sight adjustment

[Excoastie]

I know that this may be obvious to some, but it's not so obvious to me.

My S&W M&P .22 Compact sights are off a little bit. My groups are falling about 3-4 inches high consistently from about 15-20 yards. My stock rear sight is said to be adjustable.

Is it as obvious to adjust the sights as it appears? Move it a little, shoot a few rounds to see what the results were, wash and repeat?

Thanks

Exco

 

[NoSecondBest]

wash and repeat?

Wash? Wash what? The last time I saw "wash and repeat" was on the back of a shampoo bottle. I don't understand how you "wash" your sights......

 

[5whiskey]

My S&W M&P .22 Compact sights are off a little bit. My groups are falling about 3-4 inches high consistently from about 15-20 yards. My stock rear sight is said to be adjustable.

No personal experience, but from a photo of the pistol it appears the sights are AT LEAST adjustable for windage. If it is adjustable for elevation, you will see a screw (or knob, or something you turn) on top of the sight and not on the side. You will effectively need to move the rear sight down slightly. If they are not elevation adjustable, you do have options. For example, if it's shooting high you could file a tiny bit of metal off the top of the rear sight blade. Going very slow and constantly test firing would be critical. Most folks just live with kentucky windage before they file sights, but I personally would rather have a small portion of cold blued metal than sights that were off.

Yes, you would basically shoot a few round then move the sight (count your turns/clicks/etc.). Shoot a few more rounds to see where they impact, and keep adjusting until you are satisfied. I would use a supported position and shoot at about 15 yards to adjust the sights.

 

[g.willikers]

Washing the sights in hot water will shrink them and allow more adjustment.
But seriously,
Adjust the sights to be in agreement with where the holes in the target actually are.

 

[T. O'Heir]

You try a bunch of different brands of ammo? Your rear sight is adjustable.
Have a look at this too.
http://www.targetshooting.ca/docs/Pistol_Shot_Analysis.pdf

 

[Excoastie]

My rear sights are adjustable for both elevation and windage. I verified that prior to posting.

Thanks to those who didn't give me a smart ass response. I just wanted to verify that there was not some hidden or more complicated (yet better) way of doing things.

If the weather ever clears up, I'll head out the range and see if I can get it dialed in a little better. I have tried three or four different types of ammo, and they all pretty much did the same thing. This isn't the occasional round that wonders off a little. I've been consistently shooting groups that are high


Exco

 

[RickB]

I googled "m&p .22 sight adjustment", and everything related to windage adjustment; is the sight adjustable for elevation?
If not, the front sight is apparently easy to remove after loosening the set screw, so maybe S&W makes front sights of different heights? Is the front sight numbered?
I just bought a new SIG with the number "6" on the front sight, so there are at least five others to adjust elevation.

 

[kraigwy]

Measure your sight radius.

Go to 15 yards. 15 yards is 180 inches.

Divide your sight radius by 180 inches. That should give you a fraction (or thousands number).

Each movement of the rear sight that fraction should move your impact 1 inch.

Example: Lets assume your sight radius if 4 inches and you are shooting 4 inches high.

4/180 = .022. So each movement of the rear sight will move impact .022.

If you are 4 inches hight, then lowering your sight (4 X .022) .088 will move your sight down 4 inches.

Beats shooting, adjusting, shooting, until you get it right.

 

[ShootistPRS]

kraigwy,
You made a slight mistake in your math. 15 yards is only 45 feet. 60 yards is 180 feet.

 

[Excoastie]

I've got it corrected.

I did it the hard way, especially as that was too much math for me to figure out.

I shot 5 shots from about 15 yrds. Still shooting high. I did an adjustment and shot 5 more times. I moved it the wrong way. I put it back where it was, then a couple of notches the other way.

I shot 5 more shots. It was closer to where I wanted to be. I adjusted it a click or two more and shot again. It was where I was looking to be.

I then shot another 150 or so shot just because I could. I was pleased with the results.

Below are pics of my rear sight.




Exco

 

[kraigwy]

You made a slight mistake in your math. 15 yards is only 45 feet. 60 yards is 180 feet.

Sorry about that. I edited it, it was suppose to be inches instead of feet.

 

[HiBC]

A general rule: Move the rear sight in the direction you want you bullet impact to move.
Move the rear sight up to raise the group,for example.

Most adjustable sights like yours have a "click" or graduation value.It might be in your owners manual.It might be something like one inch at 25 yds,but I can't tell you.

kraigwy has it right,he was teaching a valid,useful principle.If you are drifting a sight in a dovetail for windage,or filing the front sight for elevation,it really good to know how much to move the sight.
Often a depth micrometer or dial indicator or even calipers can be used to verify how much to move the sight.
If you are using a hammer and punch,counting hammer whacks and white knuckles,,and walking a 200 yd round trip for each "poke and hope" adjustment..a little math comes in handy.Actually,the old match shooters had a specialized micrometer to fit the military sights on their Krags and 1903's to measure sight corrections more precisely.

Its an extension of the rule in geometry that triangles are proportional.Its a long,skinny triangle,but its still a triangle.

If you had a 12 in sight radius,and you fired it at a 12 inch range,,a sight adjustment of 1/8 inch would move point of impact 1/8 inch.

If you went to a range of 24 inches,the same adjustment would have a value of 2/8 inches,or 1/4 in on target. At 96 inches,or 8 feet,or 8 "sight radius units" the 1/8 in adj would have a value of 8/8 in,or 1 in.

So anytime this question comes up,remember you need to know the distance to the target,measured in units of "sight radius". That is how many times a sight correction will be multiplied on target. The key!! Your initial triangle is based on the sight radius. If one "sight radius" is 7 1/2 inches,so be it! 100 yards is 3600 inches,or 480 sight radius units. So,what would a .001 sight movement do at 100 yds? 0.480 in.Pretty close to 1/2 inch.

You can use that same "multiplier" as a divider.If I want 2 inches on target,dividing 2 by the multiplier will give me a decimal sight correction.

How might this be handy? Suppose ,when I center the graduations for windage on my M-1 Garand on a calm day,and my group center is 3 inches left at 100 yds. Its kind of handy if the graduations center my group,rather than having to remember clicks.
Well,on the front sight is a clamp screw that takes an allen wrench.I can easily move that sight,without a rock or a claw hammer. The trick is just figuring out a way to measure sight movement,because on a Garand,I know .008 inches sight movement gives me 1 in on target.
AND since you move the REAR sight in the direction you want the point of impact to move,remember to do the opposite with the front sight.

Forgive me for getting so basic.Not trying to talk down to anyone.I wanted to write it so folks could remember.