Acquiring a sight picture quickly and efficiently is lifesaving during a criminal attack. Unfortunately, not all handguns ship from the factory with sights ideally suited for the duty or wearing a design considered optimal by the owner. Even those tailored for the mission break or dim with time. Tritium has a half-life of slightly more than 12 years, and fiber-optic tubes can scratch and haze. In both cases, light diminishes with age.

Those facts were once the primary fuel for aftermarket sight sales, but today there are new catalysts. 

Suppressor ownership is setting new records each year. While the hearing-healthy trend dominates headlines, sales of those sights high enough to “see” over the muzzle devices are quietly selling better than ever. There are also more red-dot-equipped handguns — or pistols with an optic-ready slide — shipping than ever before. Enthusiasts are eager to harness the advantages of battery-free sights that co-witnesses with that optic. 

It’s a good time to maintain a modest inventory of aftermarket sights for a popular pistol or two. It’s wise to keep a couple different styles on hand, which allows customers to witness the difference rather than relying on catalogs and descriptions. If they find something they like and you don’t have the appropriate model on your shelves, offer to order the right version. Yes, they can buy online. A simple reminder that you will perform the installation ends that urge almost universally. It’s not a task the average enthusiast is eager to tackle. 

The process is easier than most think. Most of the effort is invested in preventing damage to the slide’s finish. Here’s a quick look at the steps.

Once the sights preferred by the customer are on hand, open the package. Inventory parts and consult the instructions. Then inspect for burrs or blemishes that could impede the process or scratch the dovetail.

Keep the pistol pointed in a safe direction and engage any manual safety. Drop the magazine and place it away from your direct work surface. 

While maintaining the handgun’s safe direction, work the slide and ensure no cartridge remains in the chamber. Use a flashlight if necessary and double check before proceeding. 

Put on safety glasses and our ready to remove the slide completely from the gun, following the manufacturer’s directions. Remove the barrel, recoil spring and guide rod. Then, place the slide on a soft work surface and remove the red-dot optic. Place it to the side, with particularly care not to lost the tiny bolts that affix it to the gun.  

Apply non-residue tape to both sides of the slide, pressing firmly to ensure a flush fit. Two layers are recommended to prevent marring when it’s anchored in the sight pusher. 

Place the slide in the sight pusher and carefully align until its sides are parallel with the stripes on the base. A slight skew in that angle risks dovetail marring during removal, so double check. When satisfied, tighten the slide down and add two layers of non-residue tape on top of the slide. The sight pusher’s elevation bar will make contact there as well.

Affix the top of the sight pusher, and slowly run the pusher toward the front sight. Watch closely as it approaches to ensure it contacts only the sight, not the slide itself. Adjust height if necessary. When flush with the original sight, write down the reading on the tool’s scale (if there is one), then slowly push the sight completely off the gun.

Now carefully start the new sight in the dovetail and push slowly until it fully indexes with the same number you wrote down. You may not be back to “zero,” due to varying diameters/profiles on aftermarket units, but the gun should be on paper, anyway. 

When complete, follow the same steps at the rear sight. Check the condition of your tape before beginning, however. If the style out back is vastly different, use the reading in the middle of notch or groove for reference.   

Once that’s done, you’re ready to reassemble the gun. Don’t forget to offer to change the optic’s battery while you’re at it. 

Finally, while keeping the gun in a safe direction, look through the red-dot to determine how well the new “irons” co-witness with the optic, which should have returned to its original point of aim. Odds are good it will be very close, particularly within self-defense distances.  

If so, you’re ready to send yet another satisfied customer out the door — one who will undoubtedly brag about the value-added services he or she discovered in your store.