I'm sure some of you already know all of this, but it is new to me so I'll pass it along for those members who don't already know it. The photo at the bottom shows the parts I'm referring to.

Recently a member posted that he needed a particular screw for his Model 44 rear sight. I didn't think I would have one because even though Ole Dog & I purchased a bunch of OEM parts some time back, they all appear to be for small frames and not large frames. However I do have a separate stash of parts that I have collected over time and it turns out that I did have one hiding among those parts. The little screw that got this whole discussion started has an allen head and fits in the top right side of the sight body just forward of where the windage screw enters on the right side of the sight body.

I remember buying this particular screw off eBay. It was advertised as a latch retaining screw for large frame Dans. Turns out that the seller was wrong. It is the retaining screw for the windage screw on a rear sight. I didn't even know I had any DW's with this particular version of rear sight, but I do have at least 3. This sight model was used on large and small frames. I have not tried to nail down the time frame it was used but I have it on a Monson 722 and a Palmer 7445.

The screw in question is the top one, closest to the sight in the photo. The bottom screw is a latch retention screw and the middle screw is a front sight retention screw. They all have the same threads and the same size allen wrench fits each of them.

After further checking, it turns out that the latch retaining screws in the large and small frames are the same part. The latch screw will actually fit into the sight but the windage screw will not function properly because the lower, unthreaded shaft of the latch screw is too thick. This is readily apparent in the photo. The screw for the sight may actually work as a replacement for the latch retaining screw, but I did not try it.

If you need to replace this model sight on your Dan, other models of small frame sights will fit as well as the rear sight for many Ruger revolver models (GP100, New Model Blackhawk and Single-six, etc) and the Williams Firesight fiber-optic that is made to fit the same Ruger models. Brownells sells the Ruger OEM style for $15.99, a bargain if you need a sight.

Hope this info is useful to someone. 

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