Trouble sighting in my new Ruger SP101 Match Champion

[izzyfahzhool1]

Friends, Howzit! This is my first post on the Forum. I'm so confused. I bought a new SP101 in Match Champion flavor at the beginning of the month. I've taken it to the range twice now. Shooting at 25 yards at a 100 yard rifle target [about 18" x 18" with an 8 inch or bigger bullseye]. I'm sitting at the port, with the barrel on a benchrest. I cannot print anywhere on that huge target! Two days back, I got out my laser bore sighter and tried to sight in the revolver with that. I had to raise the rear sight so much that the rear rear sight spring no longer pushed the sight up, and it may have even fallen out or fell on its side. I say that because I thought, before my upward adjustments, that I saw the spring sitting vertically and now I do not see it at all. The elevation screw is barely in its threads. And, the windage adjustment had to be adjusted so that the rear right blade is about 2 mm sticking out to the left of the rear sight. So basically, the revolver was shooting 18"-24" low @ 25 yards and to the right [!!!]

This is my third Ruger revolver with adjustable sights. Had no problems sighting in any others. I do not expect the revolver to be perfectly sighted in from the factory at time of purchase, but this? It's almost like the front sight needs to be several mm lower, I think.

If I remove the rear sight elevation screw, could I replace the rear rear sight spring with a taller spring, so that this new spring would still push up on the rear sight? Help!

 

[RoninPA]

Not enough information, we need to know what you are shooting (125gr JHP, 158 gr LSW, etc.) Are you shooting it DA or SA off the rest?

You need to see if the elevation spring is there or not. If not, you need to replace it and set the sight to the half way position to start. Shoot the SP101 single action from the rest. Move the target to 15 yds to start and see where the shots are going.

Give us more info.

 

[izzyfahzhool1]

I was shooting 38 specials with 148 gr DEWC bullets. Definitely shooting single action. Do you think that the rear rear sight spring can fall out from under the sight if the elevation screw is raised that much?

I am confident that the rear sight has to be as high as I mentioned [elevation adjustment screw just about out of its threaded hole and rear sight not touching the spring]. I'll buy more springs though and do as you recommend. Thank to you for your suggestion.

 

[Thel]

Lighter bullet weights and higher velocity ammo will shoot lower. Novak's shows 2 different height sights available for SP's:

http://www.novaksights.com/Products.aspx?CAT=9510

Perhaps one of those may work. I do not know if it is for the Match Champion or the Wiley Clapp. Ruger should know.

 

[RoninPA]

I was shooting 38 specials with 148 gr DEWC bullets. Definitely shooting single action. Do you think that the rear rear sight spring can fall out from under the sight if the elevation screw is raised that much?

I am confident that the rear sight has to be as high as I mentioned [elevation adjustment screw just about out of its threaded hole and rear sight not touching the spring]. I'll buy more springs though and do as you recommend. Thank to you for your suggestion.

Yes it could from the recoil shaking everything.

The rear sight should not have to be that high to get those rounds on paper, there is something wrong. The other thing you can do is to get a laser boresighter and put it in the barrel, turn it on and aim at a target 15 yards away and see if you can adjust the rear sight to have the the red (or green) dot coincide with the top of the front sight when the front and rear sight are aligned correctly. If you cannot, then a call to Ruger is in the works. It's possible that the barrel was installed a bit incorrectly or the threads in the frame might have been cut incorrectly, thus making the barrel installation wrong.

 

[izzyfahzhool1]

Thank you for your responses. I did call Ruger Customer Service yesterday and they are sending me a set of rear sight springs gratis. Previously, I had e mailed Ruger Customer Support and they asked me to send back this SP101 to them. Looking for a suitable box now.

 

[Dave P.]

Fix the sight spring issue. Adjust the sight to it's mid point position.
Go back to the range and either get closer to the target or get a bigger
piece of paper, then shoot the gun again to see where the group is.
If it's off in BFE somewhere, have somebody else shoot the gun.
If their group and yours sorta fall in the same spot then do a bit
of sight adjustment.
If it still fails it might be time to take advantage of that great customer
service that Ruger has. It's possible they might have built maybe one
or two guns in recent times that were not quite perfect.
Dave

 

[izzyfahzhool1]

I got an e mail acknowledgement last Friday that Ruger had received my SP101 and would evaluate it. This morning I got both a telephone call and an e mail from them saying that a technician had evaluated my SP101 and that they would replace it with a new SP101 and scrap the one I sent in. I do not understand what possibly could be so terminally wrong with the one I sent it that it needs to be scrapped. Wouldn't QC catch some terminal flaw before going out the door?

 

[RoninPA]

Not necessarily, when they test fire a gun it is not necessarily for accuracy but for functioning (depending on the model, but you would think that they would run accuracy tests on a model called Match Champion). It is very possible that the threads in the frame were cut incorrectly for whatever reason and that would cause the barrel to be incorrectly aligned or the barrel was installed incorrectly causing it to be positioned wrong, or the top of the frame was milled incorrectly causing the sights to be way off, or, or, or (unless they tell you what it was you/we won't ever know). That said, they are doing what is necessary to keep you, the customer, satisfied that you are going to get a gun that works correctly.

It is possible that they did accuracy testing but at a shorter range and all the rounds grouped to what the factory standards are and unless you know what the factory shoots from it and the distance, it's really hard to guess what exactly happened with that particular gun.

 

[Dave P.]

Not sure how the return works in your state but if it involves a FFL be sure
Ruger pays their fee.....not your fault they sold you scrap the first time.
Dave

 

[izzyfahzhool1]

Let me post an update: I opted to have a replacement SP101 MC sent to my FFL dealer. In this state [NJ], one needs to produce a handgun permit for every handgun one purchases. I applied for another permit last week. It'll take about a month to be approved then I pick up this replacement one. I'll then advise if this replacement shoots the way I'd expect. I thank everyone for their comments so far.

 

[Bob Wright]

First and foremost, GET RID OF THAT BARREL BENCHREST!

Shoot with your forearms braced across sandbags if you must, but never rest the gun against anything solid.

Bob Wright