I have a SA 1911 Mill Spec .45, with a standard 3 dot sight. If I wanted to change the sights to Trijcon night sights, I dont think i can do this myself.. How much should i expect to pay a gunsmith to do this?

call Lewis at Armament Gunsmithing in Hillside. He's open from Monday to Sat.
ph # 908-686-0960.

I think the Mil Spec has staked on front sight. That's probably a bit harder to do it yourself.

The regular dove tailed slides are easy to change. A sight pusher definitely makes it easy but brass punch will do the job. I changed the sights on my Les Baer myself sans the front sight pin.

Yea its the staked in kind. Question: can a gunsmith change the style? Or would i have to order a new slide that has the dove tail cuts?

Yes... The smith can machine a dovetail cut on your existing slide.

The staked in method is traditional for a 1911. You should Have a gunsmith do it as to do it properly you need a staking tool.

You're not going to order a new slide. It will be most cost prohibitive. it must be fitted to both the barrel and frame.

Frank

Yea its the staked in kind. Question: can a gunsmith change the style? Or would i have to order a new slide that has the dove tail cuts?

Based on my experience I'd get a dovetail cut for the front sight. A pistolsmith should be able to do this. I have a 70 series Combat Commander that I had a set of high profile sights installed with the front sight staked back in the 70s by a nationally known pistolsmith. No one was doing dovetail front sights then. It kept loosening nad he kept tightening them back up until I had the front sight silver soldered and slide refinished. That sight eventually broke off. Had a new set installed same thing. Had a dovetail cut and new front sight done and it's workling well. I don't think anyone can stake front sights on as good as the factory. I've probably had maybe 50,000 rds through this gun and guns with the same mileage and factory staked sights haven't given me any problem.

That's been my experience.