Old Vaquero sights

[161]

I have a OM Vaquero .44 Mag. It shoots very well but to the left. How do you fix this? Do they bend the front sight or just live with it??

[gray wolf]

I wouldn't bend the front sight, some folks take a little of the offending side on the rear sight channel. While others send it back to Ruger so they can Re-index the barrel.

[wrench man]

I have the same revolver, it also shoots to the left?, I was told it's because I'm right handed??, there might be a whisker of truth to that??, as the S&W M&P 38 Special I shot last weekend printed to the left as well?, the sights on my Blackhawk have been adjusted to compensate.

[161]

I have the same revolver, it also shoots to the left?, I was told it's because I'm right handed??, there might be a whisker of truth to that??, as the S&W M&P 38 Special I shot last weekend printed to the left as well?, the sights on my Blackhawk have been adjusted to compensate.
:-o And I thought it was because I'm left handed..

[300savage]

Have the barrel twisted to the left

[Shooter]

Stick more trigger finger over the trigger if you are right handed.
Somewhere on the net is a chart that shows gripping issues and point of impact they cause.
IIRC it was printed by Lee.

[ironhead7544]

You can have the barrel turned or get a dovetailed front sight installed. The dovetail setup will allow future windage changes easily if you change loads.

[DougGuy]

Practice dry firing. What do the sights do when the hammer falls? If the front sight jumps to the left, there's your whole problem. Many shooters choose to put the Wolff reduced power trigger return spring in a Ruger single action revolver, because it is usually easier to hold the sights steady while firing.

Take a grip panel off and pull one leg of the trigger spring off the pin and let it hang. Practice dry firing, and take a mental "image" of what the front sight did when the hammer falls. Move your trigger finger around on the trigger, try placing the trigger closer to the end of your finger, and closer to the first knuckle. Practice until you can hold the front sight motionless, then go back to the range and shoot the gun the exact same way you did in practice.

This above exercise will determine if it is you, or the gun, causing it to shoot left. Once you are certain you are holding the sights still while firing and it still shoots left, I would send it back to Ruger and let them fix it. That's a pretty common anomaly with the Vaqueros, mine was shooting horribly left and they fixed it with a new cylinder or so they say, I couldn't see where they turned the barrel and they moved the poi almost a foot to the right, that put the windage dead on at 25yds.

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Shoot many 5 shot groups and save your targets. Shoot your groups the way you shoot your pistol, most people shoot two hand hold off hand, don't waste your time bench resting unless that is how you intent to shoot it. Then have a 'smith turn the barrel to zero for windage, send him your targets with the gun. Then repeat the process after the barrel is turned, your groups should be low. Then file off the top of the front sight a little bit at a time until you are zeroed for elevation.

Of course only initiate the above after you have decided on your boolit, alloy etc, and powder and charge.

After you have filed off the top of the front sight to zeroed for elevation, the front sight should be a little too wide for the rear notch, simply file off a little off the side of the front sight. This will fine tune the windage to zero. Touch up the finished front sight with a little cold blue and you are done.

When filing off the top of the front sight, I like to lay the pistol up side down with a stack of targets under the rear sight as thick as the file under the front sight. The file is stationary and I move the front sight of the pistol across the file. I do all this at the range. Shoot, file shoot, file. Try not to do it all in one day.

[161]

Thanks for the help I'll try using less finger on the trigger since I'm a lefty. The gun has a nice trigger job on it.

[Dan Cash]

Practice and check your grip. It is possible that the sight is off but.... When I started shooting a single action Colt it hit high and to the left. (I m right handed.) I found that I was doing the same with double action revolvers but my 1911 pistols with fixed sights were dead on. By concentrating on the amount of finger on the trigger and pulling straight to the rear and rigorous follow through, the point of impact matched the point of aim.