Peening of steel sights when installed?

[mgmorden]

Hey guys: quick question - I just installed a set of Ameriglo sights on my Ruger SR9. I didn't really like the sight picture of the original ones so and they were the only source of plain black fixed sights for the SR9 I could find.

Anyways, I set about installing them. Took out some fine grit paper and sanded the bottom, trying the sights every now and then to make sure they'd slide in. Both sights were installed with a brass punch.

The front sight however, peened a bit on the edges when I put it in and took it back out. Doesn't really affect functionality I guess but I didn't think brass was supposed to be able to do that to steel.

Is it just a weak steel? Did the punch "compress" over multiple uses (I've installed a few other sets of sights with the same punch before)? Just curious.

I'm at work at the moment but can probably get a pic if needed when I get home.

 

[Schwing]

We may not be on the same page as to what you are seeing but it might just be the brass etching from the punch onto the sight. I see this regularly with the soft brass punches I use. A little magic eraser cures it.

 

[mgmorden]

No I got that too but was able to take it off without much issue (I used a q-tip and some cold blue and it came off). What surprised me was that the edges of the sight peened a bit from the punch impacting it. It rounded off the edges there.

A picture may do better than my description. I'll try to get one posted this evening.

 

[TNBilly]

You're making the perfect example of a mis-conception that a softer material, in this case brass, can not dent or deform a harder material, in this case steel. The amount the steel will deform is much smaller than the brass but with a healthy hit it will occur. Most notably it'll occur along edges. It's also why a push is better than a "hit". The momentary forces of an impact are higher than we think sometimes!

 

[Onmilo]

This is the reason screw driven sight installation tools were created.

 

[Jaymo]

Whether or not brass can damage steel depends on how hard the brass alloy is compared to how soft the steel alloy.
If you have a hard brass alloy and a soft steel alloy, it sure can damage the steel.
If the brass is work-hardened, even more so.

I can give you a great example of brass peening steel-the ejector in my ATI 1911.
At the end of the first and only shooting session, my ejector was mushroomed badly enough that the slide would not go into battery.devil
I had a devil of a time filing the peened top of the ejector to allow slide removal. Not a lot of room to stroke the needle file.

 

[Niland]

Brass can definitely damage steel. Even soft brass on hardened steel. Don't believe me, put a couple of rounds into a steel plate sometime. As TNBilly states, impact forces are cumulative based on area of contact and force applied. Those momentary forces can be huge when concentrated to the tip of a punch...or bullet.

 

[mgmorden]

Thanks for the info guys. I went ahead and removed the sight again then took a diamond file and squared off the edges again before reinstalling (and trying to be very light with my strikes ). Had to use some cold blue to refinish the edges of the sight but in the end it looks a lot better IMHO. I didn't like the "chewed up" look the edges had.

 

[agent109]

They make sight pusher for that! Just saying!

 

[Jaymo]

The sight pusher I want is expensive.
For the number of guns on which I'd like to install different sights, I'm better off paying the gunsmith to do it.

 

[Onmilo]

The sight pusher I want is expensive.
For the number of guns on which I'd like to install different sights, I'm better off paying the gunsmith to do it.

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