Ok, all I can find are rear sight tools.
I have a universal tool but it sucks. The front sight doesn't budge. Instead the slide just twists in the locks.
Don't have a vice and since the slide isn't flat, attempting to tap out the front sight hasn't worked at all either.
Is there a single tool that will do both front and rear sights or are they actually two different tools?
Since I have 2 sights to replace and maybe a 3rd, I figure why not just get the damn tool. So, which tool to get?

The MGW Sight-Pro is an excellent universal sight tool in my experience. It’s massive and expensive, but it works well, and in no small part because of how it holds the slide. The slide goes onto a “shoe” that’s specific to the rails of a particular gun, and there are clamps that engage the slide from the top and sides: the slide doesn’t move or twist.

I haven’t had mine long, but have done two SIG Classic-line pistols, two Glocks, and a P320, all front and rear. It even comes standard with an angled pusher to fit rear Glock (and others, I believe) sights.

MGW cautions that it’s not guaranteed to move all sights; some might be too tight. I’ve used mine, though, on some very tight SIG sights with no problem.

I hesitated before buying one, but now wish I had had it long ago.

I have the Wheeler sight tool. I have removed some tight sights with this one. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d...s=wheeler+sight+tool

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
The MGW Sight-Pro is an excellent universal sight tool in my experience. It’s massive and expensive, but it works well, and in no small part because of how it holds the slide. The slide goes onto a “shoe” that’s specific to the rails of a particular gun, and there are clamps that engage the slide from the top and sides: the slide doesn’t move or twist.

I haven’t had mine long, but have done two SIG Classic-line pistols, two Glocks, and a P320, all front and rear. It even comes standard with an angled pusher to fit rear Glock (and others, I believe) sights.

MGW cautions that it’s not guaranteed to move all sights; some might be too tight. I’ve used mine, though, on some very tight SIG sights with no problem.

I hesitated before buying one, but now wish I had had it long ago.

Yeah, that price is a bit hard to swallow, but I am actually in the process of swapping sights on a few items so in the long run it should pay for itself.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommydogg:
I have the Wheeler sight tool. I have removed some tight sights with this one. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d...s=wheeler+sight+tool

This looks to work great for slides which are more square like a 1911 and Glock but the P320 slide is more curved/tapered and it doesn't seem to be geared toward those types of slides. Have you tried it on something like a P320?

Where in Fl. are you? I have one that will work Email me if you are near central FL.

quote:

Originally posted by y-not:
Where in Fl. are you? I have one that will work Email me if you are near central FL.

Thanks thats a generous offer, but I see Pinellas Park, Fl is on the west coast and I am on the East by the Space Center. I am debating about jumping on that tool from Amazon for $150. One person asked if it works with the P320 and there is a response indicating Yes. Plus, the descriptions reads "Works with ALL semi auto pistols". If it fails I will indeed return it. A local guy charges $65 to remove/add sights. If I replace these two I would just about break even. Odds are more pistol purchases and sight replacements are in my future so best to get my own tool. Thanks again.

quote:

Originally posted by TheQuestionGuy:

quote:

Originally posted by y-not:
Where in Fl. are you? I have one that will work Email me if you are near central FL.

Thanks thats a generous offer, but I see Pinellas Park, Fl is on the west coast and I am on the East by the Space Center. I am debating about jumping on that tool from Amazon for $150. One person asked if it works with the P320 and there is a response indicating Yes. Plus, the descriptions reads "Works with ALL semi auto pistols". If it fails I will indeed return it. A local guy charges $65 to remove/add sights. If I replace these two I would just about break even. Odds are more pistol purchases and sight replacements are in my future so best to get my own tool. Thanks again.

I'll be at a car show at a winery in northern Ft Pierce on Sunday afternoon. If you want to come down with your slide, I can bring my pusher and see if it fits.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommydogg:

I'll be at a car show at a winery in northern Ft Pierce on Sunday afternoon. If you want to come down with your slide, I can bring my pusher and see if it fits.

I am fairly confident it will fit because after posting I read the comments and someone did specifically ask if it works with the P320 to which there is a response to say Yes.
Also, the product does indicate it works with ALL semi-auto pistols. If it doesn't I will send it back. If it works then this item may come in handy more than once and will eventually pay for itself. If it does work it will definitely be a great tool to have.

I was not familiar with that Wheeler tool, but it looks pretty good. It’s very similar in design and operation to the MGW.

The most obvious difference between the MGW and Wheeler is that the former uses individual “shoes” for different guns that fit into the slide rails to clamp the slide to the bottom of the tool. That probably provides a little more stability to the process than the friction of the top and side clamps of the Wheeler. I suspect the Wheeler clamps are all faced with some sort of plastic or nylon to prevent marring the slide finish; I would be interested to know if they allow any movement of the slide. The MGW shoes are steel and can be screwed down very tightly to ensure that the slide doesn’t move. The shoes are an extra purchase, though, and add to the cost of the tool.

Based on what I could see in the video, the top clamp of the Wheeler straddles the slide, contacts it at one or two points, and should work with different shapes. The top clamp of the MGW contacts the center of the slide at one point and likewise works with any slide shape.

The calibration markings on the Wheeler are a nice touch. If it works well, being half the price of the MGW is attractive.

I own the Sight-Pro as well. Generally a great tool in that I can solidly lock down the slide of most any popular gun prior to pushing its sights, of course presuming that MGW makes a compatible shoe clamp for its slide. Alas, I do own several guns that aren't serviceable with this tool, and I've encountered a few at work as well with customer guns.

