How -NOT- to install an SP101 front sight

[Tony_the_tiger]

I had a frustrating experience installing a sight on a Ruger Sp101 fixed sight so I thought I would share here. I'll preface this by saying I am not proud of myself, but I hope someone can learn from this since most stories are stories of success, and not of reluctant success or near failure. If you are not mechanically inclined, it is best to go slow with these things or consult with a professional gunsmith.

I had a 1/16" punch, a padded vice, and a hammer.

I started by aligning the punch with the pin that holds the sight in and gently tapping. Everything went great until about halfway through, when the punch stopped moving.

Then I noticed that the punch had bent! Furthermore, it was stuck in the hole I guess I wasn't as gentle as I thought. The punch appears to be pretty soft metal.

Here would have been a good time to stop and think, but instead I thought why not hammer the pin back in and see if it can punch the punch out... thats when the original pin broke

Eventually I had to get two hammers, and use the hammer claw to grasp the punch and the other hammer to apply force to the claw and rip the punch out.



Permanent damage where metal has been displaced near the front sight - the scratches can be buffed out though.

I got a small nail and was able to punch the broken pin out of the slot. In the future i'll not mess with it at all, or use a smaller punch since the dimensions on mine appear to be inconsistent.

Finally, the original front sight appeared to be stuck in the hole. I got some small pliers and wiggled it out violently, scratching up the steel really unprofessionally in the process :banghead:



Closer view of metal displacement from the punch getting stuck and hammered to remove.

Now, the good news:



Unless you are looking at it in closeup, the damage is not apparent.

It appears that the damage to the metal is limited to the area above the pin. Fortunately, Ruger has built the Sp101 with generous spacing between the pin and the barrel. From what I could tell, no displacement occurred below the pin and the bore itself retains its integrity.

The new front sight, a Gemini Customs Small Wonder green fiber-optic, was a tight fit in the new hole. I put a drop of blue loctite in the sight slot just to be sure. Additionally, the pin hole itself was not gauged out and the new pin had a nice, tight fit, which was gently hammered into place (gently, this time, for real).

I got the sight installed without further issues, and the pre-drilled hole in the site lined up with the pin exactly. However, the sight appears ever so slightly tilted diagonally to the left. It is some consolation at least to think that this was not a result of my installation. The fiber optic insert does appear to align correctly, but will have to be tested for accuracy.



It's a nice sight, despite my personal ineptitude at installing it. There appears to be a slight tilt but the fiber optic is centered.

I intend to buff out the scratches with some JB bore paste or some fine steel wool. Most of the damage, including the displacement of metal, appears to be cosmetic, as the pin itself is nice and tight, and the geometry of the bore is unchanged. Luckily, Ruger built the SP101 to be resistant to this type of abuse.

I was pretty hard on myself for doing this after the punch got stuck, but again, I wanted to post here as a warning to others.

Two questions for those of you reading:

a: do you think the damage is an issue beyond cosmetics? The barrel appears unchanged and the fixed sight is nice and tight. The metal displacement is pretty ugly, but i'm more concerned about function.

b: do you think the tilt of the new sight is unreasonable? This might be due to tolerances in the sight itself or the slot for the sight, or perhaps even barrel indexing. The fiber optic does appear to be centered correctly, but I'll have to test for accuracy.

 

[Salmoneye]

"Tight" remains to be seen after firing for a while...

As for the cosmetics, Flitz will work also...

It looks like the sight is 'plastic'?

If so, I suspect that the tilt is due to the mould (or unmoulding hot)...

 

[Tony_the_tiger]

Sight appears to be Delrin or metal.

 

[BSA1]

I think you already have the answer to your question but to me it is big deal.

 

[dagger dog]

There are 2 types of punches, one is a gradual tapered 1/16" starter punch, that is used to start the pin moving, once it is started and there is a hole, then the drift a straight sided 1/16" punch is used to finish removing the pin.

If you try to start a pin moving with a drift punch you will most likely wind up bending the punch. You should always use a bench block, a special contour block designed to support the barrel, it also has holes placed in strategic areas to let pins through when displaced by the drift punch.

 

[Tony_the_tiger]

Thanks for the tip. Once that punch bent it was all downhill. I will shoot it this weekend and clean it up and go from there.

 

[dagger dog]

Yeah you live and learn, just a good thing you were working on your own.

