Do It Yourself Gun Repair

One thing I’ve learned about mid-central Minnesotans, they do many tasks their selves. In California, there are so many permits, rules, regulations and laws that it’s actually simpler to hire someone who specializes in that area. Here in MN, you can remodel your whole house with no permits, inspections or anything as long as you don’t change the foot print of your house!

For better or worse, that do it yourself attitude extends to guns. Of course, we only see the stuff that didn’t work out, so I don’t have a fair sampling of all the work that’s done. I do know that if you don’t put it back together properly, or, if the modification attempted requires further modification of other gun parts, we get a call. The recent callers have been putting sights, or trying to find sights, for pistols, which seems weird to me because I train to “instinct aim” my pistol, but I digress.

There are so many models, shapes, sizes and types of pistols that there is no one size fits many solution. Laser and red dot sight are popular, but mounting sights of any sort on a pistol is not for the tool deprived. My husband, the gunsmith, has the necessary tools for most jobs, but small pistols can be challenging, even for an expert. A recent caller had purchased a $280 rail for a pistol sight that was the wrong one and would cost about $290 to adapt. The rail he needs is about $300, some research would have saved a lot of grief.

My best advice for sights on pistols is to purchase sights from the pistol manufacturer. If the manufacturer doesn’t make the ones you want, don’t buy that gun, or change your sight ideal. In pistols, there are many cases where the preferred sight is not available for that model of that gun, do your research before buying anything. You could save money by paying for a half hour or hour consultation on your project with the local gunsmith, so you can order the proper parts. Be safe, stay health and happy shooting.