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The CZ 75 series of pistols have a unique way of retaining the front sight. While it’s not the only pistol to use a roll pin for front sight retention, it also uses a tight dovetail channel for the sight to sit in. I mentioned the factory photoluminescent sights in the review I wrote for the CZ SP-01 Phantom. The factory sights aren’t bad, and I would prefer factory sights to be photoluminescent if they aren’t night sights. However, I had also mentioned in that review that the Phantom would be taking over nightstand duty. I have a preference for my defensive pistols to have at least a front night sight for an easy reference point in the dark (while on the stand or in my hand). I opted for doing just the front sight for now as it was easier on the wallet.
I ordered a Meprolight front night sight for the Phantom and was eager to dig in. I will note that I’m not a gunsmith or machinist, I just like working with my hands and saving some cash for something that looks simple enough. The following method was what I did and I tried to follow the suggested steps from CZ and Meprolight as much as possible. I also don’t have every tool for every job, so some of my processes were improvised but done with care. I also wanted to take my time since I was using force on a small item that contained radioactive material.
REPLACING THE FRONT SIGHT ON A CZ 75, my DIY method
To begin with, I needed to punch out the front sight retaining pin. A 5/64 inch punch was just the right size. I ended up removing the barrel and recoil spring, then put the slide back onto the frame. This allowed me to use the side of my hand to steady the frame, and in turn, the slide.
Once the retaining pin was removed, the front sight needed to be pushed out of the channel it sat in. For this, I used a flat-head screwdriver with the head wrapped in cloth so as not to damage the factory sight. I lightly tapped the end of the screwdriver with a hammer while holding the slide vertically on the edge of a board so the front sight had somewhere to go. It was pretty tight, so I constantly made sure my cloth was in place.
Once the factory sight was off, I got out the Meprolight night sight. I could partially push it in by hand, but it had to be tapped in the rest of the way. To do that, I used a rubber screwdriver handle.
Once the Meprolight front sight was in place, it needed to be drilled so the pin could be put back into place. This part made me nervous. If my measurements were correct, my desired drill bit was slightly larger than the Meprolight directions called for, but the bit had fit into the pinhole before I put the new sight on, so I went for it. The drill bit was also 5/64″. I felt that removing the Meprolight sight might be damaging to it using my screwdriver method, so I opted to just clean out the drilled material with a piece of toilet paper.
The final step was replacing the front sight retaining pin. One end of it kept hanging up on the inside of the hole, so I used a file to create a bevel on that side of the pin and it went in on the next try.
I hope you have found this DIY CZ 75 front sight replacement pictorial helpful. I also hope I haven’t made any gunsmiths gnash their teeth at my method. Have any of you done your own front sight replacement on CZ models or any other guns, or do you leave it to the professionals?
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