Bending SBH front sight???

[AR15-SBR]

My SBH is shooting about 9" to the left of the Point Of Aim with the rear sight cranked all the way over to the right. I noticed that the front sight appears to "leaning" to the right which would explain the shooting to the left.

I was wondering if anyone has tried tapping the front sight blade with a small hammer to bend it in an attempt to change the point of impact?

Thanks

AR15-SBR

 

[contender]

Welcome to the Forum!
The front sight on blued guns is silver soildered on. Tapping or trying to bend it could POSSIBILY cause ot to break off. Yes,, on some guns a slight bend has been a method of windage adjustment. Usually it's a Vaquero that folks are able to bend slightly.
Now,, if the front sight is canted to the left,, I'd suggest sending back to Ruger for proper repairs.
Have you considered your shooting might be an issue? Have you let someone else who is knowledgable in shooting single-actions try it? If you are a right handed shooter,, some of the issues could be too much or too little trigger finger on the trigger causing a push to the left. Another issue could be the anticipation of recoil or not allowing follow through after the shot.
Since we've never met,, and I can't see you shoot,, it's hard to determine what,, IF ANY issues you may have. But, as an instructor,, I do see shooter error enough to bring these things up.
Lastly,, the strength of the front fight on the blued guns is such that if you do try to tap it sideways,, you could damage it. If your gun is stainless there is a replacable front sight insert. It would be possible to have a gunsmith bend the blade only w/o damage to the gun.
Just a few thoughts.

 

[edlmann]

The front sight on blued guns is silver soildered on. Tapping or trying to bend it could POSSIBILY cause ot to break off. Yes,, on some guns a slight bend has been a method of windage adjustment. Usually it's a Vaquero that folks are able to bend slightly.
{edited}
Lastly,, the strength of the front fight on the blued guns is such that if you do try to tap it sideways,, you could damage it. If your gun is stainless there is a replacable front sight insert. It would be possible to have a gunsmith bend the blade only w/o damage to the gun.

I suppose the barrel could be indexed incorrectly, although I've never heard of this being a problem with the single actions.

Off the top of my head, I suppose the blade of the sight could be removed (milled/filed/ground flush with the wider base portion) and a standard 3/8" dovetail cut into the remainder of the front sight to take a sight which then could be drifted as required.

 

[rugerguy]

Welcome to the Forum, as said above, you
tap"or try to "bend" a soldered on 'item' it can and will break off......you say "leaning to the right" (looking at it from the rear or from the front???

if the barrel is NOT 'indexed" properly,not at 'top dead center' and either "short" or gone 'past' TDC, then you need to have the barrel "indexed" using the proper tooling...barrel and frame wrenches...yes folks have 'adjusted things over the years using "home brew" (can you say 'bubba') techniques, but things do happen, frames may crack or bend, and things can come loose.............if its that "
obvious" then have it done RIGHT, you may want to contact the factory OR a good, competant gunsmith in your area to remedy...............
sounds like the barrel needs "tweek" (adjustment)

 

[AR15-SBR]

Thank you for the warm welcome.

Trigger finger placement could be part of my problem and I will work on it the next trip to the range.

The SBH in question is Stainless and I just installed a taller front sight blade, so if I break the blade I could always replace it fairly easily. I noticed when I was drilling the hole the steel was very soft, which makes me think I can get a slight bend without breaking it.

I am trying to avoid sending the gun back to Ruger if at all possible and I prefer to fix these things myself.

Thanks

AR15-SBR

 

[CraigC]

No, the proper way to zero it is to turn the barrel. Not for the faint of heart, it can be accomplished without the services of a gunsmith.

 

[AR15-SBR]

Is there a FAQ here that explains how to turn the barrel? I searched earlier and didn't find anything.

If not would you care to explain the process.

Thanks

AR15-SBR

 

[Jimbo357mag]

I am no expert but if the gun is stainless I think I would go ahead and bend the sight blade. That would be the easiest fix for the problem. Worst case, the sight breaks and you replace it. I think I would take the sight out of the gun and put it in a vice to do the bending.

Turning the barrel can be a big problem. :shock: :shock:

...Jimbo

 

[powder smoke]

Bending the front sight to me would be a a hack job. You have a couple of good suggestions as mentioned above.

1. Send to ruger and explain your dis satifaction and they'll fix it usually No Charge.

2. Turn the barrel with proper tooling remember the frame of the gun can be tweeked without a proper frame wrench, might be a job left to the experts.

3. See 1

ps

 

[flatgate]

Remove the sight blade. Clamp it in a good vice. Apply some heat, and bend it a tiny bit. Sight blades are cheap.

Bowen wrote a tremendous article on "homeboy" barrel turning. I'd not hesitate to follow his "lead".........

JMHO,

flatgate

PS, some simple math will let you calculate exactly how much to bend the blade or turn the barrel.

