First post! Need help sights on SR9c

[TishomingoSith]

First off, glad to be a part of the forum. I have been a Ruger fan ever since I was 10 (back in 1984) when I got my first 10-22. Kicked me off to shooting nationally for the Jr. NRA around the country.

Anyway... I bought a Ruger SR9c a few months ago and typically, they are ready to shoot out of the box. My P90 sights were dead on with my first shot. Well, the SR9c wasn't that way. It shot WAY low. So I managed to get it sighted in and the rear sights look so strange with the spring so exposed.

Had it DEAD on accurate (for me, I'm an expert rifle shooter, not so much pistol). Here is one photo I took of a group from about 15 yards out. Not an expert, but solid for me. Would get the job done!

It's shot great for weeks, my group has been wonderful. I'm happy. Well today I go out and shoot a few rounds and aim at my target. The round hits 2 feet low!?! How the heck does this happen???? I don't do anything with my pistol but put it in and out of the holster, besides cleaning it after every 40-50 rounds. So I adjust it again and now the rear sight looks like this (below). Is this normal? What can I do to fix this issue of not having 1/5" of a spring showing? THANKS for any help and glad I joined up!!!!

 

[PiratePast40]

That rear sight looks like it's pretty high up. On mine, the center piece (with the dots) is just barely above the mounting bracket. Being up that high would explain why you're shooting so low.

Might want to adjust it back down and then watch it to see if it's moving back up on it's own. Could be a stripped screw or bracket.

Edit - by the way, welcome to the forum

 

[TishomingoSith]

That rear sight looks like it's pretty high up. On mine, the center piece (with the dots) is just barely above the mounting bracket. Being up that high would explain why you're shooting so low.

Might want to adjust it back down and then watch it to see if it's moving back up on it's own. Could be a stripped screw or bracket.

Edit - by the way, welcome to the forum

The sites are on where I'm hitting dead on. But for some reason, they were a bit lower and I was hitting dead on. Somewhere between my last shooting outing (3 days ago) and yesterday... the rounds dropped extremely low. No where near the target.

I adjusted them again and now I'm hitting the target, but to raise your placement, you raise the sites.

"Note that lowering the rear sight will lower the point of impact, and raising the site will raise the point of impact" - instruction manual.

Just looks freaking weird being so high in the back.

 

[revhigh]

You're experiencing a shooter issue .... Not a gun/sight issue.

You need to REALLY ... AND I MEAN REALLY .... Concentrate on your sight picture when the gun goes off. You need to be able to really say what your sight picture was when the gun goes off. You're jerking the gun or something as you pull the trigger.

Practice in the living room. With an UNLOADED gun, put a coin on the front sight, and practice holding the gun so it won't fall off. Then practice sighting on something across the room and pulling the trigger without losing the sight picture, and making the coin stay put. You can do this with practice.

I've seen this hundreds of times with handgun shooters. I'll ask them after a shot ... What was your sightnpicturevwhen the gun went off. Typically they say .... Huh ?

Remember ... If you don't have the correct sight picture when the gun goes boom ... You will NOT hit the target. If you're not confident enough in your shooting to sight in your gun yourself, have a known good shooter at your range do it.

Your sights should not need to be adjusted like that.

REV

 

[PiratePast40]

...I adjusted them again and now I'm hitting the target, but to raise your placement, you raise the sites.

"Note that lowering the rear sight will lower the point of impact, and raising the site will raise the point of impact" - instruction manual...

Yes, you're right. I always need to think twice about that. Looks like I need to think 3 times about it now

 

[TishomingoSith]

You're experiencing a shooter issue .... Not a gun/sight issue.

You need to REALLY ... AND I MEAN REALLY .... Concentrate on your sight picture when the gun goes off. You need to be able to really say what your sight picture was when the gun goes off. You're jerking the gun or something as you pull the trigger.

Practice in the living room. With an UNLOADED gun, put a coin on the front sight, and practice holding the gun so it won't fall off. Then practice sighting on something across the room and pulling the trigger without losing the sight picture, and making the coin stay put. You can do this with practice.

I've seen this hundreds of times with handgun shooters. I'll ask them after a shot ... What was your sightnpicturevwhen the gun went off. Typically they say .... Huh ?

Remember ... If you don't have the correct sight picture when the gun goes boom ... You will NOT hit the target. If you're not confident enough in your shooting to sight in your gun yourself, have a known good shooter at your range do it.

