Novak 1911 Sights Installed

[girvin02]

I wasn't happy with the puny fixed sights that came on my BHP (of 1971). So after surfing the internet for a couple of weeks, I decided that a Novak low mount rear with gold bead front sight looked the classiest, for my taste. I also decided that I wanted to go with 1911 sights, so that I would have more options, should I ever want to change them out. I found both on Midway’s site, the latter being a Wilson Combat .190” tall serrated front sight, with gold bead insert.

I knew that the Novak 1911 rear sight was taller (& larger) than the BHP version, but calculated that I could still make it work. I buried the Novak .249” deep from top of slide – The flat is .124” deep, the dovetail another .125” below the flat. After installed, the front edge of the sight is flush with the top of the slide – this is as low as you can seat this sight (it is .201” tall from top of slide to top of sight). I hoped that with the .190” tall front sight, I wouldn’t be shooting too high.

Let me tell you, I have many years of experience on a Bridgeport, and this is the first time I got nervous working on a “job”. I must have measured everything 10 times before making each cut. I am very pleased with the way it turned out. One thing that I did differently than what I had seen in pictures on the internet was the way I compensated for the Novak sight sitting below the firing pin retainer. I couldn’t find many pictures of this area. The ones I found showed that the retainer had been milled down (flat) on top to make room for the rear sight. I thought it would look better to cut a radius into the bottom of the sight, making room for the unaltered retainer.

Here’s the finished product. I’m happy to report that the new sights are much easier for my eyes to aquire and POI is very close to POA, if not right on.

I hope this information helps anyone considering taking on such a project.

[Smith10]

Wow, great work on your HP!!!!

[Rusty Goose]

Perfect!

[sod]

Very impressive! Did you cold blue the exposed areas of your slide after machining?

[OIF2]

LOVE that gun! Perfect combo...retro, but with excellent sights. Nice stocks on that one, too.
Bob

[Burgs]

It looks modern again. You should patent that sight cut!

[vmr357]

Very nice. I like the size of the sights. I have the 1911 sights with the gold bead on my Practical. I like them a lot, but they are large. Yours are a very nice match to the gun.

Vern

[wags]

It looks great. I like the radius cut into the sight where the firing pin retaining plate rests.

[girvin02]

Originally Posted by sod

Very impressive! Did you cold blue the exposed areas of your slide after machining?

Yes sir, though the blue did not want to take to the front dovetail cut for some reason - I went over that area 5 or 6 times, and it is still mostly silver. Thanks for the kind words everyone.

[BHP9]

I sentiment what the others have said.

Well done.

[Burgs]

You must be VERY proud of your excellent work. It really is very special!