Cannot get XD sights to come out

[Lammchop93]

I am trying to install some night sights in my Springfield XD45 compact. The stock sights are just fitted with pressure. No pins or screws. I cannot get these things to budge. I am using a punch and a small hammer while the slide is being held in a padded vice. I am hitting with PLENTY of force, and they won't move the slightest bit.

Anybody have any secrets?

 

[SubUrbanCamo317]

I had a compact XDM 45, i was told that they ususally have to be cut out. Springfield puts them in place with a hellaton of pressure.

 

[Lammchop93]

I had a compact XDM 45, i was told that they ususally have to be cut out. Springfield puts them in place with a hellaton of pressure.

Would a dremel be the best way to do this?

 

[SubUrbanCamo317]

Would a dremel be the best way to do this?

I never personally tried to remove mine. If you have enough cutting discs or what ever you choose to use. Go for it. I was a pansy about it and decided not to mess with mine. If in doubt ask a local GS or LGS with gun service. Thats the best advice i can give you, also check XDForum.com. If you Google search it you should find it.

 

[Prometheus]

Pound them out. Do a google search to confirm which direction they have to come out (and ut the ones in).

IIRC the front and rear pound out in different directions.

I did mine myself back 6~ years ago. I bent a steel punch getting them out.

Forget the padded vice. Put it on the floor, and wail on it with everything you have. Make sure you are hitting in the proper direction though.

Be advised, you better have tough new sights going in, they may break trying to get them into proper place.

I put in merolight and I thought I was going to break them. 6 years later, still going strong. I was shocked how much abuse they took that night. Let alone 6 years of abuse on top of it.

Good luck.

 

[Barista]

Get a sight pusher! I believe the M&P sight pusher works with the XD series as well. If you were closer I would lend you mine...

 

[downzero]

Make sure it's tight in the vise and get yourself a bigger hammer. My Kimber was the same way. It WILL come out. put a piece of brass over your punch to protect the finish and go to town.

I don't buy that it will need to be cut out or that a sight pusher will necessarily work, because mine was so tight that it would have almost certainly broken a sight pusher. Cutting it out seems like it would leave a serious possibility of causing damage to the slide.

Just beat it. It'll come out if it was put in with a press, but remember, it must be very tight in the vise, because if it moves, the force you're putting on it by beating it is just going into that movement instead of the parts.

 

[chizzle]

I had an XD and it was the same way. I used a normal sized hammer and a 3/8" diameter punch. They were tough, but they did eventually come out. Just make sure when you install the new ones, that you file them to fit a little more closely than the factory...

 

[Lammchop93]

I've already started cutting them out. Front sight has been removed and the night sight has been installed. Moving on to the back sight now.


Edit: Now they are both done. Just cut them right off with a dremel too. Worked great!! Thanks INGO. I just scared the crap out of me to keep beating it with a hammer. Cutting was much faster and I felt better doing it.

(we really need a gunsmithing section here on INGO)

 

[danimal]

I was about to do the Dremel route myself with my XD-S a couple weeks ago. Front sight wouldn't bulge one bit. Soaked the dovetail with some Kroil, threw the slide in the freezer overnight, popped right out the next morning.

 

[KokomoDave]

I bought a MGW sight tool to install new ones after fitting. The new ones from the factory are installed using a hydraulic press. I use a special piece of teflon that is the same contour of the slide cause the danged slide is offset. Great gun but bummer to install sights. I took a brad setter and cold ground it to fit the dovetails. I use a 32 ounce ball pein Vaughan hammer to move things along. I have a 5" old school Craftsman vice mounted to a sturdy work table that is secured into the studs of my work barn. I may have went a little over-board on the hammer but it takes a LOT to get them to move. I also apply Kroil creeping oil to the dovetails before going to town with the hammer.

...or I could just dremel them off and run a chance of ruining the finish on the slide thereby attracting corrosion.

It takes a lot of patience to work on anything mechanical. I have more than once had to walk away from a project to return later to finish it right after I had gotten over myself for being impatient and calmed the heck down. I work as a millwright by trade and learned by my old mentors not to rush things or you may end up doing it four or five times or even worse...getting hurt. I know. Ask to see my forearm sometime! I got scars to prove what a dumb butt I am!!

 

[SubUrbanCamo317]

I've already started cutting them out. Front sight has been removed and the night sight has been installed. Moving on to the back sight now.


Edit: Now they are both done. Just cut them right off with a dremel too. Worked great!! Thanks INGO. I just scared the crap out of me to keep beating it with a hammer. Cutting was much faster and I felt better doing it.

(we really need a gunsmithing section here on INGO)

Good to know that my advice worked!

 

[jtmason15]

I had the same problem but I was informed of an ingenious way to get it out. Take the Slide off and remove the barrel and spring. Leave the slide in the freezer all night and in the morning press the sights out. The cold makes the steel on the slide open up and it is easier to press them out. THat way you dont take any chances on marring up the finish on the gun or more permanent damage. I would definitely never cut them out. That is just a bad way of doing it.

 

[ChevyMan]

Just purchased an XDM and having a local GS install the new night sights for 35.00. I have heard to many horror stories about breaking the new sights putting them in due to the close tollerances and needed pressure.