Hello! newbie here

[JEArnold]

Hello,
My name is James. I hope to hang out and learn. I recently bought a 32 sidelock. There is no marking on the barrel,stock or anywhere I can find. I took her out and shot #1 buckshot, .011 home made pillow tick patch with 20 then 30 grains of goex pinnacle. I used bore butter and then olive oil as lube. It would group nice and tight at 25yds. The only problem I had was it shot high. I had to fine sight the front and still aim low to get the POI i wanted.Do I need to replace the front blade? Both sights are fixed any help would be appreciated. Maybe .310 RB and thinner patch would change POI. :idunno:

 

[mtcurman]

Welcome aboard James!! :thumbsup:

 

[deseeb2001]

If you are shooting high and that is the yardage you are sighting in for, you might have to replace it, or else maybe weld/solder something on to the top of the blade to make it taller. I'm sure someone around here has run into this problem before, they might have a better idea than me of what to do.

 

[Rogue River]

I don't know how high you're shooting. You can maybe file the rear sight a little deeper or replace the front sight with a taller blade and file it to dial in!

 

[mr.flintlock]

Welcome aboard James. If your shots are hitting high it sounds like you need a taller front sight. Another route you may consider is to file the notch in the rear sight a little lower if your shots aren't hitting a lot lower than your aiming point. If your shots are striking a lot lower you may need to incorperate both methods.

 

[David W.]

Howdy and welcome to our site! You could replace the front site with one that is taller. Is this a custom rifle, or mass produced? Is it a new rifle or did you get it used from someone? Pic's, we need pic's! Check Track of the Wolf for sights.

 

[JEArnold]

Man its good to get all these replies. Howdy to each and everyone. I will go to Track and see if they have a sight. No its definetly not mass produced. I have tore it down and looked for some sort of markings and cant find none. I bought it in a pawn shop here in southern Arkansas. I will have the wife take pics soon and post. It had a pouch of buckshot when i got it. My next move is to try .310 rb but if they group any better than the buckshot it will be good. :thumbsup:

 

[hanshi]

Welcome to the forum, James. filing down the rear sight or replacing the front are both reasonable options. If you can, post a picture of the rifle.

 

[Little Wattsy]

I don't know how high you're shooting. You can maybe file the rear sight a little deeper or replace the front sight with a taller blade and file it to dial in!

Yep! :thumbsup:

 

[gearheart]

What's been said is all good if you plan on shooting 25 yd a lot. Check out longer yardage too before making adjustments. It could be spot on at 75 yd and the adjustment required would be mental. Get it to shoot right at the distance you intend to do most of your shooting and then practice until you know where to hold to hit targets at other distances.

 

[rafterob]

Another thought. What sight picture do you use? 6:00 hold or dead on? It may be that it is sighted for a 6:00 hold and you are aiming dead on.

 

[JEArnold]

I was shooting six o'clock.When I held dead on it was quite a bit higher.

 

[Billnpatti]

In my humble opinion, your best bet is to replace your front sight with a taller one and then file it down until you are hitting where you want at the range you want to be dead on. I wouldn't sight it in at anything farther than about 50 yards and even that is a bit far for a .32. If it were me, I'd sight it dead on at about 35 yards.

When you go to order a new sight, they will want to know how tall you want it. Here is how to determine how much to add to your front sight. First, measure, in inches, from your rear sight to your front sight and let that be "A". Then measure from your muzzle to your target in inches and let that be "B". Now, measure how many inches you want to lower your POI and let that be "C". Okay, now divide "A" by "B". You will get a very small number. Carry it out to 4 decimels. Then multiply this number by "C". This final number is how much more front sight you need.

