Shoots Low

[smokemjoe]

I got a Kimber Crimson with fixed sights, At 50 feet it shoots 3 in below the aim of sights with all my loads, The front sight is .160 tall, What can I do to bring it to point of aim, Thanks- Joe

[Hickory]

Make the front sight .155 and see how that shoots.

[Longwood]

Try modifying your load.
Recoil has a very strong influence on how high/low a pistol shoots.

[smokemjoe]

Make the front sight .155 and see how that shoots.

Will .005 make that much difference , All my loads shoot low also, Thanks- Joe

[Rico1950]

Smokemjoe, try this.




http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/lid=13093/GunTechdetail/Sight_Correction_Calculator

[Rico1950]

Or this.


http://www.dawsonprecision.com/images/Instructions/FrontSightHeight.pdf

[flounderman]

Take a file to the front sight. First thing is are you seeing the front sight clear. Your vision could be the problem. If it is a clear sharp picture, then file the front sight down a few strokes.

[smokemjoe]

Take a file to the front sight. First thing is are you seeing the front sight clear. Your vision could be the problem. If it is a clear sharp picture, then file the front sight down a few strokes.

Yea, I am on chemo ever 3 weeks, but want to enjoy shooting also while I can, You guys are a world of help. I thank- you the most. Joe

[Uncle R.]

Will .005 make that much difference , All my loads shoot low also, Thanks- Joe

Joe:
If the sight radius is 6 inches on your Kimber (?) then the front sight would have to be lowered just about 30 thousandths to move your groups up three inches at 50 feet. If you DO decide to go at it with a file I'd take maybe half of that at first and then fire a couple of groups to see how much change you've made. Best to gradually "sneak up on" the perfect height. As you well know it's a lot easier to take metal off than it is to put it back on.
<
I'm glad to see that you're feeling well enough to enjoy some time with your guns and your tools. Best wishes to you always.
Uncle R.

[David2011]

Milder loads may shoot higher as well. The slower the boolit goes the more time it spends in the barrel while the gun responds to recoil, thus printing higher.

At 50 yards the difference of the POI between .44 Specials and .44 Mag in my Contender is HUGE. So is the recoil!

David.

[Longwood]

Milder loads may shoot higher as well. The slower the boolit goes the more time it spends in the barrel while the gun responds to recoil, thus printing higher.

At 50 yards the difference of the POI between .44 Specials and .44 Mag in my Contender is HUGE. So is the recoil!

David.


Yep,,,,

I would experiment with loads before I Bubba'd the gun.

[Artful]

Bullet weight and velocity change barrel time and recoil - unless you are set on the load your currently using I'd suggest fiddling with the load to make it shoot to point of aim.

What load / bullet weight are you using now? And do you have a load that you used in the past that shot to Point Of Aim?


Yea, I am on chemo ever 3 weeks, but want to enjoy shooting also while I can, You guys are a world of help. I thank- you the most. Joe

Good luck in your fight, my wife is a 5 year survivor, so it can be done.

[Longwood]

I jump back when people tell me to start filling 'ANYWHERE' on a new gun.
Work on your loads and your hold.
Shooting one and reloading for a pistol can be a lot more complicated than some people make it out to be. When you see progress, work in that direction. If all else fails, work with the sight.

I had a 45 given to me once that I had to spend a lot of money on to get it to shoot again because someone had tried to shoot his "Special", reloads with it and had ruined the front sight.

[2shot]

My Kimber did the same thing and I sent it back to Kimber and told them to put a new lower front sight on. I had a hard time convincing the gunsmith on the phone that I wanted to have the bullets hit at the top of the front sight at 50 feet. He insisted that the way to shoot the gun with a 3 dot sight system is to have the bullets hit where the front dot is sitting. I have never shot a target that I couldn't see and told him that doing it his way was just taking a guess at where the bullets would hit because the dot does not sit at the top of the front sight. He finally agreed to put a shorter front sight on. Now my reloads and factory loads hit where they should. Right on top of the front sight.

To put it another way. Before the front sight was changed if I was shooting at a rabbits head at 50 feet I would have had to cover the rabbits head with the front sight and not know if I was holding correctly, pull the trigger and hope. The dot on the front sight might be on the rabbits head but there is no way of telling because the post of the front sight would be covering the whole head of the rabbit. Now I can have the rabbits eye sitting in the middle and on top of the front sight and I will hit the rabbit in the eye with my shot.

Send the slide back and tell them to put the lower front sight on. They did mine and didn't charge a dime for anything including shipping. I got my slide back in 4 days from when I sent it in.

2shot

[waksupi]

My Kimber did the same thing and I sent it back to Kimber and told them to put a new lower front sight on. I had a hard time convincing the gunsmith on the phone that I wanted to have the bullets hit at the top of the front sight at 50 feet. He insisted that the way to shoot the gun with a 3 dot sight system is to have the bullets hit where the front dot is sitting. I have never shot a target that I couldn't see and told him that doing it his way was just taking a guess at where the bullets would hit because the dot does not sit at the top of the front sight. He finally agreed to put a shorter front sight on. Now my reloads and factory loads hit where they should. Right on top of the front sight.

To put it another way. Before the front sight was changed if I was shooting at a rabbits head at 50 feet I would have had to cover the rabbits head with the front sight and not know if I was holding correctly, pull the trigger and hope. The dot on the front sight might be on the rabbits head but there is no way of telling because the post of the front sight would be covering the whole head of the rabbit. Now I can have the rabbits eye sitting in the middle and on top of the front sight and I will hit the rabbit in the eye with my shot.

Send the slide back and tell them to put the lower front sight on. They did mine and didn't charge a dime for anything including shipping. I got my slide back in 4 days from when I sent it in.

2shot

I agree 100%. I want to have the top center of that sight where I want to hit. I file, then test, never trying to do it all at one time. If a person should bugger a sight, it is one of the least expensive things to replace. The three dot is okay for close up and personal social issues, but if you like to actually go out and shoot, you have a smaller chance of hitting a gopher at 30 yards when trying to guess where it is behind that front sight.