Point of aim

[Tsegoweleh]

Hello All,
Can any of you give me advice on how i can adjust the point of impact in reguards to the point of aim on a smooth rifle The sights seem to be lined up well, But it seems to shoot to the left.

I have heard of actually bending the barrel but that seems extream to me. But not out of the question. Any of your advice will be greatly appritiated.

Please remember that my gun has front and rear sights "Smooth-Rifle"

 

[paulvallandigham]

Can you drift the rear sight to the right in its dovetail? That is traditionally the way the sight would be adjusted to move the point of impact from left to right. Sometimes, you have to take a really good look at the sights, with the barrel out of the stock and clamped in soft jaws in a bench vise. Its possible that the front sight is the problem, in that it bent to the right, or positioned in its dovetail to the right. Moving the front sight to the left would bring the group over to the right.

Sometimes you have to use a combination of moves, moving the rear sight some, and the front site some in the opposite direction, to get the group where you want it to be. If the front sight is bent, or was not mounted on the exact top of the barrel, you may have to mount a new front sight.

Always check the squareness of the muzzle and Crown of the muzzle to the bore before moving those sights. Sometimes the windage problems relate strictly to the fact that the muzzle was NOT cut squarely to the bore. If you think that is the problem, here, write back and we can give you some alternative " fixes". that you can do.

 

[tg]

The sights should be movable, at least the rear one, just tap the rear the way you want the ball to go, just a bit at a time and shoot of hgood bench rest it will be no different that sighting in a rifle with primitive sights.

 

[torn moc]

Absoutely try the above measures before bending the barrel... I dont think I would Ever want to bend the barrel...I would get it sighted the best I could with moving the sights and just shoot accordingly...if it is still off a bit to the ldft affter all the sight adjustments were done I would aim a bit to the right...
You aint shooting 500 yds anyway...

 

[Poor Private]

Actually it may not be the weapon. It may be you. I know this sounds strange, but it could be because your strong eye is pulling the weapon that way.
How to tell if your right eyed or left eye? Form a triangle of your 2 thumbs and forefingers. sight thru them at a distant object with both eyes. Now close each eye in turn. If it doesn't move with the left then your left eye dominant, and same with the right.
I found out that I am left Eye dominant, but right handed-go figure. So therefore I have to adjust as needed my point of aim with my right eye-- or adjust my sights. Or a biggie learn to shoot left handed(which may not be a bad idea).

 

[bebloomster]

Hopefully the rear sight will be moveable left to right.... just move it in the direction you want the point of impact to change.

 

[Many Klatch]

Well, after you have tried everything else and the gun still doesn't shoot to point of aim. It's time to bend the barrel. I usually just stick the barrel between two trees and nooodge it just a little and then shoot it for a while to see what happens. My .54 rifle took 4 or 5 trips to the trees before it shot where I wanted it to.

I first heard of Herschel House bending barrels back in the 80's. I figured if he could do it so could I. That is about all Herschel and I have in common though when it comes to building guns.

Some people take the barrel out of the stock when they bend the barrel. I haven't, but I probably have been lucky that the stock didn't split on the guns that I have tried it on.

Many Klatch

 

[brubincam]

-----there was a shotgun factory on tv a few weeks back and they had a guy looking through barrels and bending them till they were straight-----

 

[Many Klatch]

Bending barrels isn't a rocket science. The barrels will creep back some so you may have to do it more than once. It would be nice to be able to bend barrels that don't have breeches, you could really see what you were doing.

Many Klatch

 

[Tsegoweleh]

Thank you all for your input.
I will let you know how it comes out.

 

[jimmy82]

Hmm... if you or a friend are a machinist then you can make a "straightness gauge." Probably something 6" long or so and a few thousandths smaller then the bore and then attach it to a rod. Then you can run this down the bore and find out exactly were the bore is not straight. That way you can focus your efforts on the right spot with out having to worry about making an S curve in your barrel.

If you go this route just keep in mind that you aren't trying to ram the gauge down. Just slowly allow gravity to pull it down and if you find a bend it should stop or snag.

The only other thing is your barrel may already be factory straight. The bore may be just a few thousandths (or ten thousandths) off center in relation to the center line of the barrel as a whole. This could cause you to be off target even if your bore is straight. If this is the case then you are back to square one.

 

[Tsegoweleh]

Oatsayo All,
Just wanted to get back to you all reguarding my problem.... No Not THAT one... LOL.
I took the fowler to the range and bench rested it. I am glad to report that the problem was not me or the sights. With 55gr FFFg I was hitting slightly low but on center with a 595 ball and .10 patch. I upped the charge to 65 grs and was getting good patterns.
the problem came out when i ran out od 595s and went to 600 with no patch. The shots were about 8-10 inches high and 8-10 inches left. Enough to miss the targets that I was shooting at originally.
For whatever reason the bare ball shoots high and to the left.

I am going to continue experiments with shot and buck shot to get that dialed in. Guess i need to melt down the 600s and recast to 595.

 

[PaulN/KS]

Try the .600 balls with a thinner patch...
Works for me but these guns can be picky.

 

[paulvallandigham]

Try using a OP wad between those Bare .600 balls and the powder. Either lube the balls, or lube the barrel with a greased cleaning patch to keep lead from rubbing off the ball onto the barrel, destroying the shape of the ball, and giving you additional problems when it comes to successive shots of RB out of a smoothbore( That isn't smooth anymore!)

 

[Tsegoweleh]

Oatsayo,
Havent been able to find thinner than .10 patch.
Is there an alternative?

 

[bingo1952]

I watched The Last of The Mohicans again for the umpteenth time last night and Daniel Day-Lewis got his hands on some silk for patching. He said "It's good for another 40 yards". :rotf: :bull:
Silk is a protien and will not stand the heat of combustion. It does make a good powder bag for artillery pieces.

 

[PaulN/KS]

Well dang...
If it's a .62 the .010 patch should work. When I had a Green Mtn. barrel it was a tight bore and that's what I used. :hmm:

Not sure if anything thinner would hold up to the shot but might be worth a try. Or, get the .595 mold and melt the .600 balls.

 

[Croppy Boy]

Oatsayo,
Havent been able to find thinner than .10 patch.
Is there an alternative?

Here's a link to 0.005 patches.
www.octobercountry.com/products3.php?productid=199

Not sure how effective they'd be, they'd seem to be very thin, you'd definately have to use an over powder wad.

 

[George Kevil]

Tsegoweleh,
Try going to the thrift stores like Goodwill or Salvation Army.Look in the table cloths and napkin section for linen cloth Some of it has a very high thread count and is great for smoothies.I could have shown you at Nelders had I known.
George