Replacing blade on S&W revolver?

[onebohemian]

The way I understand it, the only way to replace the blade on a S&W revolver's rear sight is to twist the screw until it breaks so it may be removed, and then replace the entire assembly with a kit that includes the new blade, a new screw, and a new nut which needs to be staked after install. I watched a Larry Potterfield video about it, and although he doesn't do a very good job showing each step, the video plus other stuff I've read online elsewhere makes me think the screw has to be broken and replaced to swap out the rear blade. Has anyone replaced the rear blade on a S&W revolver and been able to do it without breaking the sight screw?

TIA,

[cobb]

I have replaced a few in the past and had to break the screw to replace dinged up rear sight blades. Don't really see any way around it and if there was, I would prefer to replace with new since I am tearing the assembly apart anyway.

[Sky Buster]

It's not necessary to brake the screw. Grind a screwdriver blade to fit the split nut. Hold the nut with
the screwdriver and unscrew the windage screw. Be careful you don't lose the windage screw spring
and plunger. They are tiny! Center the rear blade and then screw the new nut down snug and then
back off about 1/8 of a turn. Make sure you stake the windage nut or it will come loose.

[onebohemian]

It's not necessary to brake the screw. Grind a screwdriver blade to fit the split nut. Hold the nut with
the screwdriver and unscrew the windage screw. Be careful you don't lose the windage screw spring
and plunger. They are tiny! Center the rear blade and then screw the new nut down snug and then
back off about 1/8 of a turn. Make sure you stake the windage nut or it will come loose.

Sky Buster, are you reusing the old nut and restaking it, or did you get a new nut from somewhere?

Thanks for the advice,

[onebohemian]

Follow-up report. I was able to remove the screw on my N-frame without breaking it. Because the end of the screw is what gets staked, however, I was able to unscrew it from the nut but it won't unscrew from the blade. The tip of the screw that was staked is too wide to unscrew through the blade's base. I can't figure out how to get the nut out of the sight base either, but at this point, it doesn't matter. I don't see how a person could swap out the blade for a new one and still use the old screw and nut. I ordered new replacement kits so I'll just swap the new for old when they arrive.

Mark

[onebohemian]

One last post on this topic. I've concluded the blade cannot be replaced without breaking the old screw and replacing it with a new one. The enlarged staked screw end prevents you from removing the screw from the old blade. You thus can't swap out the blade and use the old screw. Also, although I figured out that the nut is just sitting in a small recessed area in the sight body and it simply slides out of that body, it's hard (impossible?) to get the old staked screw to rethread onto the old nut once they are apart. Accordingly, for anyone that may run into this same issue in the future, you have to break the screw to replace the blade.

Stupid design by S&W if you ask me, even though it's been around for decades. The ruger system of having the removable screw, spring and drop-in blade is much easier to work with. No extremely tiny detent/spring to lose either.

[cobb]

Thanks for the follow up. As mentioned, I was not aware of any way to replace the blade without breaking the screw. It would be nice if possible to change a rear sight blade without breaking the screw to experiment with different blades or maybe even a peep without spending $$ every time.

[Sky Buster]

You can break the screw or unscrew the staked nut with a split screwdriver. In either case, you cannot
reuse the screw or nut. After breaking the screw, withdraw the blade to the right. (toward the side-plate)
Be careful not to loose the windage screw and plunger which is located on the right side of the screw
near the screwdriver slot. If you drop it, you won't be able to find it. It's that small. If you have any questions,
call me at 612.669.5964
John