Canted front sight post

[TomEgun]

Hi All
Just wanted to say hi from NC , also Ive got a question on canted front sight post . I have read and seen video of people straightening them by putting them in a vise and adjusting with a dead blow hammer ? Is this right? Thanks !
http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh106/tomegun_photos/0514111048.jpg

[imanaknut]

Welcome to the group !!! :welcome:

After trying to bend a sheet of aluminum with a dead-blow hammer, my personal opinion is that they are very near useless.

That said, to move the sight base if it is canted or crooked, you need to remove the two cross pins first. Without removing the pins, you have a pretty solid item, and even a sledge hammer is only going to either damage the sight, or at worst bend the barrel.

The hard thing to get over with a canted front sight base is that it is mainly a looks thing. If the rifle shoots to point of aim, then the front sight pin is properly aligned. By straightening the sight base, you will have to move the sight pin in the opposite direction to keep the rifle shooting to point of aim.

Up to you if you prefer the sight base centered or the sight pin centered. Regardless, you will have to remove the cross pins, align the front sight base, redrill the holes so that they will now line up when you reinstall the cross pins.

[L'burg Kev]

I believe I'm having the same trouble. I have to push the front sight all the way to the right and am still a smidge off of center. Is this a typical production issue with the Chinese rifles?

[blobman]

its not nearly as common on chinese as say romanians

[Schuetzenman]

That said, to move the sight base if it is canted or crooked, you need to remove the two cross pins first. Without removing the pins, you have a pretty solid item, and even a sledge hammer is only going to either damage the sight, or at worst bend the barrel.

The hard thing to get over with a canted front sight base is that it is mainly a looks thing. If the rifle shoots to point of aim, then the front sight pin is properly aligned. By straightening the sight base, you will have to move the sight pin in the opposite direction to keep the rifle shooting to point of aim.

Up to you if you prefer the sight base centered or the sight pin centered. Regardless, you will have to remove the cross pins, align the front sight base, redrill the holes so that they will now line up when you reinstall the cross pins.

This is sound advise. Ultimately for a canted front sight base you have to get the pins out, aligne the the front sight base, drill for oversized pins and re-pin in place.

[L'burg Kev]

Well I stripped the receiver, put it in a gun vise and leveled across the receiver. Checked the front sight and it seemed to be right on level/perpendicular. I tried to remove the sight but could not get the rear pin to budge. I pulled out the post barrel and checked to see if the threaded hole was way out. Only about .015" Wouldn't explain the major shift in windage. Any other possibilities?

[stinker]

Well I stripped the receiver, put it in a gun vise and leveled across the receiver. Checked the front sight and it seemed to be right on level/perpendicular. I tried to remove the sight but could not get the rear pin to budge. I pulled out the post barrel and checked to see if the threaded hole was way out. Only about .015" Wouldn't explain the major shift in windage. Any other possibilities?

It's shifting? As in when you fire it, it moves back and forth out of zero every time the weapon recoils?

A loose windage drum comes to mind. The big pin that the front sight post screws down into.
That should be rock solid and only move with the assistance of tools and considerable force applied to it.

[L'burg Kev]

Well all of your suggestions got me thinking. I put in the Osprey laser sighting module. Check poa. Rotated 90 degrees and checked again. Laser is not centered. So it's back to the range. I'm ordering a collimator. Sometimes low tech is better tech. Doesn't require those funky button batteries. I'll let you know if it helped. Thanks for the advise. What's a good front sight for old eyes? I tried the hi-viz but it's a tiny little dot.

[Robert A. Amaty]

I have the same problem but with the rear sight block , this is the second time I have returned the rifle to century to fix the rear block. I think if it comes back the same way again I,ll give it a shot myself. I have the means and tools now and have some knowledge of what needs to be done. When I looked down the rear sight to the front sight , they did not line up ! I had to almost rest my cheek on top of the fixed stock to see the front sight. If anyone has had this problem and has a sure fire way to fix it , drop me a line here. Thanks Springfield45

[Alpha_Male]

Got to love Century firearms. :duh:

[teflon97239]

Same story here, my front sight is canted a bit left on the barrel (from the shooter's perspective), so the front sightpost windage must be adjusted way to the right like this (__i) to shoot straight. Not the end of the world, but irritating. I'd like to adjust the whole assembly clockwise a bit, so a re-zeroed front sightpost would look more like this (_i_).

