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Sight Adjustment

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Tom A Hawk

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Upon delivery, my Uberti 1860 Army printed about 8-10" high and 2-3" to the right. Not very satisfactory for my intended targets and I won't keep a firearm that I can't hit with reliably.

I first deepened the hammer notch which brought POI down to about 5" high. Still not acceptable.

Then I set about replacing the front sight with a taller one. Ordered an 1803 Harpers Ferry front sight from TOW for the blade. https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/874/1/FS-1803-S

This sight proved too narrow for the cut in the barrel so I cut off the dovetail base and made a new base for it by folding a nickle coin in half, brazed it to the blade and filed it to fit the barrel cut. I also off-set the blade from the base about 0.050" to the right to correct for the windage error.

Original and new sight
upload_2019-4-12_18-37-46.png


Finished installation
upload_2019-4-12_18-39-42.png


This target represents an assortment of round balls, Lee 200 grain and Eras Gone heeled conicals at 18 to 30 yards. Now the rabbits, woodchucks, tin cans and clay pigeons are in mortal danger. :D

upload_2019-4-12_18-43-49.png
 
Upon delivery, my Uberti 1860 Army printed about 8-10" high and 2-3" to the right. Not very satisfactory for my intended targets and I won't keep a firearm that I can't hit with reliably.

This target represents an assortment of round balls, Lee 200 grain and Eras Gone heeled conicals at 18 to 30 yards. Now the rabbits, woodchucks, tin cans and clay pigeons are in mortal danger. :D

View attachment 8136
You have for sure improved the pistol's performance by a long shot. Keep working, it can be even better. I have a Uberti 44 Remington and the pistol will print 9s & 10s at 25 yrds on a 25 muzzleloading pistol target.
Good luck and keep tuning
Flintlocklar
 
It's curious that they do not offer the pistol with a high sight, and let the customer file it down to "historical" size, if he plans to shoot at Rebs and Yanks with the "belt buckle hold".
 
Was able to do some additional shooting today. I still have not been able to get on a solid bench, however things are looking pretty good none the less. I fired the Uberti 1860 with modified front sight with round balls greased over with SPG and the Uberti Remington ( purchased in the classifieds here ) with 225 Grain Lee conicals, pan lubed with SPG. Six shots from each.

Lube pan
upload_2019-4-19_18-20-44.png


I am delighted with both of these guns. The 1860 put three balls in one hole. The round balls will make a nice casual plinking load. The Remington did nearly the same. I had a little vertical stringing with that one which I attribute to shooter error. I anticipated the heavy conicals would shoot high and my compensation was not consistent.
upload_2019-4-19_18-21-47.png
 
I also wonder why nobody makes taller replacement front sights for Colts. A cottage shop could be millionares doing so.
 
Upon delivery, my Uberti 1860 Army printed about 8-10" high and 2-3" to the right. Not very satisfactory for my intended targets and I won't keep a firearm that I can't hit with reliably.

I first deepened the hammer notch which brought POI down to about 5" high. Still not acceptable.

Then I set about replacing the front sight with a taller one. Ordered an 1803 Harpers Ferry front sight from TOW for the blade. https://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/874/1/FS-1803-S

This sight proved too narrow for the cut in the barrel so I cut off the dovetail base and made a new base for it by folding a nickle coin in half, brazed it to the blade and filed it to fit the barrel cut. I also off-set the blade from the base about 0.050" to the right to correct for the windage error.

Original and new sight
View attachment 8134

Finished installation
View attachment 8135

This target represents an assortment of round balls, Lee 200 grain and Eras Gone heeled conicals at 18 to 30 yards. Now the rabbits, woodchucks, tin cans and clay pigeons are in mortal danger. :D

View attachment 8136


I built mine up with metal set epoxy 3 years and around 400 rounds ago. Dressed down/shaped with a file. Touched it up with black paint.

" Look Good, last long time! "
 
I also wonder why nobody makes taller replacement front sights for Colts. A cottage shop could be millionares doing so.
I'm thinking the same. Given the advancements in CNC technology it would seem that making replacement sights in various heights would not be that difficult. Removing the original was very easy. I always assumed the sights were soldered to the barrel but they pop right out with a tap. Or, they could be cast on a runner tree making 10 at a time. Will have to investigate this further...
 
My 3 revolvers all hit about 5 to 7 inches high at 15 yards and it is very annoying. But anyway, nice work and nice summarization. Folding a nickel coin in half....!
 
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