An Overview of Maryland Gun Works' Sight Pusher Tool

At the 2014 ShotShow, one of the first booths I came upon was #20126. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the name of the company which had this booth, but they were demonstrating the Maryland Gun Works Sight-Pro adjustment tool. I've handled a number of sight adjustment tools over the years, none of which have particularly impressed me as being very sturdy. This impression has been reinforced through my friends' experiences, where sight adjustment tools tend to break after a few uses. The Sight-Pro is admittedly pricey, but if the higher price tag brings with it durability, then it's cheaper in the long run.

One thing to keep in mind it that while the main tool works for a wide variety of handguns, it does in fact require proprietary inserts to fit the slides on different guns. In the pictures below, you'll see a close-up of the Glock adapter. While it does mean you have parts you have to order if you add a new handgun, it also means you have a more precise fit than you'd get off of a generic one size fits all clamp setup.

The one drawback I've seen on the internet for these sight movers is that there have been several folks reporting problems in installing and adjusting certain after-market sights, depending on shape and design. Factory sights are a different matter however, and I have yet to see a negative word said about their operation with factory sights or sights which replicate the dimensions of factory sights. There's a 30 degree sight pusher attachment available for this sight though, which (depending, again, on the sight's geonetry) may actually take care of those problems.

The folks showing this tool at the show were very open about letting me take pictures, and responsive to questions. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to talk them into a review sample so I can't give hands-on usage experiences. I can however say that it felt really solid.

A close-up of the tool, fully assembled. Notice the thumb screws - using this tool does not tend to require wrenches, screwdrivers, etc.

This is the slide adapter for Glock pistols. Note the threaded hole in the center, by which it attaches to the rest of the sight tool. Note that this is fitted to the bottom of the slide, not the top - because the other half of the tool is the one with the "pusher" part.

The bottom of the tool. The large thumbscrew in the center, is used to tighten down the slide adapter (which we saw in the picture above). In this picture, the slide adapter is the gray piece directly opposite from the large screw in the bottom center. The large screws on either side of the adjustment tool are for clamping the slide securely.

A top-down view, showing the pads for gripping the sides of the slide.

Similar view to the one two pictures up, but this is the back side, which shows more clearly how the slide adapter is locked into place.

A view without the adapter installed. The two threaded caps are for securing the two halves of the sight adjustment tool together.

And this is the "business end" of the sight adjustment tool. This bar and crank is large and smoothly threaded, which lets it apply firm, unyielding, and precise force against recalcitrant sights. The delrin (or other hard plastic) white cylinder above is to provide a firm but non-marring surface when you clamp the slide into the adjustment block.

A side view of the pusher assembly. Note how much offset there is between the white plastic part and the rest of the slide.

The sight pusher adjustment handle. Notice that it's designed with a solid rod with a decent amount of distance, so that you can put a considerable amount of force on the actual sight.

This was at Booth 20126 of the 2014 SHOT show. I've taken to photographing the floorplates by booths just so that I don't risk completely losing track of the companies I've talked to.

-- SeanNewton - 26 Mar 2014