Replacing 1911 front sight
- Thread starter Petrol & Powder
- Start date
CZ93X62
Official forum enigma
The Elliason rear sight on my Series-80 Gold Cup is a great sight for sighting with--but durability is not its strong suit. Those weak-sistered elevation detent springs give out pretty reliably every 800-1000 rounds of full-potential ammunition (230 grain bullets at 850-875 FPS). The pistol has a 16# recoil spring, and remains accurate--but the sights don't hold up. I ordered a second KenSight Elliason plagiarism a few days back to replace the present KenSight, they aren't expensive. I'm not sure what other sight would fit on the Gold Cup's machined sight recess. The real solution is a dedicated slide with dovetail slots for both sights, and I might have that done and fitted. That Elliason sight is a PITA, really--pinned in place loosely in the front and fragile in the back half. Maybe it was meant for use with 185 grain SWCs at 775-800 FPS. GMBTA.
Heresy alert, up front--adjustable sights on service autopistols are like off-roading with a Honda Civic.
Heresy alert, up front--adjustable sights on service autopistols are like off-roading with a Honda Civic.
Last edited:
358156 hp
At large, whereabouts unknown.
Elliasons are pitiful if you shoot service level loads. If you are open to machine work on your slide you could go with a Wichita rear, or go with a Bomar cut. Dawson offers a number of replacement rear sights for a BoMar cut, Harrison Design offers a great looking fixed rear sight for a BoMar cut as well. Kensight offers a "BoMar" replacement already, but you have already sampled their quality offers. My standard advice for sight milling applies double for your project 
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The Kensight on my Goldcup has had both the elevation and windage screw break. I have a good 10K rounds on it but I would expect a sight to hold up far better than that.
I may well look at a replacement rear sight. Would prefer not to do any milling to get one to fit but it is what it is,
I may well look at a replacement rear sight. Would prefer not to do any milling to get one to fit but it is what it is,
358156 hp
At large, whereabouts unknown.
Wichita Sights- http://wichitaarms.com/sights/
Dawsons BoMars- https://dawsonprecision.com/search.php?search_query="bomar"§ion=product
Harrison Extreme Service Fixed Rears- https://shop.harrisoncustom.com/rear-sights-for-deluxe-bomar-cut-baer-etc
I'm astonished that I can't find an Elliason replacement. I do see that Dawson lists replacement screws for BoMars. That's good for guys like me who still have them.
Dawsons BoMars- https://dawsonprecision.com/search.php?search_query="bomar"§ion=product
Harrison Extreme Service Fixed Rears- https://shop.harrisoncustom.com/rear-sights-for-deluxe-bomar-cut-baer-etc
I'm astonished that I can't find an Elliason replacement. I do see that Dawson lists replacement screws for BoMars. That's good for guys like me who still have them.
Petrol & Powder
Well-Known Member
UPDATE.
Although the gun itself isn't very valuable, it has a lot of value to me because it was a gift from friends.
I elected to purchase Novak sights and have them do the work. I sent the slide off and just got it back.
Novak Designs Inc. did an outstanding job !
I am very pleased with their work and would recommend them to my friends.
Not only did they cut the dove tails perfectly and do a top notch job* .........fitting the new sights; they refinished the slide. Now the slide was flat black to start with, so it wasn't like they needed to polish anything, but they still did a great job. When I pulled the slide out of the box, the first thing I noticed was the worn surfaces were finished (locking lug cuts, breach face, feed rib, firing pin stop, etc. ) They clearly refinished the entire slide. That was probably overkill and I'm sure they could have just cold blued around the cuts, but it was a nice touch.
AND, they packaged the slide inside of a square plastic telescoping tube and added Styrofoam padding inside the cardboard box.
Attention to detail like that makes the difference between an adequate job and a great job.
I could have spent less money and if it had been some other pistol, I probably would have spent less. But it was worth every penny.
Two big thumbs up for Novak Designs in Parkersburg, WV.
* OK, that was a bad pun, even by my standards - but they did do good work !
Although the gun itself isn't very valuable, it has a lot of value to me because it was a gift from friends.
I elected to purchase Novak sights and have them do the work. I sent the slide off and just got it back.
Novak Designs Inc. did an outstanding job !
I am very pleased with their work and would recommend them to my friends.
Not only did they cut the dove tails perfectly and do a top notch job*
.........fitting the new sights; they refinished the slide. Now the slide was flat black to start with, so it wasn't like they needed to polish anything, but they still did a great job. When I pulled the slide out of the box, the first thing I noticed was the worn surfaces were finished (locking lug cuts, breach face, feed rib, firing pin stop, etc. ) They clearly refinished the entire slide. That was probably overkill and I'm sure they could have just cold blued around the cuts, but it was a nice touch.AND, they packaged the slide inside of a square plastic telescoping tube and added Styrofoam padding inside the cardboard box.
Attention to detail like that makes the difference between an adequate job and a great job.
I could have spent less money and if it had been some other pistol, I probably would have spent less. But it was worth every penny.
Two big thumbs up for Novak Designs in Parkersburg, WV.
* OK, that was a bad pun, even by my standards - but they did do good work !