Colt Front Sights

Dovetail Front Sights for the Colt 1911s

NOTE -

Colt has used at least three different non-interchangeable dovetail front sights in the course of their production; the Novak, the Heinie and the C-More. You will need to compare your slide to those shown to determine which dovetail configuration that you have.

These dovetails differ in three main aspects - the distance from the front of the slide measured to the centerline of the dovetail, the depth of the dovetail and the front to back width of the dovetail.

The Novak dovetail centerline is typically cut about .330 to .365" from the front of the slide and the sight dovetail is .075" deep and .330" wide -w- 65° angle. The Novak and C-More are often mistaken for each other, usually people who have a C-More think it's a Novak. If you fit a Novak sight on a C-More slide, you'll likely have a gap between the top of the slide and bottom of the blade as well as the front of the blade will overhang the front of the slide. The dovetail joint may have gaps in it as well.

The Heinie dovetail centerline is typically cut about .250" from the front of the slide and the sight dovetail is .060" deep and .300" wide -w- 60° angle. The Heinie is obviously smaller than the other two in comparison.

The C-More dovetail centerline is typically cut about .275" from the front of the slide and the dovetail is .070" deep and .335 wide -w- 65° angle. The most obvious difference between the C-More and the Novak is that the C-More's dovetail is not centered on the blade's length, it is located more to the front of the slide. If you were to mistakenly fit a C-More sight to a Novak, it will mount with a big space in front of the sight blade and the front of the slide, in other words the sight will be too far back and look off. Plus you'll likely have gaps in the fit between the slide and sight in the dovetail joint.

There are pictures comparing the C-More and Novak dovetails in the C-More section.