I have a percussion rifle that has a peep sight centered on the tang that is only adjustable for elevation. In order to get close to the bulls eye at 30 yards the front sight must be very far to the left such that the blade lines up with the edge of the barrel top flat. Even with that location the gun still shoots 1.5" left, and this with the front sight drifted almost out of the dovetail. I suspect a bent barrel, or a off center bored barrel, but I can't say for sure. What suggestion might you have (besides getting a new barrel or reboring) for a front sight that looks reasonable but would allow for adjustment to get the balls on target?
Shooting way left?
- Thread starter Grimord
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Comfortably_Numb
The Evil Mike Brooks
Hold way to the right.
Sounds to me like you need a new barrel.
You can always take the barrel out and lightly bend it the other way until it shoots to point of aim.
Bend (or in this case, straighten) the barrel. I recently bent a rifle barrel that was shooting far left like yours. there are several threads on how to best do this.
Does the rifle have a barrel mounted rear sight? If so, remove the peep sight, center the front sight and shoot it. If you get the same results then it's probably an issue with the barrel. If it shoots within normal tolerance for sight adjustment it's the peep. Just because the mounting holes on the tang are centered, it doesn't mean the sight is. The base of a peep can often be canted to one side and will require shims to get it perpendicular to to the bore. If it's not level, your windage point of impact will change when you adjust the sight for elevation. If it's canted to the left, the higher you adjust the sight the more it will shoot to the left. Google "level a tang sight". There's lots of info on how to do it.
64Springer
75 Cal.
Buy a Kibler.
….always
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I have seen one rifle where the bore wasn't centered in the barrel. This is the only reason I can think of that would cause you to have to move the sights so far to one side?
ronaldrothb49
45 Cal.
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Several things can cause this problem. As Gemmer pointed out could be the peep sight. Another thing to check is the muzzle square. Another thing I would check is who made the barrel? Some companies that made barrels have a problem with run out which can cause this problem if the flat with the run out wasn't used as the top or bottom flat. Then also the barrel might be bent.
The original barrel mounted rear sight had the notch on the right side close to the ear of the sight. It is not a problem with the peep sight, as it is centered on the breech plug tang.
Holding way right is not an option , and buying another gun is also out. I will look into the methods for bending the barrel as I believe this is going to be the solution.
Holding way right is not an option , and buying another gun is also out. I will look into the methods for bending the barrel as I believe this is going to be the solution.
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Yep, when the windage is that far off its time to bend the barrel . Just a bit , go slow ...its really not a big deal just dont over do it . Tweek it a bit then put it back in the stock and start the sighting in process again . It'll be right as rain ...
….always
True. I still haven't touched my Woodsrunner kit because....boring. Nothing to fix, nothing to modify, nothing to tinker with to make work, very very little to fit. Looks like squaring the corners of the ramrod thimble inlets and trimming all the pins is about it besides a little metal filing, stock sanding, and finishing. I guess I could actually follow through with my carving and engraving plans.
Oh, drift the front sight....that's what dovetails are for.
64Springer
75 Cal.
This will not get you invited to The Kibler Christmas Party.
put a straight edge on each side flat. this will tell you if the barrel is bent.
64Springer
75 Cal.
Laying it on a granite countertop would work well too.
Somewhere there's a thread on this site about how to file the rifling on the opposite side to make the bullet pull over. This works, I have a 45 caliber that had poor rifling on one side of the barrel that caused the gun to shoot sideways about 8 inches at 50 yards. Carefully using a round file I removed the rifling on the other side of the barrel and made the gun shoot on. Might not be the proper cure but it darn sure worked. If you check out all the questions I've asked in some of the answers, I know it's in there someplace about how to do that. I was told to use Emery cloth I think, but I did use a round file to do it and it worked just fine. Squint
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Squint is on Point, it may be a bent barrel but could just as well be a problem with the crown.
Do a little filing on the side opposite of the direction you want the bullet to go.
Do a little filing on the side opposite of the direction you want the bullet to go.
Holding way right was just a stupid comment!
Nit Wit
Comfortably_Numb
The Evil Mike Brooks
It works.