If there is a way to bugger up a gun I've done it !

 

[Cocked & Locked]

Maybe you could draw file the barrel flat on top and remover the hump...not aggressively of course.

 

[Tony_the_tiger]

I'm just happy that Ruger seems to have anticipated me here and that the metal surrounding the bore is undamaged. If the sight is accurate and stays on after testing POA/POI and function I am going to ride on and keep it in use as a sidearm with character.

 

[2ndamd]

A little wear on a SP101 gives it character.
No worries on your questions.
Looks like it is ready for duty.
Shoot 'em up

 

[Fiv3r]

If it makes you feel any better, all this talk of sp101s inspired me to pick one up a used floating around for a good price at Gander Mountain (if you can believe it).

Always wanted one of these little beasties. Kinda in love with it, I think.

 

[David E]

Seems like you could use a metal block and tap the displaced metal back flush.

 

[Jim K]

If that pin is rounded on the ends, the proper punch to use is a cup tip punch, which has a concave end so it won't slip or flatten the contour of the pin. Brownells has them.

Jim

 

[Tony_the_tiger]

I might try that but my wife suggested that I think about what I did really hard before getting the tools out again

 

[ColtPythonElite]

I reckon I will just keep my stock sight. After 18 years of holster, the finish is pretty worn on the sight but it still works fine for me.

 

[sgt127]

Small ball peen hammer. Polish the face until it looks like a mirror, absolutly NO scratches. Slowly, and DEAD flat, tap the metal back down. Use grey Scotchbright pad to blend the finish back. By hand, gently turn a drill bit of the right size through the hole to clean it up if the pin doesn't fit.

Or...don't worry about it and shoot the crap out of it.

 

[Tony_the_tiger]

Haha, thanks. I have a friend who is a bit more experienced in these matters and promised to fix it up real nice. I think I will learn these skills on something with less cool factor like an old chair or pan. I'll report back in a few weeks.

 

[788Ham]

Hey Tony, don't fret the really small things in life, you could have mashed the muzzle too, but you didn't ! Resign yourself to the fact that things happen, you'd mentioned the bent drift punch, if it shoots straight, blaze away. Do those sights come in any colors beside the blue you obtained? I was curious about orange or red. Keep your chin up, don't tell the wife where your tools are.

 

[Tony_the_tiger]

Red and Green, black standard, or gold bead. Thanks for the support! https://www.geminicustoms.com/store/?slug=index&cPath=22

 

[BSA1]

Just a thought about how to turn a lemon into lemonade.

Remove the sight blade and have a dovetail notch cut by a experienced machinest. This is a desirable custom mod that gives you the option of switching front sight blades easily with a brass punch.

At the same time all of your bubba scars can be polished out.

 

[Bush Pilot]

You should have practiced on a friend's gun before doing your own.

 

[MrBorland]

I had a 1/16" punch, a padded vice, and a hammer.


...Permanent damage where metal has been displaced near the front sight...


...The new front sight, a Gemini Customs Small Wonder green fiber-optic, was a tight fit in the new hole.

I just had this very conversation the other day with someone who's done a lot of this kind off work. I'm told the pin & hole is actually a wee bit smaller than 1/16". Being so close to the top of the barrel, use of a 1/16" punch will almost certainly bulge the top of the barrel and make for a sloppy pin fit during re-installation.

And the fit of the new sight shouldn't, on it's own, be über-tight. It shouldn't just drop in, but it can be stoned a bit if it takes a great deal of effort to seat it. It may be sitting diagonally because the bottom needed a wee bit removed to sit flat.

 

[Tony_the_tiger]

Excellent suggestions. When it comes to gunsmithing, I live by the motto that if you can't do it yourself, pay someone to do it I'll let you know what the finished product looks like after this questionable start.

 

[herkyguy]

i did something similar installing a trijicon tritium front sight on my SP101 years ago. it left a few scratches and the one i installed was canted slightly which drove me nuts so i ended up purchasing a second one and doing it right after i had screwed up the first one.

lesson learned. take your time.

and you're not the first or last to ding up a gun. luckily it's a ruger and it will still go bang even with some cosmetic damage.

 

[Armored farmer]

Tony the Tiger:
Don't kick yourself too hard. Those that never have a screw-up... have never done anything out of their circle of expertise.
I'm like you..I want to replace my factory sp101 front sight with something more visible so thanks for posting.