Front Sight Alignment

Five0 said:

Just got a SA M1A for Christmas, shot it for the first time on Wednesday.
It was a windless day however I was grouping a few inches low and
to the right about 5 o'clock at 50yds. I did center the windage first.

My front sight are almost flushed right on the dovetail, does SA factory
zero the sights? Wondering if I should try moving the front sight a hair
left, none of my allen wrenches seem to fit the set screw. Anyone
know what size it takes?

Click to expand...

Howdy there Five0,

Welcome aboard.
You'll have better luck moving the front sight to the right.

Moving the front sight to the right will move the barrel left.

The front sight is moved the opposite direction of the rear.
Front sight screw could be 3/32" or 7/64" I think depending on the screw since 3 diiferent sizes have been used on them.

Hope this helps ya out.


warbird

Thanks warbird,

moving the front sight right moves the barrel left...

If it goes much more to the right it will start
sticking off the dovetail mount...

maybe the barrel has an indexing issue.

I can correct it by adjusting my windage
however then my zero is not the middle
hash mark on the windage at the back
of the receiver but a few clicks right.

that affects how far left and right I can
correct my windage.

I don't know of a compentent m14 smith in my neck
o'the woods who could look at it and tell me fer sure
if it needs to be reindexed...

Aloha 5-0!

Welcome Aboard!!! Glad to see you posting! Cool!

If you suspect you might need to have your barrel re-indexed, I would give SA a quick call! They should be of some help and since your rifle is new, should make it good if it is not correct!

I think I read in the Kuhnhausen shop manual to set your rear aperture to center and move your front sight slightly to create the zero that would yield you the maximum windage and sounds like what you are doing... so I would keep at it first... and complete that attempt first before trying another alternative... jumping around may get you confused.

Another thought... Since this is a new M1A rifle, it may be a matter of getting to know the rifle if its your first M14 type rifle. Specifically, it makes a difference to make sure that you have a consistent cheek weld on the rifle to shoot it well. I like to make sure that my cheek rests on the back of my thumb joint. It seems awfully close to the rear of the receiver but it is consistent for me. My groups settled down after making sure that my shooting technique was consistent before trying to zero my rifles. If this is not the case, I apologize but trying to think creatively... :lol:

In any case, you have lots of people here trying to give support, so keep us updated on how it goes now!

Aloha and Happy New Year... Welcome Aboard!

Tom O.

I don't have Kuhnhausen's manuals, didn't he write the excellent
shop manual on the Colt 1911?

I was following Scott Duff's book for zeroing the rifle.

"To establish zero, first set the windage so that the windage index
line on the rear sight base aligns with the center line of the windage
gauge on the receiver. This is mechanical zero"

Then he goes on to say

"If the shot group is not centered, move the front sight in the opposite
direction in which you want the group to move. The front sight is
adjusted by loosening the front sight screw with a socket head wrench."

Unfortunately I don't have the wrench I need to do this and if I did,
moving the front sight anymore to the right will result in a hanger
off the dovetail 8O

I'm going to the Kokohead range today to try again, want to make sure
it's not me at fault. I will call Springfield on Monday, I got the rifle
thru Davidsons so have their guarantee in addition to Springfields

Oops, looks like it *was* me 8O . Thanks for the tip regarding the
cheek weld, digihawaii. I reset the rear sight back to mechanical
zero windage and tried again and was able to get a nice 1.5" - 2"
group in the 10 ring at 50 yds today at the range!

Very cool, I'm happy now. Moved the target to 100yds and still
was able to group center. Tried bench, offhand and kneeling position
(like with the bazooka in my avatar) and did very well.

Offhand is most difficult for me, it's hard to hold the front blade dead
on the target without bobbling around a bit.

Anyway guess I have no cause for alarm and very much appreciate
the tips from you guys on technique and anything else .

Aloha!