Your sights should not need to be adjusted like that.

REV

I understand the problem with most shooters, but I have never had this problem. Former NRA competition shooter, former military... And I was able to group this gun very tight over and over again until two days ago when the rounds dropped like they did. It's not the finger placement, breathing or jerking the weapon. It was drilled into me from my younger age with the NRA to the Army how to shoot and breathing and finger placement were the biggest assets to learn for me, as a result I was pretty damn good (nationally ranked).

But this is not normal for me and trying to figure out if there is something odd with these sights that someone else might have experienced (settling on their own for example).

Thank you for the replies...

 

[Cheesewhiz]

Some people just take different sight pictures than others, they can also be a different shooter/holder/sighter from time to time themselves. Has anyone else fired this gun at the range? It would be of interest to get someone else's perspective.
Breathing is not normally an issue with a pistol unless you shoot off your chest...I guess it could if you wrapped your upper arms close to your chest but that would be a silly stance.
I will tend to side with Rev on this, I know rifle shooters that are pretty damn good that lose it with pistols or are hit and miss in comparative sessions.

Good luck with figuring this out.

 

[revhigh]

You're experiencing a shooter issue .... Not a gun/sight issue.

You need to REALLY ... AND I MEAN REALLY .... Concentrate on your sight picture when the gun goes off. You need to be able to really say what your sight picture was when the gun goes off. You're jerking the gun or something as you pull the trigger.

Practice in the living room. With an UNLOADED gun, put a coin on the front sight, and practice holding the gun so it won't fall off. Then practice sighting on something across the room and pulling the trigger without losing the sight picture, and making the coin stay put. You can do this with practice.

I've seen this hundreds of times with handgun shooters. I'll ask them after a shot ... What was your sightnpicturevwhen the gun went off. Typically they say .... Huh ?

Remember ... If you don't have the correct sight picture when the gun goes boom ... You will NOT hit the target. If you're not confident enough in your shooting to sight in your gun yourself, have a known good shooter at your range do it.

Your sights should not need to be adjusted like that.

REV

I understand the problem with most shooters, but I have never had this problem. Former NRA competition shooter, former military... And I was able to group this gun very tight over and over again until two days ago when the rounds dropped like they did. It's not the finger placement, breathing or jerking the weapon. It was drilled into me from my younger age with the NRA to the Army how to shoot and breathing and finger placement were the biggest assets to learn for me, as a result I was pretty damn good (nationally ranked).

But this is not normal for me and trying to figure out if there is something odd with these sights that someone else might have experienced (settling on their own for example).

Thank you for the replies...

Ok .... Lets eliminate YOU for now ... Has anything else changed ?

Ammo .... Distance ?

IF NOT .... Were back to you again ... Varying sight pictures I'd guess. Let somebody else shoot it who you respect as a good shot.

REV

 

[schnoov]

My SR9c was dead on when I bought it, but after a month or two the rear sight screw started to pop up like in your picture. Adjusting it would fix for a little while (50-100 rounds), then it would move again.

Ruger replaced the entire rear sight assembly for free and I've had no issues since then.

 

[Mike J]

A really quick way to make sure whether the issue is you or the pistol would be to get someone else to load a magazine for you. Give them a snap cap to put in the magazine but let them load it so you don't know what sequence it will come up in. If you are flinching this will let you see it. I did this with a friend new to handguns when he kept hitting low. It helped him recognize his flinch & start eliminating it.

When I first got serious about handguns I spent a lot of time dry firing with a penny on the front sight learning trigger control like Rev suggested. It helped me a lot.

 

[Flyspek65]

TishimingoSith: First, welcome to the forum. You mentioned you were a rifle competitor, so I reckon you have your share of rounds down range. In addition to the above suggestions, you might rest the firearm on a sandbag and try a few shots. I have a SR40C, and it was on from the factory, and nowhere near that amount of rear sight elevation needed. If it was a factory assembly issue, I might guess that the front sight was too tall. Also, if you are using a 6 o'clock hold on the bull, it might send them a little low. Mine is set up as point of aim-point of impact. If you don't figure it out, give Ruger a call and see if they can offer a suggestion. They may want you to return the gun to them for repair. I too think getting someone else to fire it and see what happens. Good luck, and let us know.