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How to file down the front sight

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flashes79

32 Cal.
Joined
Aug 7, 2008
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I'm new to muzzleloading, so I hope this isn't a stupid question. Just recently purchased a .32 caliber percussion Pedersoli Frontier for my son and I to do some squirrel hunting. Have shot it upwards of about 50 times now. At 25 yards from the bench and sandbag it is shooting 4 to 6 inches low. Everything I have read says to file down the front sight to raise it on target. Was wondering how to go about doing this. Is there a special type of file I should use or just a simple metal file? Do I need to put the gun in a vise to file it, or can I do this from the shooting bench? I know your supposed to file off just a bit at a time and then test fire,etc. Hope this all made sense. To be honest, I'm a bit apprehensive about doing this since I've never done it before. Thanks for your help!
 
I've always just used a good file at the range when sighting in. I wrap as much of the barrel as possible around the sight with a good rag or piece of leather to protect it from any "Oops!" and file a few strokes, test and repeat till done.
 
I agree. It is easy to slip and scratch the barrel. So, cover it with something like tape or a cloth. I also hold the gun on sandbags or a shooting vise and that helps.
 
Time for an old shoe... Cut the tongue out of an old leather shoe. Cut a slit in it. Poke the sight through the slit, and file away! The leather will protect things...
 
Just use a 6-8 inch smooth mill file. make sure that it is not done "off" level. sight down the barrel as you go slowly with the file. the leather is a great idea to keep the finsh where it belongs.
 
As an old timer told me once, when I asked about adjusting iron sights; "Yep, they're fully adjustable with a hammer and file."
Just go slow, it's a bear trying to put those shavings back on. :haha:
 
I use a marker on the side of the sight so that I know exactly how much that I am filing off.
 
If you do file a little too much,a little J B Weld on top and file to form.
 
I will only add that buy making a couple of portable "V" blocks to hold the gun on the bench or ground will help a great deal, you can screw a couple of 2x6x6 inch pieces of wood together forming a T and have a suitable sized V in the upright, I like to line the V with soft leather.
 
I use black electrical tape in front & rear of the site & then file the site. If I slip I hit the tape & no damage to the browning.
On a freshly finished stock, I stretch the tape on with the sticky side out the first couple of laps & then turn it over & sticky side down so the adhesive doesn't get into the finish.

:thumbsup:
 
Fire a carefully aimed group of five shots at any exact known range. Measure exactly how much correction you want. Measure the sight radius or distance between front and rear sights.
Divide the sight radius in inches by the range in inches and multiply by the desired correction in inches. That will tell you exactly how much to remove.
I NEVER file sights at the range, it is too easy to mess up. If you file a "couple of strokes" at a time and fire a five shot group each time it will take forever. If you fire just one shot each time that one shot may not be representative of the group center. You get frustrated with the slow progress, file the heck out of it, get the top crooked, straighten it out and now you've taken off too much and have to get a new sight and start over.
I much prefer to shoot groups, take the rifle and target home, put the barrel in a vise, measure, calculate and cut. In that way I can do the job right, with a flat and level top, smoothly contoured and when I return to the range it will be on the money.
The formula is very simple, sight radius divided by range times desired correction, all in inches and it tells you exactly how much to remove. :grin:
Oh yeah, I was assuming you do have a caliper with which to measure the sight to + or - .001", otherwise you'll have to do it the hard way.
 
Lots of dif. ways to do it. I always shoot 3 shots, as when you get to the bull coming up from the bottom & start cutting into it with 5 shots, the other two shots cutting in can distort more of the bull making it appear larger, & now you are sighting at a larger bull than when you started.

The best way I have found to do it is have the gun shooting left or right of the bull & bring it up to where you need it, then more the sights over to the bull. This way the bull Always looks the same til you go over to it. This is how I do the ML rifles & other rifles as well & it works great & no bullseye distortion.

I do all of my sighting in & sight work at the range & testing it. Gives me shooting time, breaks the barrel in, etc. If I did it all on the bench, the only shooting time I would get would be at the hunting club when hunting season comes. And I also like to personally test every rifle I build. I want to know exactly how that rifle performs when it leaves here.

:thumbsup:
 
I sort of do it like Coyote Joe, but I take the caliper and file with me to the range. Use the depth gauge on the caliper to measure the height of the front sight then calculate how much to take off.

I usually only file the back half of the front sight until I get it to where I want it, then bring the other part down. For safety, I usually cut it about 15 thousandths high and test fire off hand before doing the final adjustment. Off hand doesn't always go to the same point of impact as off the sand bags.
 
I have a Pedersoli Frontier Rifle in .36 and I just filed it at the range. It takes some time to make sure it's even. Just used an ordinary file. Wish I would have slipped some leather over the barrel like was suggested on this thread, though. Mine was shooting 2 feet low at 50 yds. There's hardly any front sight left! :grin: I opened up the rear notch to let more light in and cut off the buckhorns with my dremel so the top of the rear sight was flat all the way across.
 
I use a plastic guard I cut out of the lid of a coffee can with a slit I added in the middle to accomidate the sight and a fine single-cut Grobet broadhead file. As mentioned earlier: go slow and shoots lots as it's hard to add filings back on.

Track of the Wolf sells many different styles of front sight . . . thankfully.
 
Howdy- I too have just gotten my Frontier rifle (.50 cal) sighted in right up to 100yds. After finding the best load, it took LOTS of filing. The folks 'round here have given you some great ways to do it right, as they did for me. I'll add one more thing: although I haven't done it yet, I got some good PM advice to widen the rear sight notch (or go with a thinner front blade) - to better see the front sight/picture. Makes good sense, since normally I get a shot at a deer in low light. Right now I'm not sure I could see the front sight too well in that situation. Good luck!
 
Pork Chop said:
Time for an old shoe... Cut the tongue out of an old leather shoe. Cut a slit in it. Poke the sight through the slit, and file away! The leather will protect things...

That's an awesome idea!

Why didn't I think of that... :thumbsup:

HD
 
Thank you all for your advice and help! Feel alot more comfortable now and looking forward to getting to work on this soon! As soon as I can find some free time I'll begin. Is there a certain distance I should sight the rifle in at? I've been shooting at targets at 25 yards. My rifle is a .32 caliber which we plan on using for squirrel hunting.
 
I sighted my .36 in at 25 yards. I settled on a load that gave me a group of about the size of a dime. Want to make sure I can hit those squirrel heads. My load drops about .9 inches at 50 yds.
 
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