Switching to iron sights

First topic message reminder :

All of my pistols and revolvers except my 1911 have iron sights and I am thinking about switching the 1911 to iron sights as well. The 1911 is a SA milspec t that was originally redone by Dave Salyer and it has a full length sight rib with a match dot tube red dot sight.  I was looking at the Aristocrat full length rib with the built in adjustable sights and wondering if that would be a solution to changing to adjustable sights without having to do any milling on the frame.  Also if I went this route would I need to increase the weight of the recoil spring?

Thanks

Maybe, I don’t know.  There are tests indicating that the firing impulse experienced by a 45 slide is 5000-6000 “g”. I’m not so sure That this is true. I seriously doubt that any Bomar sight would stay attached with 5000 g being applied every time the gun was fired.  Now add a Aimpoint 9000 to the rail and even a 1/2 bolt made from H11 tool steel would have a hard time holding on.  So the dynamic is not straightforward.  It is my guess that these test results are misleading.  I’d love to put a laser accelerometer to determine what the g impulse is, but ones that cover 1000s of “g” ain’t cheap and I’m not sure they have the resolution anyway.

Even more fun my existing rib was made by Marvel Custom Guns and they are not in business any longer.  I reached out to the current Marvel people thinking they where the same and they recommended the Rock River sight and rib combo.

Assuming this crossed your mind, but, aside from the cost and time, is there a reason not to have the slide holes filled and then d&t the slide for the Rock River rail?  At that point you’d have a “standard” hole pattern going forward.

I sucked at tig welding class, but I think it would be trivial for a real welder to fill the holes, file flat, and touch up with cold blue.

Thanks RodJ the most annoying thing is that the holes are so close to working.  Oh well I should just learn to love the dot sight.

That didn’t work out so well for Slim Pickens (Dr Strangelove reference).

That is frustrating. Is it just two holes on the rail / slide? If three, can you get 2 out of 3 to line up?

[quote="Ed Hall"]I'm confused!  Why would someone fill, drill and tap new holes in the slide rather than adjusting the holes in the rib?  It sounds like a slight bit of oval would solve this much easier than working on the slide.

What am I missing?[/quote]

Nothing.

inthebeech, for me the question would be, is elongating the holes in the new sight rib an acceptable solution to make up for the .027 inch hole spacing difference or is it going to cause the rib to shift over time with recoil.

I never count on the screws to keep the mount from shifting, via their shear resistance.  They should compress the mount to slide interface such that the friction between the two keeps the mount from moving.  Personally, I always use an adhesive when I mount a rail.  My preference is a very thin amount of red Loctite along the very edges of the mount and clean off any excess after I tighten the screws  Always be sure to clean the mating surfaces well before installation, whether you use an adhesive or not.

Switching to the Aristocrat full-length rib with built-in adjustable sights on your 1911 sounds like a viable solution without frame modifications. However, it's advisable to consult with a gunsmith for a comprehensive assessment, including any necessary adjustments to the recoil spring, to ensure optimal performance with the new sights.

Thanks Whitel I don't think the hole pattern on the Aristocrat rib will line up with the existing holes (which are just a bit off from the Bomar pattern holes) so that is why I did not do the Aristocrat rib.

Thanks

If you could get the hole spacing of an Aristocrat rib maybe the holes are way off. You could then simply have 4 new holes drilled and tapped and leave the scope mount holes as is because they won’t show.  This would let you change back to your marvel scope mount if you ever want to as well. It would also save the labor to fill those holes.  Just another thought for you.

John