My “Capt. America” Glock. I needed some new night sights to round out the package.
Morning sports fans! Today on assaulter arts and crafts hour, we are going to perform sight surgery on my new Glock. As you can see, that Glock just received a badass “Captain America” Cerakote job from my friends over at Ops Armory, and the project needs a set of badass sights to top it off.
I chose the new Trijicon HD XR Night Sights. I saw these at SHOT Show last year, and I have been waiting for an excuse to buy a set. Trijicon has long been a leader in tritium sights, and the new HD XR models are a great upgrade from previous generations. The front sight is thinner by a margin and the tritium dot is bigger. Absolutely worth taking a look at. They’ll run you about $120.
Also, new this week, I finally broke down and bought a sight pusher. You can install Glock sights with a hammer and punch in a pinch, but it is not for the faint-hearted. A real sight tool is much easier, and safer for your gun and sights.
Ops Armory’s custom Glock, Wheeler Engineering Armorer’s Handgun Sight Tool, and Trijicon’s HD XR Night Sights.
I went with the Wheeler Engineering Armorer’s Handgun Sight Tool. At $229 MSRP, it is an investment. But it covers your M&P, Glock, 1911 and many other handguns. You only have to buy it once, and you can earn that money back in free beer from your friends in short order.
SEE ALSO: Improve Your Glock 22’s Accuracy: Ops Armory — Captain America
This particular exercise doesn’t translate well on paper, so I recommend you watch the video (see above). Why would you need to install your own sights? Well, why not? You don’t need to become a total gun nerd to want to modify and/or improve your firearms.
SEE ALSO: Top Five Glock Enhancements
Price for the Trijicon HD XR Night Sights is around $120.
Plus, sights do drift on occasion and they can fall off. Glock factory sights are a bad joke, so you are going to want to replace those one day, anyway. And don’t forget, tritium starts to go dim after 10 years. If you’re like me, you have been carrying the same pistol for a decade. Time for an upgrade!
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A close up of the bright front sight.
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A look at the rear sights.
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This is not a hard process, I am far from a machinist. But it is a skill every gun owner should develop. Grab your notepad and a pencil. We are off to the races!
Most of us that do this on a regular basis turned down and deep socket to fit the front sight nut. Not to mention using a punch made of something a taste softer than tool steel, like brass or even teflon. The plastic factory sights are easy to remove, I have a box full of them. The other factor is not hitting the new sight inline with the tritium capsule and letting the gas out. Having a file that is the same angle as the dovetail makes it easy to get the correct fit so you don’t have to wail on the new rear. All of these tools are available from Brownells and other vendors, if your going to do it, a proper vise is essential as well. Might just want to consider letting a gunsmith install your 125+ dollar sights, it would be a shame to ruin the coating or bluing on the slide also. I fix a lot of pistols that the owner worked on first and have replaced a lot of rear sights that only had one dot lit.
Nice tutorial Clay, although when you suggested the possibility of “grind down your AutoZone nut driver till you’ve got enough space” and “you can do this with a vice a punch and a hammer, I’ve done it this way before”… I was really afraid of a repeat of your AR15 lower build video. I have it bookmarked and watch it every time I get frustrated with a job at the shop. It never fails to return the smile to my face. Just sayin.
lol. i never claimed to be able to build em well.
I CALL BS!
Captain America carried a 1911, not a Tupperware gun!
Dude nice video but these guys are ALL OVER YOUR ASS on that Capt. America Glock combo!!!
I know. I’m going to avoid telling them that as a GWOT shock trooper melting down terrorists, the Glock was my sidearm of choice.
Capt. America did indeed carry a 1911. He started out fighting the group of nations that the Glock derived from.
Hey Clay, Rural King has some nice LED lights for around 25 bucks to light up that workbench. Just sayin…….
That is one ugly gun.
Captain America would never approve, he carries a 1911 religiously. Cool gun non the less
+1
You beat me to the 1911.
Captain America carries a Glock?!! Jesus H. Christ c’mon on dude, grow a set – carry STEEL!!