Fixed sight solution.

[HathcockProtege]

Well, today is Saturday (even with the nasty rain/high winds) So, a trip to the range seemed the thing to do.

This New England Firearms R92 had been shooting low and to the left with about everything I put through it, so I decided it was time to make it shootable. (Sorry, pic is just from my enV3.)
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Took some 5-minute epoxy, built up an eighth inch or so on top of the fixed notched rear sight and let it set up. When I got to the range, I figured out the windage pretty quick and then worked on filing a clean groove down at that point. After that, it was a fairly simple (though time-consuming) process to file down the top of the new "sight" to work the elevation down to where it needed to be. It worked fine, but I was wondering what other routes you all might have taken in the same situation.

Revolver was worth about $85 new; maybe $40 in its current condition. Barrel is pinned, so it couldn't have been twisted to correct the windage, and the front sight would have had to be filed down to almost nothing to gain the elevation I needed. Barrel and cylendar are suffering from bluing cancer, grips need refinished, and gun is mechanically sound.

If I ever have to do this again? What would you recommend? The only thing I don't like about this method is that it was messy and took a lot of time to sight in...shoot, file, shoot file, ad nausium. I liked the fact it cost me next to nothing since the gun itself has almost 0 resale value.

Also thought I would share this in case there were any fellow rookies on here or anyone in the same predicament with a junker gun that was just laying around being useless.

-The Kid.

 

[ivanthesane]

Re: Fixed sight solution.

Think you had an excellent idea as to how to fix it... now I'm tempted to try and build up a chunk of JB Weld on a shotgun barrel and file a sight into it...

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Fixed sight solution.

We would 'regulate' fixed handgun sights by varying bullet and charge weight to alter the barrel transit time. A longer transit time would result in a longer recoil pulse before the bullet exited, which would raise the POI; and vice-versa.

Windage issues could usually be resolved by gently drifting the rear sights using brass punches intended for such usage. A gunsmith can explain this process, if necessary. Done correctly, these two techniques could result in dead-on accuracy without significant alterations to the firearms.

We considered this a better approach than making alterations to fireams themselves, which could have negative effect on the values of more collectable specimens.

Greg

 

[HathcockProtege]

Re: Fixed sight solution.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Greg Langelius *</div><div class="ubbcode-body">We would 'regulate' fixed handgun sights by varying bullet and charge weight to alter the barrel transit time. A longer transit time would result in a longer recoil pulse before the bullet exited, which would raise the POI; and vice-versa.

Windage issues could usually be resolved by gently drifting the rear sights using brass punches intended for such usage. A gunsmith can explain this process, if necessary. Done correctly, these two techniques could result in dead-on accuracy without significant alterations to the firearms.

We considered this a better approach than making alterations to fireams themselves, which could have negative effect on the values of more collectable specimens.

Greg </div></div>

Greg (Fabulous title, btw.),
The rear sight on this .22 LR revolver was a simple groove cut into the top strap (Correct part name? I'm not a handgun guy). Therefore, unless I misunderstand your suggestions, it would not be applicable to this firearm. Forgive me if I'm being ignorant, but I don't think you're going to "drift" a top strap (?) anywhere without compromising the structural/mechanical integrity of the firearm.

As to elevation changes by varying the load...sounds good, but after putting about 7 different kinds of ammo through this revolver, I've yet to see a significant difference in POI. All brands/weights (Rem, Fed, CCI; 29-40 g, 710-1300fps) tested hit low and to the left from 5-7 inches, depending on the load.

The barrel length is 3.5 inches and even off sandbags I can only get it to shoot 1.5-2 inch groups at 15 yards. But then I'm no handgunner.

Interesting post though, thanks.

-The Kid.

 

[HathcockProtege]

Re: Fixed sight solution.

Ivan, yeah...it can be done, but unless the shotgun is a junker, you should consider having the receiver drilled to accept some sort of sight. It's not terribly complicated from what I understand. Lot's of options for a scattergun.

If your using it for wing shooting, most of us would do best to use a very low profile bead on the front and leave it at that. For instance, Mossberg's huge white front bead is entirely too large and should be replaced with their brass mid-rib bead after destroying the original front bead.

For turkey or other stationary targets, a good red dot sight is hard to beat. But, if it's a beater, JBWeld is a good option.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

Re: Fixed sight solution.

Good point, and I wasn't aware we were talking .22, either, which negates my other advice. Sorry, I missed the boat entirely this time.

Greg