SR1911 broken front sight

Took my brand new SR1911 to the range and proceeded to put a couple hundred rounds through it. After maybe the first hundred rounds I put in the mag, took five shots, and noticed my front sight had snapped off. The base of the sight was still in the dovetail but the blade was nowhere to be found. Ruger shipped me a new one right away but I was wondering if anyone else here has had this problem and if I should look for it to happen again with the factory sights?

It's a contracted passive part. Defects happen. It would be the responsibility of any gun owner to periodically inspect her/his weapon .

Now you're aware of a potential failure mode, I'm sure you'll keep an eye on the replacement.

Another example of why we always wear vision protection.

You're the first I've heard of. Did you bang up against something and not realize it? Ruger doesn't make these sights as far as I know. Still strange that it would just fall off without any help. Thanks for information.

LOTS of sights these days are MIM. A friend just got a Colt rear sight and it was MIM.
I'm guessing we'll be seeing more and more sight breakage on all pistols.
If I have to replace any of mine, it will be with 1018 or O1 steel.

And I've seen steel sights pop right off of Glocks.

Stuff happens.

The Wall said:

You're the first I've heard of. Did you bang up against something and not realize it? Ruger doesn't make these sights as far as I know. Still strange that it would just fall off without any help. Thanks for information.

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Nope! I've babied it since I got it out of the box. It was there one shot and gone the next. I looked at the replacement Ruger sent and it honestly feels like its plastic.

Mine broke off a couple of days ago.
Took a little under 1000 rounds.

bsnake said:

LOTS of sights these days are MIM. A friend just got a Colt rear sight and it was MIM.
I'm guessing we'll be seeing more and more sight breakage on all pistols.
If I have to replace any of mine, it will be with 1018 or O1 steel.

Click to expand...

MIM-manufactured parts have nothing to do with a shear failure. Such a non-impact part would not be compromised simply by being cast, forged, or metal-injection over one another. In fact the MIM design could have better radii, creating fewer stress risers that could eventually develop a linear crack. Defects happen. I've had a dovetailed front sight shear off on a Kimber, I believe it as a Wilson part? Always wear eye protection.

mohavesam said:

bsnake said:

LOTS of sights these days are MIM. A friend just got a Colt rear sight and it was MIM.
I'm guessing we'll be seeing more and more sight breakage on all pistols.
If I have to replace any of mine, it will be with 1018 or O1 steel.

Click to expand...

MIM-manufactured parts have nothing to do with a shear failure. Such a non-impact part would not be compromised simply by being cast, forged, or metal-injection over one another. In fact the MIM design could have better radii, creating fewer stress risers that could eventually develop a linear crack. Defects happen. I've had a dovetailed front sight shear off on a Kimber, I believe it as a Wilson part? Always wear eye protection.

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I should have said " If I MACHINE one to replace mine, it will be 1018 or O1 steel". When I machine sights or other parts, I DO leave a radius where ever I can to help stop stress cracking. I have one customer that occasionally has me make custom sights with different colored sight inserts.

mohavesam said:

bsnake said:

LOTS of sights these days are MIM. A friend just got a Colt rear sight and it was MIM.
I'm guessing we'll be seeing more and more sight breakage on all pistols.
If I have to replace any of mine, it will be with 1018 or O1 steel.

Click to expand...

MIM-manufactured parts have nothing to do with a shear failure. Such a non-impact part would not be compromised simply by being cast, forged, or metal-injection over one another.

Click to expand...

Ummmm .... not so sure about that .... MIM would be FAR more likely to fail in any application. It's just metal shavings 'glued' together by heat. As many places to fail as there are shavings in the part.


REV

Metal injection molding consists of finely-measured and controlled nano-size "powder" metal compounds molded under extreme heat (normally the alpha temp, where the metallic becomes "plastic" and bonds with itself on a molecular level) and pressure with a polymer binder for edge definition. It is very closely aligned to powder granules welding themselves to one another, rather than being bonded together with a catalyst.

MIM parts can have shut lines, or "knit lines", where interruptions in the flow are experienced - but this is common to any casting process part design also. There are numerous process controls required for MI molding, it is assuredly not a low-tech manufacturing method. There are no "metal shavings" involved.

In fact, the metal properties of a material do not change in an MIM part, and the materials' strength can be increased with any work-hardening, heat treating or non-displacement coining process (re-strike within the mold). many MIM parts include a re-strike to increased pressures within the initial mold.

Ruger's design team does not make structural mistakes very often. I trust their diligence is intact when considering MIM parts meeting the company's long reputation for strength and durability.

I agree with all that MS !! But as was mentioned above ... the front sights are supposedly a contract part, which means that Ruger's typical metalurgical skills may not come completely into play. Also ... there can be good MIM and less-good MIM. Maybe they got a bad batch.

Also ... MIM is typically used in non stressed parts (like a sight), which is how the nickname MIMber came about. Kimber had numerous and regular failures of their slide stops, safety levers, and hammers when they first started with the MIM substitution of parts.

MIM parts are so unreliable that typically, a 1911 builder will strip a customer's base gun and replace every single MIM part that is on the gun with either forged, metalurgically cast, or machined replacements.

Given a choice ... I don't think there would be anybody that would choose a MIM part over a forged, cast, or machined part.

Would you ?


REV

Well, yes. Aftermarket 'smiths have the option of using - and charging for - more expensive "custom-made parts. They also do NOT have the engineering expertise of a floor full of real degree-ed design engineers, nor do they have cost ceilings, etc. And yes, forged, $75 per pound titanium
parts still break, and are still problematic in their own right.

I suspect that when asked, a custom aftermarket 'smith can say that an MIM part is inferior to a cast or forged part for a given purpose, but when asked to prove how, they'll stutter...

May point is that metal injection is 21st-century real technology and is not patently inferior to other methods for a given set of design parameters. As someone who's made a living in materials engineering for a few decades, I can fully understand the use of MIM manufacturing methods for some types of components.
As with all things, remember the simple truth that "Everything is 100% guaranteed until it breaks."

My front sight broke too.
I ordered a proper .215" height novak from Midway.

The MIM process is used to produce cam shafts and gears. Neither one of these is a "low stress" application.

Everybody talked trash when Ruger used cast parts, now no one thinks about it..

Mine broke yesterday and I am not happy.

Ruger is great and have sent a shipping label but the process is not that simple. They want the complete gun and a magazine. They will have it 10 to 14 days.

I can only take the gun to a UPS customer Center. Closest one is 40 miles away. If I can find a truck I can hand it off.

While shooting the front sight sheared off. Hope you can see it in the photo. Less than 300 rounds and the gun has never been in a holster.

Ruger will make it right but it is a pain. Am I to trust the next sight that is installed?

This is just getting weird.

Skalkaho Slim said:

This is just getting weird.

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Never seen a forged or cast sight break .... EVER.


REV

Precision32 said:

The MIM process is used to produce cam shafts and gears. Neither one of these is a "low stress" application.

Everybody talked trash when Ruger used cast parts, now no one thinks about it..

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Maybe we ought to get the cam shaft mfgrs to make Ruger's front sights ...

REV

Here is another picture. The base is still intact and the sight simply broke off.