aftermarket sights

[Onlinedad]

How hard is it to replace the factory sights, with say a set of quality night sights? Is this a job for the smithy, or can I do it myself?
Also, does anyone have any suggestions for replacement night sights?

thanks

[Q-town]

I have had Springfield Armory put on night sights on both our XD's. I had Heineke straight eight night sights put on my XD45. These sights are green and there are only two dots, one front which is slightly larger and brighter than the one back one. The idea is faster target acquisition because you stack the front sight on top of the rear sight. It's a fine set-up. We also had Springfield Armory night sights put on my wife's new XD-M. These are the classic three dot set up with very bright green dots. We are quite satisfied with those. Springfield Armory did a very fast turn around when I sent them in. My XD45 took about 10 days altogether. The XD-M took about 15 days altogether. I have two Glocks with night sights and they take a clamp on/push tool that you can buy. I don't know if there is a sight tool available for the XD's or not. I don't think it's too hard to do but you would probably have to put on a few sights for other people to make it worth the buy in my humble opinion.

[Mes0hemi]

You should be able to take it to a local gunsmith and have it done. A buddy of mine had 1 do his for about $35.

[vthompson_25704@yahoo.com]

From what I've read in some other forums, replacing sights isnt a very easy task on XD's. Ive read some guys saying how aggravating it is to change them out. You may want to do a little more research.

[Onlinedad]

I went to my local gun shop up here, and they recommended a local smith, that would do the job for about $20. Although, they did say you could do it yourself, but you needed a special tool.
They also recommended trijicon night sights. From the gun shops experiences with trijicon they have very good customer service, and have a 15 year warranty.
I dont have any experience with them.... yet...

[oldie]

I bought the Tru-Glo sights and had my local gunsmith install them. He charged me $50. When I got the gun back, the front sight was damaged, in that it had lost the gas that made the sights glow. I returned the damaged front sight to Tru-Glo and they replaced it with a goo, new one. I figured that at $50 bucks, it will cost me another $100 bucks to have them take the defective sight off and replace the new one. I bought a sight puller at:

PISTOLGEAR | YOUR ONE-STOP SHOP FOR ALL THINGS PISTOL

for $100 buck. You really need this tool unless you want to damage your piece.

BTW, I don't think that I will go back to that gunsmith . . . $50 bucks is a lot of money for this simple operation.

[wuzfuz]

If your local smith damaged the sight, then he should replace it totally at his expense. Why should you have to pay for his incompetence? Take hm to small claims court.

[wuzfuz]

I saw a sight i would love to have, but the $400 price tag is a bit scary. Also, my local dealer says neither of his suppliers can get them for him. They are the Crimson Trace LG-445. I don't kn ow how they would be attached, since normally they take off the side panels and the sight unit replaces the grip panels. With the XD-45, there are no panels to remove. The Crimson Trace is a laser sight that projects the laser beam from the grip. The demonstrator at the gun shop is very impressive, having both a semiauto and a revolver simulant, and is very intuitive, as your thumb rides right over the button to turn the laser on. When you bring the weapon to bear, you just apply a bit more pressure with the thumb,and the target is painted.

[Agusta02]

Originally Posted by wuzfuz

I saw a sight i would love to have, but the $400 price tag is a bit scary. Also, my local dealer says neither of his suppliers can get them for him. They are the Crimson Trace LG-445. I don't kn ow how they would be attached, since normally they take off the side panels and the sight unit replaces the grip panels. With the XD-45, there are no panels to remove. The Crimson Trace is a laser sight that projects the laser beam from the grip. The demonstrator at the gun shop is very impressive, having both a semiauto and a revolver simulant, and is very intuitive, as your thumb rides right over the button to turn the laser on. When you bring the weapon to bear, you just apply a bit more pressure with the thumb,and the target is painted.

i believe that the crimson trace for the XD is a rubber grip that goes over the stock grip.

Can't help with any personal experience, but I am looking at the LaserMax right now. Although it seems a bit expensive, it can be bought from a dealer at a considerably less price, and it replaces the main spring (you can do the replacement yourself) which means the pistol doesn't have any "extra material" hanging off of it and can fit it any existing holster. I'm really not one to want to look over a sight when I am drawing down on someone - just put that little "dot" on the target and start shooting.

BTW, I have an XD-40 4" compact.