Sight dovetail file

Current Stock:. You save. Write A Review Great product and makes fitting sights a breeze Received my file in a timely matter and used it to install my new Dawson sights on my Glock Gen4 17mos. Great product fast delivery I have never paid so much for a file. Related Products. Dawson Precision Sight Installation Tools. This allows filing to the surface of the jig without danger of over-cutting. This is a great tool! I don't know why someone else rated it badly but I suspect he forgot to take in to consideration barrel taper and that's why he was complaining about the tool not being square.

The tool is square. For those who know how to use tools this guide works great. Obviously, it's only needed where you have an intersecting horizontal flat. One additional thing that I do on Novak sight cuts is to also put a chamfer on the forward edge of the flat where it meets the dovetail. This usually is a help in getting the sight to sit flat in the cut. Checking and adjusting the dovetail depth Once you have the chamfers filed on the sight and slide as appropriate , you need to measure the depth of the dovetail in both the slide and on the sight skip this step on the USGI style and write the measurements down.

I use the depth gauge feature of my digital caliper, being very careful to hold it square and flat to get an accurate measurement. I check several times to be sure I get an accurate measurement. A plastic caliper that came in your reloading kit is not adequate for this job. I would advise making this cut with a mill. If you are fitting a sight that has a cut with a rear pocket or windage section like a BoMar or LPA my HD, HD, HD , you also need to measure depth from the main flat to that rearmost flat, on the slide and sight.

If the sight has a greater measurement, you will need to machine off the difference, plus. I make my sights of that style to a dimension that is at the deepest of the design standard.

Manufacturers that make this rear flat a different depth, tend to go shallower. Measuring and fitting the dovetail width The next step to make the front-to-back dimension of the dovetail on the sight fit the slide. You can do this a couple of ways. You can measure the difference between the sight and slide and file the dovetail to fit, all the while being able to know how much you have to take off and being able to check your progress along the way, or you can file and test fit until you get there.

I found that value using this formula:. Substituting the values for the letters gave me:. I have since created an Excel spreadsheet to perform these calculations.

Download a copy by right-clicking here. Well, this worked out to be 0. The Kitchen Table Gunsmith. Main menu. Substituting the values for the letters gave me: 0.

Now I needed to know where to position the center of the end mill. I took my calipers and measured the length of the sight, which was 0. Since the base was in the center of the sight, the midpoint was 0. I used a 0. I set up the travel indicator and moved the piece 0. I added an additional 0. So I moved the bit a total of 0. I had now correctly positioned the bit to cut the pilot slot. Since the depth of the sight dovetail was 0. First, I positioned the slide under the center of the bit, and then using a 0.