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View Full Version : A new product: NcSTAR Rear Sight Installation Tool



wyntrout
08-19-2016, 11:57 PM
I took some pictures and tried a few things with the new sight pusher Friday evening. My bottle of Bordeaux from dinner is about gone, so I thought I would post my observations and opinion on this new product. :D

$49.99 delivered... found the listing on Amazon.

It seems to be sturdy... heavy duty, though the frame is anodized aluminum instead of steel.

First off I noticed a few things. The part that actually pushed the sight is not small enough or designed to push the sight at its lowest point, but rather some point above the top plane of the slide. This is problematic because sights requiring a lot of pressure won't receive in-line pressure along the axis. This isn't efficient and can damage sights with tubes holding fiber optics, Tritium glass vials, or both.

I had to correct one problem right off. The circular platform that the slide needs to rest on would spin but not go up or down. The screw securing it to the large screw/bolt threaded into the frame was loose and allowed the circular bit to spin without changing the height. I had already put the plain set of plastic bumpers in the two adjustable horizontal slide restraints, so I had to remove those and move the two restraints to their outermost position to allow the circular platform to be raised high enough to get the large screw out of the frame. The vertical restraint had to be raised to the highest position, too, to allow upward movement and the use of a 3/32" hex bit to tighten the small screw enough to allow the large screw to be unscrewed.

I got the base platform out, cleaned the threads with alcohol swabs, dried them, and applied some red Permatex thread locker(permanent). I put it all back together and decided to use some fiberboard or thin cardboard to protect my slide. I set the height of the platform so that the pusher thingy would not touch the top of the slide and tightened the three restraints. I was able to move the rear sight enough for a test with a light pop as the sight broke free in the dovetail groove. I used Wite-Out to make a mark so that I could put the sight back where it was. it may be a tiny bit off, but I plan on replacing the sights, anyhow.

This pusher could easily damage your sights due to the bearing part not striking very low on the sight.I did see a little dent on both side of the stock sights. I wouldn't want to try it on night sights.

I don't know if the pusher can be made to work with the front sight due to the lower recoil spring housing.

This sight pusher misses the mark in several ways and I certainly can't recommend it.

wyntrout
08-20-2016, 12:19 AM
The tool came with two sets of plastic "bumpers" to protect the slide in the horizontal restraints. I used the flat ones. There's a plastic bar, too, leaning against my P40's slide. I'm not sure what that's for. There was no instruction sheet... not that I really needed one. :D

I just put the whole thing on a pistol mat, not bothering to clamp it down. It's large enough to hang onto, so that was okay. I was careful and tried to position and secure the slide so that the pusher would not scratch the slide. I used a flashlight and checked everything often. I only moved the sight a little and then pushed it back to the starting position with respect to the Wite-Out mark. I removed the Wite-Out with Goo Gone. Water wouldn't work. Be careful... guys have accidentally removed their white sight marks with solvents.

This pusher isn't what I want and has shortcomings as mentioned, so I'll be getting something else to swap out my sights when I figure which ones I want. I want to be able to use the pusher on front sights as well. The Wheeler Engineering Sight Pusher Tool still seems the best way to go, if more expensive.

It's a shame that more thought wasn't given to the design of this product. I've used one pusher and looked at a few others and this one is kind of sturdy and seems a lot for the money, but I don't want to try installing expensive night sights with the wrong angle of force application.

Pictures.

wyntrout
08-20-2016, 12:39 AM
I guess that someone could file or grind the pusher down so that it would fit in the dove tail groove to push the base of the sight, but that still leaves the front sight out of the picture. The front of the slide won't fit and the restraints and pusher are at fixed heights. The pusher would take a lot of grinding down to a suitable size, and then it probably wouldn't work for larger pistols.

This tool will work for the rear sight on Glocks, since the front sight is held on by a hex head screw, BUT, there's still the danger of damaging your expensive aftermarket sights.

Wynn

dustnchips
08-20-2016, 11:58 AM
I would think a finer thread on the pusher screw would make for better control of windage adjustment.

wyntrout
08-20-2016, 12:20 PM
I ordered one of these... should be what I need. Amazon charged me tax, though, bringing the total up to $187.13! Yikes! Wifey isn't going to be happy. I need to sell some stuff!

https://www.amazon.com/Wheeler-Engineering-Armorers-Handgun-Sight/dp/B01B3NU0U2/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1471713553&sr=8-9&keywords=wheeler+engineering

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71dPUiimL%2BL._SL1500_.jpg

kwh
08-20-2016, 04:20 PM
Great technical report and pictures.

wyntrout
08-20-2016, 05:06 PM
Thanks, the one I ordered doesn't have the low reaching pusher that I prefer, but the way it's mounted, I can add something in front of it to spread the pressure downward. One review on it said that the screws holding the pusher sheared off when he tried to remove some XD sights! That kind of bothered me for a while, but I don't have anything that hard... just Kahrs and Glocks.

:)