Its pusher block I don't particularly trust for the Springfield XD/XDm line (shoes are available for those). When attempting to move a Trijicon HD front on a XD slide, all I succeeded in doing was snapping the sight in two when the blade sheared off. When the replacement front sight arrived I ended up using our old dedicated MGW tool for Springfields which has an additional narrow 'fork' machined into its pusher block, specifically sized for moving front sights while keeping rotational torque forces on the sight blade to a relative minimum by providing some measure of backing support on the opposite (non-pushed) face of the sight. Still it was a pain to get on (I hate working with Springfields), but at least the stupid MIM sight housing of the HD didn't snap apart the second time around.

Would be nice if MGW at least provide a replacement pusher block for the Sight-Pro that did the same thing for front blades. They already make a replacement block for angled rear sights like those commonly found on Glocks, so I know such a solution is possible.

EDIT: I've been looking at the Wheeler tool as well. It seems more "universal" than the MGW Sight-Pro in that it is isn't tied to using gun-specific components to lock down a slide. However I also own a B&J universal tool that appears to operate similarly to the Wheeler, and I must admit that the former is nowhere near as capable in keeping a subject slide from moving around as the MGW Sight-Pro is. I'd still like to try the Wheeler; I may have to get one for the shop in order to do so. If nothing else we could use it and I can take my Sight-Pro home.

I like the idea of the shoe plates on the MGW. I have used my Wheeler only on 1911s so far. The tightest one I have come across so far was the rear sight on a Kimber CDPII. They say those are pretty tight and it handled it with ease. I don't know on the tightness scale how the Kimber compares to a SA XDM, but I want to try it soon. I want to cerakote the slide on my 5.25 XDM soon. I put the slide on the tool this morning and it fits. Are both sights tight on a XDM? All of the clamps are steel and not coated. If you use one, put some good tape on your slide to protect it.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommydogg:
All of the clamps are steel and not coated.

Referring now to the Wheeler, I presume? Hmmm ….

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by Tommydogg:
All of the clamps are steel and not coated.

Referring now to the Wheeler, I presume? Hmmm ….

Yes, the Wheeler, I didn't think twice about it, just laid some masking tape along the slide and nary a scratch resulted.

quote:

Originally posted by soggy_spinout:
I own the Sight-Pro as well. Generally a great tool in that I can solidly lock down the slide of most any popular gun prior to pushing its sights, of course presuming that MGW makes a compatible shoe clamp for its slide. Alas, I do own several guns that aren't serviceable with this tool, and I've encountered a few at work as well with customer guns.

Its pusher block I don't particularly trust for the Springfield XD/XDm line (shoes are available for those). When attempting to move a Trijicon HD front on a XD slide, all I succeeded in doing was snapping the sight in two when the blade sheared off.

Not meaning to presume, but the MGW Sight Pro does have an adjustable nylon block that contacts the top of the slide, keeps the sight pusher a few thousands above the slide to keep from marring it, and they recommend you do not (need to) adjust it except in extreme circumstances. Using the included allen wrench, you can raise that block so the "pusher" part gets closer to the slide. Of course you don't want the pusher block to mar the slide, but you can get it down into a more full contact with the front sight. Have you tried that?
 

Regarding the MGW Universal tool.

Fell into a deal on a complete tool along with a dozen adapter plates at SHOT Show two years back for $300.

I have changed sights on at least a dozen pistols for friends and charged them all $20.

Close to paid for, considering all the sights I replaced on my old autos.

It works PERFECTLY. It may be THE BEST tool out there. I like tools that work perfectly for the task required of them.

I guess one gets what they pay for.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
The MGW Sight-Pro is an excellent universal sight tool in my experience. It’s massive and expensive, but it works well, and in no small part because of how it holds the slide. The slide goes onto a “shoe” that’s specific to the rails of a particular gun, and there are clamps that engage the slide from the top and sides: the slide doesn’t move or twist.

I haven’t had mine long, but have done two SIG Classic-line pistols, two Glocks, and a P320, all front and rear. It even comes standard with an angled pusher to fit rear Glock (and others, I believe) sights.

MGW cautions that it’s not guaranteed to move all sights; some might be too tight. I’ve used mine, though, on some very tight SIG sights with no problem.

I hesitated before buying one, but now wish I had had it long ago.

I agree. The Sight Pro's are solid and a very capable sight tool.

I bought mine a few years ago and have yet to run across a pistol slide brand that can't be done, ( even Springfield Armory, though they can be quite a bit tougher, some extra leverage on the handle always finished the job. )

I found that in a pinch, a pistol's slide can still be installed and sights removed/installed, even without a shoe.

quote:

Originally posted by ARMT Guy:
I found that in a pinch, a pistol's slide can still be installed and sights removed/installed, even without a shoe.

Thanks for that tip. I would not have thought of that possibility.

I have an MGW sight pro and have used it (with the pistol specific shoes) on Glocks, Sig P series, S&W M&P, and Browning Hi Power.

Just a fantastic tool. Seems expensive when purchasing. Once I used it, I though it was a fabulous value.

I've 6 or so adaptor shoes for it to date. Put it all together in a kit with shoes, loctite and the tool, along with the Glock front sight driver.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by ARMT Guy:
I found that in a pinch, a pistol's slide can still be installed and sights removed/installed, even without a shoe.

Thanks for that tip. I would not have thought of that possibility.

No problem.

At the range I worked at years ago, I'd talked them into buying a Sight Pro.

They were still in the process of ordering additional shoes, so we felt that we were initially limited on what pistols we could replace sights on.

On day, a customer had a new SIG 938 that he wanted to adjust the sights a bit on and asked if we could do so without resorting to a hammer and punch like other shops around did. I knew we didn't have a shoe for the 938, ( I believe MGW hadn't introduced one yet at that time ) but looking at the Sight Pro, it looked like I could get away without a shoe. I carefully gave it a try and it worked.