S&W 686 Rear Sight Installation

[CaptHank]

Okay, Guys....

While at the range today, the rear leaf sight popped up. I can see a stud protruding into the channel, but nothing to hold it in place. I would also assume that a spring of some sort is also missing.

Would anyone have a schematic of the rear sight installation or suggestions of what parts I will need to fix it.

Thanks in advance....

 

[earplug]

There is a little top hat shaped piece that fits into the slot milled into the top strap. The piece is threaded to fit the elevation screw. The sight base works as a big leaf spring. May be able to find the part on Evilbay or Gunbroker. If you have to contact S&W for the part, might as well order a new sight screw, , yoke screw/retainer and a strain screw. shipping will cost about the same.

 

[earplug]

Found on Ebay. Don't forget to use loktite on the tiny little screw that holds down the sight rib.

Sell now
Smith & Wesson rear sight elevation screw fits K,L&N frame gun parts #071800000

 

[CaptHank]

This is what was left...

 

[CaptHank]

Earplug, thanks for the reply.

 

[straightshooterjake]

I had a similar problem, and when I repair things I make detailed notes. I don't have time now to add many details, but my notes are at the end of this post.

I think the part you need is the elevation stud. What appears to be the elevation screw when you look at the sight is actually called the elevation nut. If you do remove the elevation nut, there is a very small spring and plunger that you have to be careful not to lose.

My notes are below. You can find details about the part numbers through google. Hope the formatting is readable. I use note outlining software and it comes out a little funny when I paste it here.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Repaired rear sight
=====================

1 Summary
~~~~~~~~~~~

The elevation screw on the rear sight of the model 19 got stripped.

2 Parts
~~~~~~~~~

2.1 Elevation Nut
-------------------

Smith & Wesson Rear Sight Elevation Nut S&W All Models

From Midway:
Product #: 257547 Smith & Wesson #: 051020000


2.2 Elevation Stud
--------------------

Smith & Wesson Rear Sight Elevation Stud S&W 36, 14 to 19, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 57, 66, 67, 325PD, 329PD, 500, 586, 610, 620, 624, 625, 627, 629, 648

From Midway:
Product #: 433927 Smith & Wesson #: 071800000


2.3 All other parts saved
---------------------------

I was able to re-use all the other parts in the old sight.


3 Bent rear sight body to reduce tension
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The body of the rear sight is really a leaf spring which pushes up. Tension on this spring is what holds the sight up against the elevation screw. On this sight, the upward tension is very strong and I suspect that is why the elevation screw got stripped. I carefully bent the sight to slightly change its shape and reduce the upward tension.

 

[CaptHank]

Jake.... Thanks for the reply. I ordered, said parts, yesterday. Thanks for the info on the leaf spring, I will do the same.

 

[straightshooterjake]

CaptHank, glad you have the right parts ordered. I would not exactly recommend bending the rear sight leaf to reduce the tension. The info I sent was my own notes about one specific gun. I have not heard of other people needing to make that adjustment. So I would recommend just paying attention to the tension and only adjusting it if necessary.

However, on my gun, the curve in the rear sight leaf was excessive and there was a lot of tension on the elevation nut and stud. I suspect the tension is why the original parts failed, so it needed fixing.

Good luck with the repair.

 

[CaptHank]

I tried to apply hand pressure to the leaf, I met plenty of resistance. I will install with its normal bend and go from there. I did find an exploded view of the rear sight parts on the internet. Very helpful.

Thanks again for your assistance.

 

[CaptHank]

Parts arrived today, I'm back in business.

Thanks again for your assistance, Jake!