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DIY 1911 rear sight? Materials?


chas

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For  the moment this is more a question than a project, as I dont know if I have the skills to do this myself.

 

I want to build a cheap-ish Kimber CDP II using an army MEU frame, Army Kimber Warrior slide, 2-hole trigger, painted slide and small parts and custom engravings. Since Ill end up with another gun I can sell, this will cost around 150 Euros, so still much cheaper than a pistol + a Nova kit or whatever. Details won't be 100% accurate, but Im not that anal about those little things...

 

EXCEPT for the Kimber slanted rear sight. That is a must. It gives the gun a totally different character.

A real Kimber rear sight wont fit and the only airsoft version I know of is made by Shooters Design, but is not sold individually, only with a slide.

 

So I was wondering: could I make it myself? Heavy tools, craftmanship or any hand-to-eye coordination are not available. This is probably going to be more of a wallhanger than anything, so it doesnt need to be made out of metal, but at the same time it should not crumble to tiny pieces with the blowback action.

 

Any suggestions? Does anyone know anything abut moulding plastics? Like making a cast of the real steel out of plastic and then sanding or adding material to fit an airsoft slide.

Thanks!

 

PICS

 

http://www.cypressarmory.com/cypress/images/products/mpl11212.jpg

 

http://img.ehowcdn.com/article-new-thumbnail/ehow/images/a05/s9/7a/move-kimber-rear-sight-800x800.jpg

 

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Get it 3D printed mate. Seen a few get done now, all they need is clear dimensions.

 

I think that will be too expensive, as it'd be just one piece. Then I'd also need to learn how to design in 3D...

 

Thanks for the suggestion, though. Micht look into this for other stuff. Do you have links to examples of other sights that have been made?

 

Add steel epoxy on the existing Novak rear sight then file/grind/sand to shape. Paint. Done.

 

Will the epoxy actually really stick to the existing sight hard enough to do this? I mean, it's a flat surface an'all.

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Ill look around, thanks.

 

RC: Im not a handyman and I failed chemestry in school, so im never to sure what products are considered an epoxy and which are not. Do you mean one of those putties they sell that will supposedly repair metal parts and can even be used to close carabiner and hold up to 500 kilos?

 

So, if it holds, it will form a new undifferentiable mass that I just need to file and sand. Correct?

 

How do you feel aboout putting it in place of the original sight, while it's still soft and let it dry, so it gets the shape of the part that goes into the slide?

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If you want to get technical about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoxide

But in short, if it's from the hardware store, says "steel filled epoxy" and comes in two tubes (binary compound as they should be) it's what you need.

Forming the entire sight out of epoxy might be possible, but very tricky not to mention messy as it starts as a loose goop that you can't exactly manipulate by hand. You'll need to mask the BBU from the inside and mask the sides of the slide as well with high walls so the epoxy won't just flow out the sides. There are epoxy clays (stil binary compound) to patch up radiators and such in a bind and have the consistency of pre-chewed bubblegum, but I have the inclination to think that they are inferior in both bond and shear strength due to having extenders to make it easier to use.

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OK. Yeah, I have both versions at home: liquid in two syringes and as a two-component round bar.

 

Im also thinking about making this out of plastic and in two parts: what goes in the gap in the slide out of a sheet of PVC, flat, just need to file the sides to give it the slanted shape and push it sideways into the slide and the top part, out of a block of the same PVC, cut and filed to shape. I could then attach them using cyanocrylate and the screw that goes into the BBU.

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Interesting that you're doing this, as I did this a year or two ago myself. I also used steel epoxy (the 2 part one). Steel putty could work as well, but I only had epoxy available to me at the time. I did pretty much what all the guys here are suggesting. I used a set of needle files and a dremel to shape the sight I wanted, which was the 10-8 styled sight.

 

Here's some photos of the process. It's not perfect, but I'm content with it since the gun is meant to be more of a workhorse anyway. 

 

IMG_0343.jpg

IMG_0346.jpg

IMG_0347.jpg

IMG_0349.jpg

IMG_0351.jpg

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Looks very good!

 

Im afraid thwe Kimber slant sight is more complicated, though. The slanted main body that, at  the same time, is rounded or beveled to the sides, and also has an upward curve lengthwise is a nightmare to mold or file.

 

Here's my first attempt, using Pattex metal putty. It started of nicely, but as you can see, the finish isn't quite there. Not to talk aboout the placement of the sight dots. I think this job is to refined for me. I will try again with a block of PVC plastic: studying the dovetail further I have come to the conclusion that it is possible to make this in one piece, working in sections.

 

Anyone know where I can source a cheap piece of 13mm thick plastic, PVC, etc.? 

 

I have made the notch between the sight dots, will update later today.

 

2013-08-13195346.jpg

2013-08-13195308.jpg

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