[jphill0]

Hey,



Something a little strange happened to me today that I am looking for some knowledgeable input on.



I took my M&P 45 to a local shop to have Trijicon sights installed. It was a pretty decent price at $100 installed and they are the only shop in town that I've found them at so far without having to order them.



The bench was just behind the counter about 15 ft, so I could see generally what was going on.



It took a little longer than I expected, but I'm no gunsmith, so what do I know? After he was done installing the sights on the slide, he started trying to put it all back together. After a few minutes of trying, he came to me and said that the sights were interfering with the mag release, and the slide wouldn't go all the way on. He said that he'd need to keep it for a day or two.



What I find odd is that I thought the rear sight was a dovetail, and can't imagine it protrudes into the compartment below any. I'm sure the front sight isn't anywhere near the mechanisms.



So, I'm left wondering what just happened, and why I left my pistol with him. The shop is pretty high profile, so I'm not real worried about them stealing it or anything. And, they made sure to have me fill out a card, and give me a ticket stub.



Any thoughts ?

 

[Fallschirmjäger]

I don't know about anyone elses.....but on my .40 the sights are nowhere near interfering with the magazine release. Criminy, it's just a little piece of plastic on with a bit of springy steel to hold it in place, and it's on the frame, to boot.





Personally... I probably would've grabbed it and said that I'd send him the bill for fixing it from another 'smith if that 'smith found anything wrong.





EDIT: I just tryed a couple different ways to mis-assemble the S&W. As long as someone's smart enough to clear the ejector during reassembly and hasn't got the magazine inserted then I can't get it to Not go back together even with the disassembly lever up, down, or inbetween.

 

[EUNOS1]

M&P Smith Work

I can think of no pistol in the world that should have a problem going back together after a sight change and I cannot think of any that would have the sight interfere with the mag release. What I believe that has probably happened is that upon putting in the rear sight the so called smith got the firing pin block spring and cap in a bind when trying to force the rear sight back on. The firing pin block must depress for the slide to return all the way back at about the last inch or so of seated, if it does not then the block will hit the trigger bar and stick. The little spring and cap are probably damaged and I would expect them to replace it and refund your money for the labor due to incompetence. Do a forum search for the M&P trigger job for a detailed pic. near the end of the article of the reassembly of the mechanism and that should explain the difficulty but not immpossibility of getting this right. Hope this helps.

 

[choochboost]

I'm surprised he couldn't come up with a better excuse. Too bad he couldn't just tell the truth.

 

[Welder]

Too bad he couldn't just tell the truth.

That's what I'm thinking. I'd like to think I'm wrong, but it's possible you're paying him for his first M&P armorers course

 

[L.C. Star]

There may be a chance that he got something out of place in the Striker Stop Plunger and spring assembly that goes under the rear sight.

If the Striker Stop is jammed down and locked in place with the spring folded over on top of it, that would probably cause problems getting the slide back on the frame. Just a thought.....

 

[EUNOS1]

ditto

Yeah thats what I was trying to say in a really long way a few posts up. I almost smashed mine a few days ago changing my sight. Its tricky to slide the little cap in place, just when you think you've got it the spring pops out the other side.

 

[jphill0]

Thanks all for the info

I appreciate everybody's input. I guess I have no choice at this point than to just wait to see what the finished job looks/works like. After posting the original message, I was looking around and downloaded the trigger job info that Dan posted just to see what all he did. Wow, nice article !



I saw exactly what ya'll were talking about on frame 40 or so of the .pdf where it showed the sight sliding over the top of the spring and cap.



Part of me is relieved that there may have actually been something legitimate to the thought that the sight could interfere. However, I'm left thinking that whatever that something is may be more of the smith's doing than interferance from the sight itself.



Since the gunsmith works at a shop that I assume to be S&W certified, at least to sell, I wonder if the warranty would come under scrutiny if anything gets fubar'd.

 

[choochboost]

Re: Thanks all for the info

I saw exactly what ya'll were talking about on frame 40 or so of the .pdf where it showed the sight sliding over the top of the spring and cap.



