My front sight flew off.

[z8894]

Went to the range today and after about 30 rounds I had trouble picking up the front sight on a follow up shot. After a closer look, I had no front sight! I found it on the floor about 12 feet behind me. I called Kahr and they said, no problem they will send me a new one. Mine was a Night Sight though and they said I would need to send the slide back for that. The night sight is kind of a nice feature but in normal light I think I could see the regular sight better. I've got other guns with night sights if I feel I need it. Besides I didn't want to send the slide back and wait. I asked them to send the standard sight. I stuck the night sight back on with red Loc-tite. It will be for range only till the new site gets here. Anybody else ever had a front sight fly off while shooting?
I always bring 2 or more guns to the range so was able to keep on shooting :D.

[RolandD]

Would have been a good time to practice point shooting. :cool:

[topgun1953]

You had trouble "picking it up"? I'm glad you finally did though!😄

[CJB]

If it flew off, the red loctite will probably not hold it

What you need to do is get a SHARP prick punch, and a block of wood. Hammer the sight, base up (upside down that is) into the wood. Then take your prick punch and raise up a good half dozen dimples of metal on the underside (now exposed) sight base. That will insure a tight fit. Then clean the dovetail, clean the sight base (alcohol, naphtha, acetone...), apply the loctite and drive 'er home. That should hold.

[z8894]

Thanks CJB. On the CW9 the front sight is plastic and pinned in. The back post broke when it went flying off so it will have to replaced. Epoxy might hold but I don't think I would trust it.

[CJB]

Well ya didn't say that...

God is telling you something. He's saying to get your slide dovetailed!

[z8894]

Well ya didn't say that...

God is telling you something. He's saying to get your slide dovetailed!

He either said that or "Stay away from plastic sights" . I don't hear as well as I used to, just ask my wife.

[CJB]

Actually, He said "Go tell that boy to get his slide dovtailed or I'm gonna open up a fambly size can o' whoopass on that sucker!"

I paraphrased.

[gb6491]

Went to the range today and after about 30 rounds I had trouble picking up the front sight on a follow up shot. After a closer look, I had no front sight! I found it on the floor about 12 feet behind me. I called Kahr and they said, no problem they will send me a new one. Mine was a Night Sight though and they said I would need to send the slide back for that. The night sight is kind of a nice feature but in normal light I think I could see the regular sight better. I've got other guns with night sights if I feel I need it. Besides I didn't want to send the slide back and wait. I asked them to send the standard sight. I stuck the night sight back on with red Loc-tite. It will be for range only till the new site gets here. Anybody else ever had a front sight fly off while shooting?
I always bring 2 or more guns to the range so was able to keep on shooting :D.
I've not had a Kahr front sight come off, but sometime back there were some folks that had issues with Trijicon front sight for CW/CM pistols leaving their pistols.
I'm of the opinion that happened because the sights were not installed properly. I believe there were two areas of concern in regards to this.
One, the hole on the inside of the slide was not countersunk enough, leaving the screw head too high (the barrel will hit/stress it).
http://i53.tinypic.com/2num63t.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/24x2l35.jpg
Two, the posts on the front sight have a slight flare where they meet the sight. If the holes in the top of the slide are not big enough or countersunk to accommodate this flare, I believe folks were over torquing the screw in an effort to bring the sight flush with the slide and thus damaged the sight post.
http://i53.tinypic.com/14uc29d.jpg
http://i51.tinypic.com/o1wqs.jpg

As an alternative to the Kahr's plain plastic front sight, I'd suggest looking at the metal one that Dawson offers: https://dawsonprecision.com/kahr-cw-cm-black-front-sights/
FWIW, the Dawson sight installs by flaring the ends of the sight posts and they come with a flaring tool.

Regards,
Greg

[z8894]

Thanks gb6491. I wish had paid more attention to the sight before it came off. The sight sat flush to the top of the slide. The screw on the back post was slightly counter sunk. No flair on the front post. The screw remained in the slide when the sight came off but it did not go all the way through the slide and in to the body of the sight as I expected it would have. I know it gets a good jolt with every shot but I still am kind of amazed it broke and by the way it broke. If the Dawson sight had a white dot on it I would have one on order now. I suppose I could get it anyway and paint it white.


http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j38/keith_sweat1/0514161527b_zpskd8e29fq.jpg (http://s76.photobucket.com/user/keith_sweat1/media/0514161527b_zpskd8e29fq.jpg.html)

[gb6491]

... If the Dawson sight had a white dot on it I would have one on order now. I suppose I could get it anyway and paint it white.

They do have one with the dot: https://dawsonprecision.com/kahr-cw-cm-white-dot-front-sights/
Still, it might be cheaper to do it yourself. I've done that on Ruger front sights:
http://i41.tinypic.com/21ex02c.jpg
Regards,
Greg

[RonW]

I've replaced the polymer front sighst on my CW40 & CM9 with the Trijicon night sight from Kahr a couple yrs ago and to date they are on nice & tight... You guys, when replacing your polymer front sight with a metal sight from kahr I suggest cleaning out the holes with a Q-tip & rubbing alcohol & using a xacto knife scrape away any remaining plastic residue inside the holes.. The front sight has two pins with the rear facing pin threaded for a mini machine screw... I used the red loctite that came with my sights & used it generously inside, outside, on the screw & inside the thread and tightened it down. Cleanup afterwards was a cinch with a rubbing alcohol soaked Q-tip, set aside for 24 hrs. and 2 yrs later, still nice & tight...

All my CW series pistols & future purchases get the front sight upgrade...

[z8894]

Thanks RonW. My CW9 came new with the Trijicon night sight installed by Kahr. It looked fine, I never noticed a problem till it wasn't there any more. Kahr is sending me the standard front sight so I'll put it on for now. I may replace it with another Trijicon or the Dawson 3 dot sights in the future. I've really enjoyed shooting it and will have it back in action soon.

[z8894]

Just to wrap this thread up. Kahr sent the standard sight just as they said they would. There were no instructions, just the sight. I stuck it on and touched both posts lightly with a Weller 40w soldering iron turned all the way up with the smallest tip I had. The post melted like butter and when cooled made a very solid fit. I shot another problem free 100 rounds through it this morning. I suspect the problem with the original night sight was that the screw had been over tightened on installation. I've got a holster and another magazine on the way. All is well.

[gb6491]

Always good to read that "All is well", thanks for the followup!
Regards,
Greg