Ruger SR1911 Front Sight issue

[polyphemus]

The front sight is MIM,and that makes it prone to weak spot failure.
You have to look at the fracture patterns and they all appear to have been
sheared of at the corners.There has to be a stress point somewhere,the top of
the sight doesn't just fly off,so if the front section is touching the slide and
there is any expansion difference the weak spot is going to take a beating.
A machined or forged part will have more structural strength and should take
a closer fit,as I pointed out R1911 owners grumble about their front sight
sitting too high but not about it breaking off.
It is a known issue,they are all over the place from a few thou to nothing in
between,my bet is that the ones with nothing in between are the ones that fail.

[sigxder]

Saw one do the same thing at our range last week. A couple of mags through it and the front sight was gone. Almost exactly like your picture. Wonder if they had a run of bad sights. Maybe the metal heat treated improperly? Too brittle?

[Brian48]

Just checked my recently purchased commander. There is a visible gap between the top of the slide and the bottom of the front sight projection in front of the dovetail. Haven't measured it, but it looks to be about the thickness of 2 post-it notes.

I wonder if the presence/absence of that gap will be diagnostic of eventual failure.

Actually, it does. I noticed the amount of daylight got progressive more pronounced just before my second factory sight sheared off. I take it the inertia of the slide going back was gradually bending the post backwards until it eventually broke. I complained enough when I sent it back that Ruger gave me the Fiber Optic one instead. This is a much sturdier option, and if you believe what's in their ad, made from barstock. So far, it's held up pretty well for me.

[polyphemus]

I noticed the amount of daylight got progressive more pronounced just before my second factory sight sheared off

By the time it started curling up it was already broken,a magnifier lens would
have revealed stress cracks starting at the front.This is obviously a calculated
gamble,I guess they figure it will be cheaper to replace the returns and use up their stock than to install non defective sights.They have doing this for a while
already so let's hope the supply of bum sights runs out and people can concentrate on the pistol.

[Brian48]

After the second sight had broke off and having observed the behavior shortly before it went, I looked at all my other 1911s with dovetailed front sights. In all occurrences, including the new fiber optic that Ruger installed, there is a little bit of overhang towards the rear of the sight. Given how fragile the sight is, I believe this little bit of metal could have helped serve as a brake of some sort and prevented the sight from bending backwards so much, thus minimizing the type of metal fatigue that we are seeing here. My SW1911 in particular, uses a sight that I suspect is MIM as well, but has this little bit of overhang typical of most front sights. The factory Ruger sight has nothing. The rear of the front is flush with dove tail groove.

[In memory of dad]

Ruger makes good firearms but they shouldn't have this problem! Ruger p90 45 was a hell of tank of a Firearm . Went from that to this! What a shame. Hope they get it right.

[polyphemus]

there is a little bit of overhang towards the rear of the sight

Right,GI sights have equal amounts front and back.If it's flush with the slide
there should be material on both sides otherwise you need a gap to avoid
leverage fracture.