Sight, patch, and rifle questions?

[Aggie99]

Ok guys, I have several questions resulting from my shooting session yesterday.

1. Is there anything wrong with the patches I shot? I tried some 0.015" patches yesterday, and they were much easier to load (80grns 3f Goex, 0.53" ball, and bore butter). I think the patches I was given with the rifle were closer to 0.020". I would rather use the 0.015" patches as long as there isn't too much damage to them from shooting.

2. I believe there is a supposed to be a spring in the rear sight so that it can be adjusted up. Am I correct? When I tried to adjust the sight up, the screw on top loosened, and I could lift the sight up, but it would drop back down to where is was.

3. This rifle was given to me about a year ago by my father-in-law after he had used it for many years, but I don't know what model T/C it is. The model number is 32503 if that helps. It is a .54 caliber.

Thanks in advance.

 

[big bore 75]

1. well its a well made t/c renegade

2. the patches look fine to me

3. yes there is supposed to be a small spring under the the site, if you call t/c they will take care of you if not also free shipping too if you do have to pay it won't be much, they have a no b.s. warentee on their product. bb75

 

[Liver eatin’ Johnson]

The patches look OK from what I see in your photo - how was the accuracy?

Yes there is supposed to be a coil spring under the sight.

It is a T/C Renegade - a very fine hunting rifle indeed!

 

[flaming canvas]

The rifle is a Renegade and there should be a spring in the rear sight. You didn't say what distance you were shooting.

If that's a 100 yard target, I would say it isn't bad.

If it's 50 yards, you need to tinker with the combination.

If it's 25 yards, you should probably visit your optometrist first. :blah:

My experience with TC rifles is that they like a tight combination. Try some pillow ticking for patches. That may be the thicker stuff you had. You can buy a quarter yard at Wally World. Get the stuff that has dark stripes on both sides and be sure it is all cotton. Synthetic material is no good for patch, it melts.

Since you are using 530 ball, you could try .535.

Unless ease of loading is a critical factor for speed, the extra effort it takes to load a tight combination pays off in accuracy.

 

[Rebel]

"If it's 25 yards, you should probably visit your optometrist first."

I think if someone needs to see any eye dr. it might be you. Those aren't rd ball holes in a target, they are used patches. :: ::

 

[Pittsburghunter]

1- LOL at the Flamer.

2- Those patches look real good. No cuts or burnouts.

3- That is a beautiful rifle.

4- Boy I wish those guns still came with the square notched sights they use too.

5- you are a lucky man to have got that for free.

 

[roundball]

I've found TC's .018" prelubed pillow ticking to give the best accuracy & reduced fouling in my TC barrels

 

[Stumpkiller]

If you hold a patch up to the sky and can't see light through it, it did it's job.

You should have a spring, and T/C will supply one I'm sure. In the mean time, you could shim it up with slices of plastic (like from a credit card or those little wallet calendars you get at banks).

Thompson/Center Arms Co., Inc.
P.O. Box 5002
Rochester, NH 03866

T/C will also send you a manual if you e-mail your address and ask for a Renegade manual to [email protected]

 

[Aggie99]

Thanks for the answers guys. I really liked the way the thinner patches loaded compared to the thick ones. Hopefully I can get them to group well. I didn't get to do a lot of load work on Saturday, it was more of an experimental session then planned load development. I'll give T/C a call today and see what they say about the sight spring.

Thanks again,
Glenn

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Greeting Aggie99,

For a quick sight spring fix, try a spring from a ball point pen.

You may have to trial and error trim it to get the right length.

Those little springs can be life savers. I never throw away one of those throw-a-way pens without removing and saving the springs.

Best regards,

John L. Hinnant

 

[canyonman]

That's a great idea, those could be handy, as pockets on a shirt. :thanks:

Larry

 

[Aggie99]

I finally got the spring for the rear sight from T/C, but I can't figure out where it goes. I want to say that it goes over the post where the adjustment screw screws into on the insde of the sight, but it won't fit over the post. If I try to put it in the area in front of that post, it falls over, and I can't get the sight screwed back together. Where does this screw go? I have attached a poor scetch of the sight so you might see the post I am talking about.

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[Stumpkiller]

I think there is a round depression ahead of the post it sits in. It's been a while since I've had the sights off a T/C m/l or Contender. :hmm:

 

[Aggie99]

Thanks Stumpkiller. I'll try that when I get home. Hopefully I can get it to work.

 

[musketman]

I think there is a round depression ahead of the post it sits in. It's been a while since I've had the sights off a T/C m/l or Contender. :hmm:

That is correct, the "POST" is something for the screw elevation to thread into...

The recess is where the spring goes...

 

[Aggie99]

You guys are a wealth of knowledge and I always appreciate your help. I'll let you know how it works.

Thanks.

 

[Aggie99]

I tried to put the spring where ya'll suggested, but there is no indentation for it. I did get it to stay in front of the screw post while I screwed the sight back down, but the sight wouldn't lower as much as I need it to (with no indentation, the spring wouldn't compress enough). Looking at the sight, it almost looks like the spring needs to fit over the post and into the indentation in the top part of the sight. The spring that T/C sent me is not large enought in diameter to fit over the post though. Let me know if I am missing something.

Thanks.

 

[roundball]

The spring does not go over the post...the post simply goes up through the hole in the top section of the sight and the elevation screw goes down into the post.
The spring sits loose in a little depression...if you can zoom this up it might help show it but you really won't need it...

 

[Aggie99]

Thanks again guys. I guess I will have to just shim the sight because I am hitting just 1" low at 50 yards from where I want to. With the spring in, the sight will be too high for where I want the POI to be. Thanks again.

 

[roundball]

Thanks again guys. I guess I will have to just shim the sight because I am hitting just 1" low at 50 yards from where I want to. With the spring in, the sight will be too high for where I want the POI to be. Thanks again.

You may already know this but I'm so puzzled by this that I thought I'd mention it anyhow...the spring is just a tension spring to help hold the position of the elevation screw when you finished getting it adjusted / sighted in the way you want it.

The elevator screw raises and lowers the rear sight to suit your needs...you should not be needing to shim the rear sight...to be honest, I've never seen a rear sight quiet like that one...it may be so old that the spring TC sent you is for a more recent (current) production rear sight and the spring may be to big for that sight...because again, the fix should not have to be shimming up the sight assembly.

If the spring is too long and won't compress enough to allow you to screw down the sdjusting screw, you might consider taking a pair of wire cutters and cutting a quarter or a third of the coils off and try it...based on your description, it's apparently no good in that sight the way it is.
::