 

[rugerguy]

Yep, them "home boy" techniques can and will work, but they also "FUBAR" I know we've had to repair more than our fair share of stuff done by "bubba" and "schwock industries" ( another "schwock job") :roll:
frames do bend and they do 'crack', besides, have yet to see one where they did NOT BOOGER the finish of the barrel or the frame in some way.......
even with the proper tools still got to use 'rosin'.....yep, then we get to 'redo" the barrels or the frames to remove all the wrench marks and scuffs from the bluing..................absolutely better with stainless, then at least one can polish,grind, and buff out the scratches....besides, we just HATE to look down any barrel and "see" the sight 'body' off to one side or the other, and the blade bent in another direction,that just ain't "kosher".....roll our eyes and hand the gun back.......grandpa always said if its worth doing ANY job, do it right................and stuff under warranty is just what it infers. new guns are NOT 'supposed" to be like that.
Just my .02 cents, and lots of that kinda stuff (work) sitting on tables at any given gun show, they want to get rid of it too............. 8)

 

[Bucks Owin]

10X Dan...

My pre warning NM .45 BH has the same malady as the AR15's. "One of these days" I'll let Ruger fix it when the odd look of the rear sight sitting hard over to the right annoys me enough...

(But since it does sight in, and I'm having such fun burning powder in it, who knows how soon! :lol: )

 

[tek4260]

A light trigger, proper grip, and proper finger placement will take a lot of that out! I had the problem with all my SA's a few years ago. Reading here, and practicing has caused my revolvers to go from shooting left to shooting to the right and I had to center my sights again to center my POI.

Read a bit, lighten the trigger, burn around 10lbs of H110, and tell us where your sights end up.

 

[Bucks Owin]

A light trigger, proper grip, and proper finger placement will take a lot of that out! I had the problem with all my SA's a few years ago. Reading here, and practicing has caused my revolvers to go from shooting left to shooting to the right and I had to center my sights again to center my POI.

Read a bit, lighten the trigger, burn around 10lbs of H110, and tell us where your sights end up.

I know what you mean, but this truly is visibly out of whack, the front sight lists to starboard. :wink:

 

[gunboat57]

Page 4 of this thread shows the method I've used to check for front sight misalignment. It's easy to do if you have a couple blocks and a set of calipers.

http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=89714&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=front+sight&start=45

Be careful not to scratch your finish when laying the revolver on the blocks. Some stock has sharp edges that need smoothing. Covering the top sides of the block with masking tape will prevent scratching.

I also checked my desktop for flat using a straightedge up down side to side and diagonal to find a sweet spot for measuring.
And very important: make sure the block under the frame isn't resting on any screw heads, etc. That can throw things off too.

 

[AR15-SBR]

Well.....remember that I mentioned the front sight blade felt soft when drilling for the cross pin.

Last night I got out the surface plate, levels and squares and the best I could determine is the sight base is at TDC.

The sight blade itself was leaning to the right. I took some 1/2" lathe cutter stock, placed it along the sides of the base and clamped the sight base in the bench vice. I took a small pry bar and gently pryed the sight blade to the left, did I mention the steel felt soft when I was drilling the cross pin hole. :lol: Well, it took so little presure to bend the blade that I am thinking of removing the blade and hardening it to prevent it getting bent accidentaly. I bent it to Eyeball plumb, but I will use that GREAT tip from Gunboat57 and get it perfectly centered.

Thanks for the tips

AR15-SBR

 

[powder smoke]

Sounds like everything going to work out. Now you got to shoot it. Good deal ps

 

[Rodfac]

I attempted to bend the front sight on a .32 Magnum, Single Six several years ago with disasterous results. The front sight broke off, and I was forced to re-silver solder it back in place...to do the job right I had to remove some of the blueing in that location and the gun was subsequently cold blued to hide the mess I'd made.

My suggestion would be to get a QUALIFIED gunsmith to rotate the barrel in the frame to get it pointing where it should. The key word here is qualified; ie. not some shade tree bubba with more hammers than sense. A trip back to Ruger is another thought...but from what I hear on the forum here, Ruger is hesitant to correct sight adjustment problems.

Best of luck....Rodfac

 

[w5lx]

I attempted to bend the front sight on a .32 Magnum, Single Six several years ago with disasterous results.The front sight broke off, and I was forced to re-silver solder it back in place......but from what I hear on the forum here, Ruger is hesitant to correct sight adjustment problems.Best of luck....Rodfac

I concur. I had a Vaquero several years back that printed 8" left and 5" low when new. I called Ruger and they suggested I change my grip or sight picture. I told the guy I had 3 other Vaqueros and they all shot to point-of-aim, and that a few other experienced shooters had shot my gun and had the same experience. I returned it and got it back with the barrel turned and shooting right on the money. They even reimbursed me for shipping. Sometimes they need to be convinced that they might of turned out a gun that was not quite right.

 

[gunboat57]

My Taurus Gaucho was shooting left no matter what load, way of gripping, or who was shooting it. I tired to bend the front sight and it came off. After resoldering it back on I made some barrel blocks and a frame wrench and torqued the barrel in a fraction of a turn. Now it shoots where it aims. Sometimes there's just no easy way to fix things!

 

[MMichaelAK]

We hear enough complaints about tilted sights on new guns from Ruger that it turns into sounding like a whine at times and yet we dont Send each and every gun needing proper barrel timing or the front sight straightened right back to Ruger with a nice note explaining how it should be?

If all their guns that had issues just went in for factory repair, maybe the message would be finally received at Ruger that they need to address and tighten their QC on this.

If those of us who like to tinker just go ahead and fix what should have been right in the first place, Ruger won't know for certain that they let one go that wasnt up to snuff. Its up to us as their consumers to let them know that they can do better.
Unless all it is is about getting the chance to whine about something.