A while back, I picked up a Beretta 92S from another forum member. This has been a great gun and fun to shoot except for a problem with the sights. They are tiny and too difficult for my old eyes to pick up and get a good sight picture. Not an easy fix since the front sights are part of the slide and not removable and the slide does not have enough thickness to cut a dovetail.
This picture shows the difference between the 92s and my 92 fs INOX.
I decided to build up the front sight to fix this issue. I did not want to apply heat to the slide for fear of warping it so welding and soldering were out. I started by using a steel washer close to the correct thickness and hack sawed a rectangular block from it.
After I squared it up with a file, I drilled a 1/16” locating hole, set back from one end.
I then scribed the contour of the existing front sight onto this block and hand filed it to make the lower curve match up and sit on top of the front sight. I then used the front sight of my 92fs as a template for the upper curve and to get the correct height. I then filed down the top until I made this small piece.
I super glued this piece to the top of the existing sight. With the pieces glued together and mounted in my drill press, I drilled the hole down into the existing front sight, stopping short of the “frame” so I had a blind hole. Next, with as pair of pliers I removed the sight extension and then made a pin from soft steel ( I used a finishing nail) and turned it down until it was a very snug fit, just a tiny bit undersized so I could drive it down into the hole.
I roughened the top of the original sight and the bottom of the extension piece with a file, applied JB weld to the surfaces and into the holes clamped the pieces together. Then I drove the pin in until it bottomed out. I cut the top of the pin off leaving about 1/32” protruding from the top and using a small setting punch I flattened the top until it was flush. The purpose here was to “swell” the pin for a tight fit. After the epoxy hardened, I cleaned up the excess epoxy and blackened the sight. Put a dab of fluorescent green paint on the end and got this finished result.
If I stopped here, the gun would shoot crazy low so I also had to raise the rear sight. Nobody makes a suitable sight so I ordered a factory replacement sight, which is the same as the one on my 92fs. All the dimensions and angles are exactly what I wanted EXCEPT the base of the sight is .300” wide. The dovetail on the 92S is only .220” wide at the bottom so I had to remove the difference of .080” to a height of .140” from the base on one side of the sight. I scribed the line, and using a jewelers file with a “safe” edge carefully removed material while keeping the angle parallel to the untouched portion on the upper part of the slide. I took all the metal off the back side of the sight since that way I could preserve the angle on the other side. When I could push the modified sight in about one third of the way with my thumb, I polished all the surfaces with 400 grit paper and installed the rear sight using a pusher. This is what I wound up with.
After a minor windage adjustments at the range, the point of impact is dead on at 15 yds with 147 gr fmj. I have put a couple of hundred rounds through it since then and there is not the slightest bit of movement. I think its worth noting that the only power tool used was a drill press and I made no irreversible changes to the 92s.
Update. I got about 350 rounds through it and the front sight came loose. The pin did not stay fixed in the shallow hole in the original sight. I tossed the pin, ran a tap into the blind hole and put in a torx screw which I secured with red loctite rc/680. Filled in with jb weld. Back to the range today and put 50 rounds through it. So far so good.
This picture shows the difference between the 92s and my 92 fs INOX.
I decided to build up the front sight to fix this issue. I did not want to apply heat to the slide for fear of warping it so welding and soldering were out. I started by using a steel washer close to the correct thickness and hack sawed a rectangular block from it.
After I squared it up with a file, I drilled a 1/16” locating hole, set back from one end.
I then scribed the contour of the existing front sight onto this block and hand filed it to make the lower curve match up and sit on top of the front sight. I then used the front sight of my 92fs as a template for the upper curve and to get the correct height. I then filed down the top until I made this small piece.
I super glued this piece to the top of the existing sight. With the pieces glued together and mounted in my drill press, I drilled the hole down into the existing front sight, stopping short of the “frame” so I had a blind hole. Next, with as pair of pliers I removed the sight extension and then made a pin from soft steel ( I used a finishing nail) and turned it down until it was a very snug fit, just a tiny bit undersized so I could drive it down into the hole.
I roughened the top of the original sight and the bottom of the extension piece with a file, applied JB weld to the surfaces and into the holes clamped the pieces together. Then I drove the pin in until it bottomed out. I cut the top of the pin off leaving about 1/32” protruding from the top and using a small setting punch I flattened the top until it was flush. The purpose here was to “swell” the pin for a tight fit. After the epoxy hardened, I cleaned up the excess epoxy and blackened the sight. Put a dab of fluorescent green paint on the end and got this finished result.
If I stopped here, the gun would shoot crazy low so I also had to raise the rear sight. Nobody makes a suitable sight so I ordered a factory replacement sight, which is the same as the one on my 92fs. All the dimensions and angles are exactly what I wanted EXCEPT the base of the sight is .300” wide. The dovetail on the 92S is only .220” wide at the bottom so I had to remove the difference of .080” to a height of .140” from the base on one side of the sight. I scribed the line, and using a jewelers file with a “safe” edge carefully removed material while keeping the angle parallel to the untouched portion on the upper part of the slide. I took all the metal off the back side of the sight since that way I could preserve the angle on the other side. When I could push the modified sight in about one third of the way with my thumb, I polished all the surfaces with 400 grit paper and installed the rear sight using a pusher. This is what I wound up with.
After a minor windage adjustments at the range, the point of impact is dead on at 15 yds with 147 gr fmj. I have put a couple of hundred rounds through it since then and there is not the slightest bit of movement. I think its worth noting that the only power tool used was a drill press and I made no irreversible changes to the 92s.
Update. I got about 350 rounds through it and the front sight came loose. The pin did not stay fixed in the shallow hole in the original sight. I tossed the pin, ran a tap into the blind hole and put in a torx screw which I secured with red loctite rc/680. Filled in with jb weld. Back to the range today and put 50 rounds through it. So far so good.
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