targeting a fixed sight revolver

[Charlie Horse]

I have a fixed sight 38. It consistently groups all loads to the left of the bullseye. Lighter boolets lower than heavy boolets. Light jacketed bullets way low.

So, in order to correct this I would file metal off the right side of the front sight, correct? The front sight is .115" thick. My plan is to take some wadcutters, a set of needle files, and a dial caliper to the range. Shoot, file, measure, shoot, etc. till I get it dialed in.

That sound right?

P.S. The front sight is part of the barrel. Any tips on how to mask the junction at the base of the sight so I don't put tool marks on the barrel?

[targetshootr]

Might be better to turn the barrel. What kind of gun and how old is it?

[Charlie Horse]

It's a new Taurus (and I really like it). The barrel housing is part of the brushed stainless frame. It has a shiny barrel insert. It groups very well. Seems like it should be a simple matter to stroke a few thousandths off one side of the front sight.

[targetshootr]

By filing on it the resell value will plummet. Most any smith could turn the barrel just a skosh.

[Dale53]

I've adjusted the point of impact in several fix sighted single actions. However, your Taurus is a different animal (less options). Mike Venturino did an excellent article on exactly how to do this with a single action.

You could also widen the rear sight slot. If it is done in a workman like manner, it shouldn't reduce the value at all. I only have the experience of selling one that I "regulated" and it was sold to a dealer. He was so glad it was regulated properly, that he paid me more than wholesale would cost him for a new gun. Of course, it was done in a workman like manner.

I beleive that "BASS ACKWARD" had some suggestions on regulating with ammo. My process was to first find a proper load that did what I wanted it to do and then regulated the sights for that load.

Remember, in may or may not shoot center with another load. Chances are, it will be regulated for one load only....

I know an old gunsmith of the "old school" (he's in his eighties) that has a factory set of dies that were used to bend barrels to regulate single actions "back in the day". That is another option. Frankly, I don't know what I think about that:roll: (but I guarantee you that it could work). The idea of the die blocks was that they allowed a "controlled" bend.

Dale53

[S.R.Custom]

Have the front sight milled off, and then have the barrel cut for a dove-tail...

[Charlie Horse]

Would you file off the right side of the front sight to move the group to the right?





kiss

[Lloyd Smale]

one thing a guy has to keep in mind when doing this is that personaly i can go out two different days and my poa will vary some. John Linebaugh told me once that a big problem is the position of the sun and how it hits your sights. GO VERY SLOW do it over a period of days not hours. Shoot file a tad shoot some more and go home and repeat it over a few days. Make darned sure the load you are using is the one you plan to stay with. Ive done it more then once. sighted in a fixed sighted gun and then found a load later that did better or served a different porpose and couldnt use it. Dovetailed fronts are a great deal. Ive got them on about a half a dozen guns and it helps alot. Turning the barrel is the proper way to do it if its possiblem. I wont turn a barrel to regulate a sight if it means turning it looser though. In that case id use the file.

[44man]

Lloyd says it best. Loads can move POI all over the target. Changing velocity with the same boolit can move up and down and boolit length can move side to side. But it is not set in stone and changing anything can give all kinds of results.
Good guns are built straight. The barrel is machined perfect, in the frame straight and sights are in the center. So when a load doesn't hit center, what causes it?
Fixed sight guns take a lot of work to find a load that hits where aimed. If it was easy, adjustable sights would not be needed.
One way to move for a load is to add masking tape to one side of the front sight, in your case, the left side. Trim it clean and keep adding thickness until you are centered. See if it can be done without losing all of the light between it and the rear sight. Then measure the thickness of the tape and make one out of metal and epoxy it to the side of the front sight. That way, you don't mess up the gun and the metal can be removed with a little heat if you change loads.
If there is a small notch for a rear sight, you can open it to the right a little if the front sight gets too wide. I would not try it if it is a long groove.
To turn the barrel for a left POI means tightening it more, very hard unless the barrel is removed and machined. I hate crooked sights too.
Trying to bend a sight almost always breaks it off. Bending the barrel makes it useless for other loads.
It is up to you what you want to do, personally, I would be trying other boolits and loads.

[Charlie Horse]

Every load I have shot through this gun has consistently hit about 2-3" left of the bull. Yes, the height differed, depending on the bullet weight. That's why I thought that it would be OK to center the sights vertically.

I do like the idea of the front dovetail. If only there was someone locally I could take it to. I'm near St. Louis. Know of anyone around here?

I rarely sell a gun. So it would be worth it to me to invest to have this done.

[slughammer]

Every load I have shot through this gun has consistently hit about 2-3" left of the bull.

OK, what distance are you shooting at and what is the sight radius (distance from front sight to rear sight)? We can calculate how much you need to take off to see if modifying your .115 sight is feasable.

At 25 yards with a 7.25 sight radius, you'd have to take off .020. (x = (2.5in/900in) x 7.25in)

At 7 yards with a 7.25 sight radius, you'd have to take off .069. (x = (2.5in/252in) x 7.25)

The best file to use is one with a "safe edge" take a standard file and cut the teeth off of one edge; best to do this with a belt sander because it will break the edge at the same time.

[Charlie Horse]

4 inch sight radius. Thanks for the "safe edge" tip.

I will take careful measurements and use the results as a guide.

File off right side of front sight to move group to the right, right?

[slughammer]

What distance are you shooting at? If it's 7 yards, then the number is .040 with your snubby. Will a .075 thick front work for you?


Yes, file on the right to move to the right.

[Charlie Horse]

My distance is 15 yards. If my calculations are correct the amount to be removed is .0185". My front sight is .115".

Yea, I could live with a front sight about 1/10" thick.:drinks:

[Dale53]

Lloyd has a very good point. I neglected to mention that I figure on at least three trips to the range as my eyes will change a bit sometimes. By going slow and removing just a bit each time I go to the range, I end up with a proper sight setting and don't go "too far".

Properly regulated, fixed sights can be a superior way to go. They are many times more rugged than adjustable sights. When I was shooting IPSC competition, I saw many top of the line adjustable sights fail (break) from the pounding that .45 ACP hard ball equivalent loads give a gun.

My Bisley Vaquero did not requite ANY regulation. It was dead on at 25 yards out of the box. My previous Vaquero had a front sight exactly centered but too high. It was an easy job (spread over three range sessions) to file it down until it hit dead on at 25 yards with the 250 grain bullet (Lyman Cowboy bullet).

My Bisley Vaquero hits dead on with black powder OR smokeless. Dern good revolver, if I say so myself... It also has a really good sight picture (my .44 Special Cimmarron does NOT, for example).

Dale53

[Charlie Horse]

I just got finished adding 3 layers of aluminum tape to the left side of my front sight. That added .015" to the thickness and hopefully moved the bullet strike 1" to the right at 15 yards. Now I need to go to the range.

[454PB]

The basic principal with open sights is:

move the front sight the opposite direction you want the bullet to go.....move the rear sight the same direction you want the bullet to go.

[Charlie Horse]

I shot it today with the tape. That moved the impact ALMOST far enough. Now I need a permanent fix. I need to file at least .015" off the right side of the front sight. I will start with .010 and go from there. Damn little Taurus is accurate for a snubbie. It will shoot minute-of-rabbit at 25 yards.