But rather than beat on the weapon with a mallet or get involved with drilling for bigger pins, I simply bought the Mojo Microclick rear peep sight, which is windage (and elevation) adustable. Now, after drifting the front sight post LEFT (actually back to center), and adjusting the rear peep nearly all the way LEFT, the weapon remains zeroed, but I'm no longer distracted by a grossly off-centered front sight post.

Mojo explains that their part might need a little massaging, and mine did. The round pivot posts on each side of the rear sight (so it can rock up and down when you adjust elevation) were tight and needed just a touch of sanding to turn freely in their holes. 30 seconds with some fine hobby emory paper, probably just took off the bluing.

Problem solved. Front sight is centered so I can think about targets instead of fixing my gun. And IMHO, with my glasses, a peep is far more accurate anyway.

[436]

its not nearly as common on chinese as say romanians


Hi. New on this forum. I have the same problem with my Ploy Tech AK-47/S milled. The front sight (just the sight) is laying to the left of center. I have another Poly Tech AKS-762 sampled folder, the front sight on this is perfect.

Here's the question; I bought an after market front sight and sight holder from RTG International.. the holder appears to be a little shorter in over all length, which is fine. When I attempt to insert the font sight into the holder, I find it only makes about three full turns then stops. Has anyone here used this product from RTG? Is it standard or metric? I know I can chase the threads on the holder.. just asking if any has had the same problem(s) when they were replacing their front sight post and holder.
I called RTG; but they were little too no help in is the matter.
Thanks for any help.
436

[imanaknut]

Welcome to the group, and a thread that seems to be for one posters! :welcome:

First, if you are talking about the sight pin, that part of the front sight block that you use to aim your rifle, then it being just off of center is nothing out of the ordinary. It just means that the rifle was sighted in and to shoot straight, the front sight pin is slightly off center. Nothing to worry about, and no reason to replace it.

If you are talking about the front sight pin, again the one you center in the notch in the rear sight leaf, I wouldn't replace it because if you do, you will find that the one you replace it with will also not be centered. If you do center the front sight, your rifle will not shoot to point of aim, but will shoot slightly left of aim.

Unfortunately I can't help you with anything from RTG since I have never used them, and personally, and this is just me as a purist, I would never replace a part on a Poly Tech Legend with a non-factory replacement.

Now if you are talking about the front sight block, the main part that holds the sight pin in place being off to the left, you can drive out the retainer pins, realign the sight, run a drill through the holes and reuse the pins. You would then need to take the rifle out and readjust the sight pin to get the point of aim back to where it should be.

[436]

imanaknut,

Thanks you for the welcome and the information, sorry for the rather late reply.. been outside the wire as they say. Yes, it's just the " front sight post" coming out of the " windage left/right drifting block" that holds the front sight, that is leaning left. I thought I might replace the block and sight. Poly Tech {KFS Indus Inc.} sent me a new one, guess I'll see how that works
At any rate, thanks again, your information is appreciated.

436

[sadman]

Just wanted to throw in another example in case anyone looks at this thread in the future.

The sight on my AK is definitely canted. However it is perfectly on target.

Also my friends AK has a canted sight as well and it was ordered from one of the popular websites, which you would think would have decanted (haha) it if it was necessary.

[imanaknut]

The funny thing about the canted sight is like you say sadman. When the sight is canted, the sight pin is usually centered and shoots to point of aim. My guess is the manufacturer would prefer a centered sight pin in a canted sight, than a well aligned sight base, but an off-set sight pin.

Which makes me wonder how straight the trunion is in the receiver, or how well aligned the barrel is with the receiver.