:
Depends on whether you are a Mechanic or a Shade Tree Mechanic.

I'm a mechanic. A fairly well qualified one, in fact. I have a pusher that doesn't work for all sights, but often I simply have them installed.

Such was the case with some Trijicon HD's I wanted on a P320. My pusher didn't fit. I took it to a couple of places; one couldn't, the other tried but they were missing a block on their pusher that would do it. I ended up at a gunsmith at a range nearby. I thought he would have a pusher, and instead he beat on it with a punch until the set of sights coming off (a good set of trijicons, suppressor height) were beaten beyond sellable. Then he beat the new sights onto my pistol, marring it and the sights.

Where a pusher is available, a far better choice, and I won't be taking business to that gunsmith ever again.

I'll also be buying a better pusher.

quote:

Originally posted by FN in MT:
Damage a slide or ruin a sight.....the cost of a real pusher is well worth it.

Quite so.

Years ago, before I even knew that there was a tool called a sight pusher, I was chasing a P226 sight alignment issue. After getting some basic info about how to adjust sights, and not owning any brass punches, I made do with the steel punches and heavy hammer I had. The first few adjustments were made at home, followed by range trips that showed my sights were still off. Finally, frustrated, I brought my punches and hammer to the range and would shoot, bang adjust, shoot bang adjust, shoot bang adjust... a combination of poor technique, the wrong tools, and too many adjustments eventually resulted in a front sight loose in its dovetail.

At this time I only own a SIG MGW sight pusher, and while I have used it to change sights a few times, I find myself using it far more often to make slight sight adjustments to correct POI issues. When I do replace sights I typically do it at home, however I save the final sight alignment for when I get to the range. I can shoot, get real-time feed back on how well my sights are adjusted, and if need be, make further adjustments. A couple years ago I did a 3 way sight swap on some SIG P226s and then took them to the range and spent the next few hours bench rest shooting all three guns and dialing in the sights and my sight pusher was used multiple times.

If one doesn't plan on doing many sight swaps or adjustments, and is willing to learn the proper techniques and invest in the correct work space
and tools there is no reason why the tried and true punch drift adjustment method won't work...

...but having a sight pusher to both make speedy sight swaps at home as well as make real-time sight adjustments while shooting has maximized my range time and has been a real game changer for me.

With a few modifications and slow careful technique I've even used my SIG MGW pusher to adjust the sights on an HK P7 PSP and an AR-7.

Sight pusher for me... the right tool for the job.

downtownv sells a universal one in the classifieds section.

I took only one mistake with crap gunsmith with a universal pusher for me to buy MGW designated pushers and do it myself.





I now have MGW SIg and MGW Glock sight pushers.
Although I doubt I'll ever change the sights on my 2 WG Sigs (want to keep them stock), there is ALWAYS a chance I'll change the sights on my several Glock pistols.

And yes ether, those XD sights are a mother f'er...

I have installed hundreds of sights. I have two sight tools; Sig (which can be made to install XD sights) and Glock. I have yet to damage a night sight. Any sight for that matter. A solid vice, a collection of brass and nylon punches that can be shaped to fit a particular application, quality files and a couple of hammers...mission accomplished.

XD's present some difficulty to remove, to the point that I warn my customer that the stock sights might be damaged upon removal. That's because I use a STEEL punch to remove 'em. A short, brass rod and a large hammer wouldn't even budge the first couple of XDs I tried. Tried an MGW pusher once and I thought the pusher was going to break. Installation is a breeze of course.

I've even tried one of the "universal" tools, but by the time I got it set up for the particular slide, I would have been finished had I used hammer and punch.

Time, skill, money...all considerations