Here's an example: Let's suppose that you have a 42 inch barrel and the sights are 34 3/4 inches apart. Then assume that you are shooting at a target that is 25 yards from your muzzle. 25 yards is 900 inches. Let's also assume that your POI is 3 1/2 inches above your POA. So, to determine how much higher your front sight needs to be, divide 34.75 by 900 and you get 0.0386. Now, you multiply this number by 3.5 and you get 0.1351. So, in this case, we kknow that we need a sight that is at least 0.1351 inches taller than what you now have. When you call TOW or whomever you buy from you can tell them that you need a sight that is more than .01351 inches taller than what you have. They will tell you how to measure your front sight. They may want the measurement from the top of your barrel to the top of your front sight or they may want to know how tall your front sight is measured from the bottom of the sight base. They will also want to know some measurements of the sight base so they can send you the correct one that fits the dovetail on your barrel.

To remove your front sight, use a soft metal rod such as a brass rod or aluminum rod to drive the front sight out of the dovetail from the left to the right as you look down the barrel when you are shooting. The dovetail has a slight taper to it so it will have to be driven out the correct direction.

When you install the new front sight, take it to the range and fire a couple shots at about 10 or 15 yards to be sure you are on the paper. Then it is just a matter of driving your front sight in the opposite direction from what you want to move your POI. Small movements by making light taps on your font sight base using your rod and hamer that you used to remove the old sight. Once you get it centered, you are ready to start filing. Take a few strokes with a file counting the strokes. Then fire a couple ronds and see how much you have lowered your POI. Take a few more strokes with your file counting the strokes and fire again. By now, you will know how much each stroke of the file has moved the POI. Just keep doing thiss removing a slight amount of metal off your front sight until you have your POI where you want it. This is a matter of finesse. You do not want to hog metal off your front sight, you want to sneak up on the proper amount to file off. Take you time and enjoy the fun of adjusting your front sight. :thumbsup:

 

[JEArnold]

Thanks a lot. Man that helped a bunch. I go and work that out when I get back off two days of nights and order me a front sight. I knew this forum was gonna be good. You guys have been great with all the help. :bow: Ive been over at the gunbuilding section those guys have me wanting to build my own.HAHA

 

[Bill Hall]

I agree with Gerard, shooting at different distances might change your mind about the 25 yard sight picture. You just might like the way it sights in at a longer range and then feel satisfied with adjusting your sight picture at distances closer and longer than your zero range. Bill

 

[HOGGHEAD]

Lots of great advice so far. All I can add is that I would shoot the straight round ball at 35 or 40 yards first. And see where those hit. Then decide which one you want to hunt with. And if you are still high then do as the other guys said and get a new front sight. I always bought one just a little bit too tall, and then lightly filed it down. You can take material off, but you can't put it back. Tom.

 

[JEArnold]

I will do that thursday. Im also going to get some .310 RB with my pillow tick patches .011 thick. Thursday will be a good day in the back yard playing. Thanks for the help. :grin:

 

[cal]

Hello James,
I am a match shooter and have two .32 cal custom rifles, one with a Green Mountain bbl. and the other with a Rice bbl. I shoot cast .317 balls with .015 teflon coated patching and 35 grains of Goex 3fg powder. With wind flags at 10ft. 25 yds and 40 yds. I have shot 5-shot groups of .528 inch center to center at 50 yards from a bench rest with these rifles. Several years ago I mounted a 15 power scope on a .40 cal rifle with a Green Mountain bbl.and shot groups with different types of patch material and lubricants I shot a .400 ball with 60 grains of 3fg Goex powder. The teflon patching consistently gave the smallest groups by a significant margin. I wish you luck.
Cal

 

[JEArnold]

Man thats good shooting. I've got a friend who is bringing me some .315 rbs.with my ticking patches I am gonna have fun tomorrow. :grin: Plan on shooting most of the day. I may even move up to 35 grains of goex 3f pinnacle just to see what happens. Ive been shooting 20 to 30.

 

[rawhide]

had the same problem on my cva kentcky in .45 with a pillow file you can file in the vee of the rear sight GO SLOW!!!!! only takes 1-2 strokes at a time to get it to shoot on. if you file it to much like I did :cursing: youll have to file the front same thing file 1-2 stroke then test hope it works out ok for you.