1911Forum banner

Drifting The Tactical Rear Sight

4K views 13 replies 12 participants last post by  Vospertw 
#1 ·
I'm in the process of breaking in my new "Tactical". The gun is grouping well, but shooting to the left. I took a close look at the rear sight and it is off set to the left of the slide.

Will I need to use a hammer and drift/dowel to move the sight to the right once the screw has been loosened, OR will I be able to push it with my fingers? Trying to determine what tools to bring to the range next time I go.

Thanks folks.
 
#3 · (Edited)
I'm pretty sure to move your groups to the right you'll need to drift the REAR sight to the left and if you want to move the front, then you have to drift it to the right.
 
#5 · (Edited)
I'm probably reading that wrong, but say your shots are hitting to the left of where you are aiming, then you would need to move your rear sight to the right to correct that. So, move the rear the way you want the bullet's impact to move (IE, elevate it to bring the impact up, move it right to move the impact right). The front sight works the opposite as in move it the opposite direction from where you want the bullet to impact (IE, a shorter front sight will move the bullet's impact point up, moving the sight to the left will move impact to the right).
The sights on my RIA 9mm Tactical had Locitite (or some such thread locker) on them, so a little heat was needed to aid in moving them.
Regards,
Greg
 
#11 · (Edited)
Yes, there's a formula - but it depends on the weapon's sight-radius. Let's assume a 1911 with a 6-inch sight-radius (distance between the back of the front-sight to the back of the rear-sight).

error X sight radius
------------------------ = adjustment to sight
Target distance in inches


so...

1 inch X 6 inch sight radius
------------------------ = adjustment to sight
900 inches (25 yds in inches)

6
----
900

0.0066"

or call it a 7-thou' movement in the sight to change POI by 1" at 25 yards.

As for the sight direction, there's an old Army acronym - FORS. It stands for Front - Opposite, Rear - Same.

In other words, if you're moving the front sight for whatever reason, move it in the opposite direction that you want the group to move ie. if you want the group to move right, move the front sight left. If you want the group to hit higher, move the front sight lower, etc.

That confuses some folks, so "Rear - Same" is easier to remember. Want to group more to the left, move the rear sight left. To group higher, move the rear sight higher - etc, etc.
 
#13 ·
Always move the rear the way you want the bullet to move. move the front opposite. It's been that way forever and at 25 yds to move the group 1" will take very little movement at all. I have replaced the sights on 3 of my rock Islands and all have been centered on the slide for poa poi. I stayed with fixed sights just went to a wider profile.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top