A Feeler: Mosin Nagant Adustable Front Sight

[papasmurf]

Very nice looking, Im digging the hex heads on the bottom. Improving on original ways is always a major plus. Im looking forward to giving this a spin.

 

[Wabatuckian]

Almost done. If my eyes start to ache, I stop. Can't mess it up!

I'll be sending these back tomorrow or Monday!

Thanks,

Josh

 

[Wabatuckian]

Done with both samples. Waiting on a third sample to arrive.

Will mail the two back to Jason and PapaSmurf on Monday.

The biggest challenge of doing these is that there is almost never a right angle to be found on these sights. That means that if I'm going to make the set screw contact the post as it should while still looking OK on the outside, the set screw almost always has to be drilled at an angle, then the screw itself turned down a bit.

This means that the drilling is done by hand. Not easy! A jig on a drill press might work, but the sight pin hole is usually never in the same place -- which means the set screw hole would contact the post at the side, and I can't accept that as proper.

I may have to find a way to do away with the set screw. That would mean an SKS-like post, and man, that would take some work.

We shall see...

Josh

 

[Sewerdude]

Josh,
Front sight is in the mail.
Thanks

 

[Wabatuckian]

Thanks, Sewerdude.

Jason and PapaSmurf, yours are on the way back!

Josh

 

[jason867]

Sweet. I look forward to it. Thanks!

 

[papasmurf]

Thats awesome josh. Im looking forward to giving it a spin this weekend.

 

[jason867]

Just got my sight in the mail today. I might be able to give it a spin this weekend as well.

I'll give ya my feedback when I do.

 

[Wabatuckian]

Thanks.

Do you like it? Quality strike you as OK?

Josh

 

[jason867]

I like it so far, but I haven't been able to shoot with it yet.

I'm kinda concerned at this point if the post will adjust high enough for me. I'm not sure yet, I will just have to shoot it to find out.

Also, my sight slid into it's slot a lot easier than it came out. I only need to tap it a few times with a soft hammer. Is this normal? I'm not sure if I need to shim it or not. I can't move it with my bare hands, but I wonder if the combination of barrel heat and recoil might move it.

Also, I've never shimmed sights before, what's the proper way? Lay a piece on the bottom? Sides? Both?

 

[Wabatuckian]

Hi Jason,

It's normal for some sights, depending upon how far the pin I had to take out protruded.

Lay the shim cross the bottom of the sight base, and fold both sides sticking out, down toward the barrel.

Tap the sight in. If it still seems loose, use the other shim as well.

About 1 in 3 I've seen are like this. Different manufacturing tolerances.

I can pretty much guarantee that your post will go high enough. When I was first shooting mine, I adjusted it to where I thought it should be, and ended up shooting two feet LOW.

IIRC, the top of the sight should be about .226" below the top of the hood (each hood is different though). Just use a .22 case as a feeler gauge. As it's set, it should already be on paper, though.

Josh

 

[jason867]

Well you know I've already went and played with the height

If yours worked out then I'm confident mine will too sunday.

 

[jason867]

I got to shoot mine some Saturday, although not as much as I would've liked, I wasted too much of my spare time shooting pistols.

Keep in mind I only had 50 yards to work with, and my mosin hasn't had anything done to it other than regular maintenance. I was shooting some czech ammo from AIMSurplus.com. Also, I'm not an avid rifle shooter (yet). I also didn't have time to recover my targets so all of this is from my memory and eyesight.

The first five rounds I fired grouped low and to the right of POA 2-3 inches. I didn't bother with drifting for windage but I did adjust your front sight post down approximately 360 degrees.

I fired another 5 shots into a new target, and they grouped about 2-3 inches to the upper right of POA.

The nice tip you put on the post seemed to help me be a little more precise.

Overall I'm quite pleased with the modification. I aim to do a more thorough testing of the sight and rifle here very soon, and I'll let you know of my results.

Now if I could just get a peep sight replacement for my rear elevation thingy then I'd be set until I decide to invest in a scope!

Rep coming your way for a job well done. I'll echo my comments elsewhere too.

 

[Wabatuckian]

Hi Jason,

I'm glad you like it.

For what it's worth, I found that 1/2 turn equals about 2" of adjustment at 80 yards. That would be around 2.5" per half turn at 100 yards, or 5" for one full turn.

Thanks again!

Josh

 

[jason867]

That seems to be about what I experienced.