Need wider rear sight notch on my Pardini SP

jabberwo · Post by **jabberwo** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:23 am

Can they be bought or should I take a file to it?! Never having attempted something so delicate on such an expensive pistol, any tips?

Or I guess I could use thinner front sight...

Don't see either listed on Pardini Guns web site. Took the red dot off to use my SP in a Free Pistol shoot in a couple of weeks, for giggles.

thanks,
Jab

Rover · Post by **Rover** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 10:50 am

If you do a search here, you'll find several posts about this.

Bottom line, on most Pardinis the rear blade is replaceable. No great loss if you screw it up. You may have a too small replacement in your kit; use IT.

In my own experience, it wasn't much of a problem to widen the notch with a "Swiss" file, but did take a bit of finesse.

I had much better luck buying a 3/16" chain saw file at the hardware store. It is not tapered and it is therefore easy to cut a perfect U notch (as the very successful Russians used to use).

The U notch is nice, as you can see the front sight "ride up" the side of the notch when misaligned.

I've heard many shooters say, "I prefer the straight sides.", when they haven't the slightest clue as to what works.

I don't bother to do this with my own guns if the notch is wide enough, but when too narrow I jump right on it.

Mass Shooter · Post by **Mass Shooter** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:28 am

Another option to consider is to have the blade slot opened by having it milled.

If you have any buds that work in a machine shop I'm betting the blade can be easily milled nice & clean to whatever width you want and depending on which orientation the blade is to the end mill you can have either a super clean square cut bottom or perfect radius.

sbtzc · Post by **sbtzc** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:44 am

My SP is adjustable for depth and width. Before you start filing, you might check the manual. It appears the rear sights for their free, air and sport pistols are the same.
:-)

Reinhamre · Post by **Reinhamre** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:17 pm

sbtzc wrote:My SP is adjustable for depth and width. Before you start filing, you might check the manual. It appears the rear sights for their free, air and sport pistols are the same.
:-)

Sure, but not on an old Pardini.

jabberwo · Post by **jabberwo** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 12:48 pm

Reinhamre wrote:
sbtzc wrote:My SP is adjustable for depth and width. Before you start filing, you might check the manual. It appears the rear sights for their free, air and sport pistols are the same.
:-)
Sure, but not on an old Pardini.

And mine is as old as I've ever seen, '97 model. That is, until my brand spanking new one arrives from the good folks at Pardini USA!

-= chuck

Coastwatcher · Post by **Coastwatcher** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:14 pm

If you are going to use a file to open up the notch use a block of wood or a small square to keep the file perpendicular to the sight blade.

Best of luck.

tedbell · Post by **tedbell** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:25 pm

Pardini USA does sell narrower front sight blades, down to 2.5mm, and has most of them in stock. I actually recently bought a narrower blade for my SP1 Rapid Fire from them.

Thanks,
Ted

RandomShotz · Post by **RandomShotz** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:01 pm

Coastwatcher wrote: If you are going to use a file to open up the notch use a block of wood or a small square to keep the file perpendicular to the sight blade.

Actually, if you look at some sight blades, the opening is smaller towards the back. I guess this is so that you are always referencing the back edge of the sight even if it is slightly misaligned. But it will be a nice trick to make sure the sides are parallel unless the new slot width is exactly the same size as the file.

And if you are not going to use the chain saw file, you probably want to avoid cutting into the bottom of the notch. Finding a file with a safe edge wold help.

Roger

Rover · Post by **Rover** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:29 pm

Very observant, Roger.

When you're opening the notch with file or chain saw file, you need to have the notch wider towards the front. Otherwise you will see the edges of the sight, giving them a slight haze. The thicker the blade, the worse it will be.

j-team · Post by **j-team** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:33 pm

Ok, there is another way to widen the gap (assuming your sight is the same model as mine).

You need to completely strip the sight and get the two sides of the leaf out. The adjustment works by the side screw pushing a small ball up and in between the leaves forcing them apart (a spring pulls them together).

You can peen the inner lower end of each leaf where the ball touches (not visible when re-assembled) so that they are pushed further apart by the ball. Re-assemble and your adjustment range is now wider.

Bob-Riegl · Post by **Bob-Riegl** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:53 pm

I would call Pardini USA (hint, guess what the URL is)and ask if the new SP's rear sight could be interchangeable. My new SP has a simple approach to this, the blade is adjustable by a small metric Allen key. I don't remember how I adjusted my old SP to widen the blade---I seem to remember all I did was unscrew the blade and invert it. ???? Good luck----"Doc"