I've put about 500 rds through my NP29, and am very pleased with it. The factory sights though, are rather small, and can be hard to find if aiming rapidly. Replacement sights were ordered from Brownells: a MGW set, and factory Colts. The MGW front is a rather square blade; the rear sight overhangs the slide. It is mounted in the dovetail, and has a setscrew to positively lock it in place. The Colt front is beveled at the rear and rounded on the front. The rear is service pattern, and depends on a close fit in the dovetail to secure it. Both sets are larger and bolder than the originals. The Norinco front sight was removed by using a small cold chisel to cut away the rivetted tenon from inside the slide, until it could be wiggled free. This is a one way trip, the sight cannot be reused. The Norinco slide is machined for a front sight with a narrow tenon. The MGW front fit perfectly, looks as if it grew out of the slide; the Colt was unusable because it has the wide tenon. The MGW sight was swaged into place. The Colt rear sight is a perfect fit in the dovetail, without any fitting being necessary. Having determined that the Colt was entirely usable, the MGW sight was fitted. A slight amount of steel had to be filed from the sight's dovetail. The sight could then be tapped into place. The Colt and MGW front sights are essentially the same height, so I now have a choice of two rear sights. The difference is essentially style, rather than function. If desired, the MGW front sight could be reshaped, to resemble a service sight.
New Sights on NP29
- Thread starter tiriaq
- Start date
Hey Tiriaq:
Funny that you should make this post. I just had Gunnar at www.armco.com replace my NP29 sights for a set of high profile, no-name 3 dot sights from Numrich. He does a first class job !! 3 week turnaround including shipping both ways. Set me back inside $ 75 for the shipping and sight swap.
Cheers,
Barney
Funny that you should make this post. I just had Gunnar at www.armco.com replace my NP29 sights for a set of high profile, no-name 3 dot sights from Numrich. He does a first class job !! 3 week turnaround including shipping both ways. Set me back inside $ 75 for the shipping and sight swap.
Cheers,
Barney
That's certainly reasonable, and Gunnar's reputation is excellent. My turnaround time was a bit faster once the sights arrived. Only a couple of hours, and that included making the tool to swage the front sight tenon. I am impressed with the machining and tolerances of the front and rear sight cuts in the slide. No problem at all using commercial sights.
I elected not to install dot sights. I am unable to get a really clear focus on the sights, and if there are dots, it makes the sights less defined than if they are plain. That is, the dots blur a bit.
I elected not to install dot sights. I am unable to get a really clear focus on the sights, and if there are dots, it makes the sights less defined than if they are plain. That is, the dots blur a bit.
My buddy installed a Novak carry sight on the rear and a narrow tenon front post sight on my NP 29. It took about 20 minutes and he used his Millet swager on the front. Novak sight cost me $10 (Used but in excellent condition) and the front sight was $25. Shoots right on with the new sights and much better sight picture.
Had the opportunity today to zero the NP29 with the new sights. Elevation was bang on point of aim, no adjustments needed. The rear sight was adjusted laterally to centre the group. Loosen the setscrew, tap, retighten. These sights are much easier to see than the originals.