Part of me is relieved that there may have actually been something legitimate to the thought that the sight could interfere.

Problem is he blamed it on the mag release. He seems to be lacking in integrity. :?

 

[EUNOS1]

Smith Work

...integrity and creativity are lacking...the mag release??? from a sight????

 

[5shot]

Re: Thanks all for the info

Since the gunsmith works at a shop that I assume to be S&W certified, at least to sell, I wonder if the warranty would come under scrutiny if anything gets fubar'd.

Any gun shop can sell S&W firearms. What you do mean by S&W certified? Frankly, I know several people who claim to be gunsmiths that I wouldn't let touch any of my guns. In addition, just because a smith is great with, for example, 1911s, doesn't mean s/he knows anything about M&Ps (or Glocks or S&W revolvers, etc.). My point is, make sure your smith is skilled in the weapon you are entrusting them with before you hand it over.

 

[jphill0]

Pistol is home

Well, I'm home with my M&P. The pistol appears to function normally, although I haven't actually shot it yet. :? Still, the primary issue was that the 'smith wasn't able to get it back together. So, one way or another, that is solved.



I am left with just two disturbing end results:



1) I made sure to get the old sights back and, as I suspected, there are significant marks on the RH side of them, indicating that not only wasn't the 'smith aware that the dovetail is tapered and the sights have to be taken off towards the right, but he whacked the heck out of it learning this the hard way. While you can't see much because there is but a 1/8" reveal on both sides, it sure looks like the bed of the dovetail took some heat as well. Luckily, the sides of the slide to not appear to have any markings.



2) This is actually the part that makes me the most nauseous. After all of the headache, and two drives of over an hour, I realize (now that I'm home) that the front sight doesn't appear to be glowing at all. So, I guess I get to look forward to another drive out there. The only concerns I thought about when I picked it up were that the sights were straight, and that the slide wasn't all mucked up. Oh, and that it did close. Guess I dropped the ball this time.



How difficult (legal paperwork wise) do you think it would be just to ask them to swap it out with one of theirs that has the factory night sights ? Since they're the same sights from my understanding, they'd be left with the same thing...just one that their 'smith had his way with.



With all the headache, I wonder if its worth asking for a little extra...like maybe one with the factory night sights and the safety both.



I think its painfully obvious that WELDER hit the nail on the head. I may have gotten a good price on the sights, but I also paid for that guy's first M&P armorers course.



Take care all,

JP

 

[40SX]

He should have known better, but it sounds like he hammered the night sights in with a punch and hammer instead of using a sight pusher. This could and a lot of times does break the tritium tubes in the sight causing them to go dark. A LOT of care must be taken in drifting night sights onto a firearm. The pusher is the way to go.



Good luck,

Dennis

 

[jphill0]

M&P is home in one piece

I took my M&P .45 back to the shop after work yesterday to have the front sight replaced.



It took about an hour, and I had to go browse on the other side of the store 'cause I just couldn't bear to listen to him grinding away with the bench grinder, and whacking away with the punch.



When he was done, I had a front sight that actually glowed.



I bit my tongue, put my pistol back in its case, and left. The guy offered a "sorry for your troubles", which made me feel a little better - because it seemed to be sincere. Still, its been a long time since I've encountered such an uncomfortable example of misguided intention, and really wanted to tell him so.



He seemed like a nice guy, so I'm going to forego mentioning the establishment's name here in the thread.



Still, if you are in Jax, FL and want to know where to be very leary about having your hardware worked on, feel free to message me as I'd be more than happy to pass that shop name along.



Thanks again to everybody for the info.

JP

 

[Joe Long]

There's no issue with using a hammer and punch to install sights. I personally prefer it to a sight pusher. The deal is that you have to use your brains and a set of files to FIT THE SIGHT TO THE DOVETAIL! Obviously he missed dovetail fitting 101 when he went to gunsmithing school.



Joe