True or False: It is a good practice to remove AND install dovetail sights by driving them from left to right (with the muzzle pointing away from you) to avoid potential damage due to tapered dovetail cuts.

True or False: It is a good practice to remove AND install dovetail sights by driving them from left to right (with the muzzle pointing away from you) to avoid potential damage due to tapered dovetail cuts.

• A. FALSE
• B. TRUE
• C. NOT RECOMMENDED
• D. OFTEN

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that a dovetail sight is held in by a tapered slot, so the proper way to remove or install it is to drift along the direction of the taper. Driving the sight in a fixed left-to-right direction is not inherently safe or universally correct because the orientation of the taper varies with different pistols and sight designs. If you push against the taper, you can bind the sight, mushroom the edges, or damage the slot or the sight itself. To do this correctly, use a proper drift punch, keep blows light and aligned with the slot’s axis, and move the sight in the direction the taper dictates for that specific cut. The muzzle being pointed away is a safety precaution, but it doesn’t establish a universal directional rule for the drift. So, assuming a fixed left-to-right motion to avoid damage is not a reliable practice.

The key idea is that a dovetail sight is held in by a tapered slot, so the proper way to remove or install it is to drift along the direction of the taper. Driving the sight in a fixed left-to-right direction is not inherently safe or universally correct because the orientation of the taper varies with different pistols and sight designs. If you push against the taper, you can bind the sight, mushroom the edges, or damage the slot or the sight itself. To do this correctly, use a proper drift punch, keep blows light and aligned with the slot’s axis, and move the sight in the direction the taper dictates for that specific cut. The muzzle being pointed away is a safety precaution, but it doesn’t establish a universal directional rule for the drift. So, assuming a fixed left-to-right motion to avoid damage is not a reliable practice.