Sights for S&W 1911sc

[nagantfan]

I've got an S&W 1911sc (4 1/4" barrel) that is very accurate and highly reliable.

Trouble is, though, that it shoots off to the left just a little bit. It has Novak (lo mount?) sights but the sights are not adjustable.

I have looked the world over searching for a set of adjustable sights to fit the cuts on on the slide.

I have tried a couple that were supposed to fit the Novak lo-mount cut, but they didn't....apparently the cut is just slightly different than for the standard Novak lo mount.

Does anyone make sights that will fit?

Any suggestions, folks?

 

[somerled]

Surely the rear sight can be drifted in its dovetail a bit? Some rear sights have a set screw that has to be loosened first. I have a sight-drifting punch with brass and nylon heads I got years ago from Brownells. I use it, a bench block to hold the slide, and a quarter-pound ball peen hammer to drift the sight in small increments until the windage is just right.

One drifts the rear sight the way the groups need to go, which is left in your case.

 

[TN-popo]

what somerled said...your sights should be windage (left/right) adjustable.
Best

 

[fastbolt]

When I took my new SW1911Sc 5" out of the box and carefully examined it, I noticed that the front sight base was just barely drifted a bit to one side. I'm used to seeing them perfectly centered on stock S&W pistols. The rear sight base appeared centered.

I used my sight pusher to drift the front sight to center, cleaned the pistol and then took it to the range.

The POA was the POI, and it grouped beautifully. I had a hard time getting it back from one of the other instructors who carries a Colt on duty. He was very impressed with the stock trigger and accuracy.

Now, if you happen to be right-handed, I wouldn't dismiss a bit of shooter involvement in the way of trigger control. Not saying you're not an experienced shooter, either ... but it happens to the best of us upon occasion.

Once you rule out trigger control influences ... or, if you're left-handed in the first place ... then I'd have someone who's qualified carefully adjust the sights for windage (whichever seems most appropriate for adjustment).

FWIW, when a friend of mine recently bought his new SW1911PD to the range it grouped very tightly and accurately, but slightly off to the right (he's right-handed and an excellent shooter, so it didn't seem likely to consistently be his trigger control, at least at first glance).

I shot the pistol and experienced the same thing, as did a couple of other shooters. Time to check the sights.

Since it was dark and getting late I suggested he bring it back some other time and let me check and adjust his sights when he could test-fire it afterward.

 

[nagantfan]

Why Didn't I think of that?

I thank you guys for your advice. As much as my ego may hate to admit it, there IS a possibility that I am what is making the rounds go to the left, not the pistol.

It has been known to happen with me before, and I don't know why I didn't think of it. Generally speaking, with me, the shorter the barrel and the lighter the gun, the higher the likelihood that I'm jerking the trigger a bit (I probably jerk it with longer barrels and heavier guns as well, but the heft of those weapons absorbs it well enough to keep it from showing downrange).

And (I am feeling a little sheepish about it), it DOES look like the rear sight will drift...I was afraid to try it, because the pin in the middle of the sight (the base pin? set screw?) doesn't look to me like it contemplates movement. If the problem isn't me, I'll get Allen wrenches and see if I can't loosen it a bit. If so, I'll move the rear sight a little to the left with a brass or wooden tapper of some kind.

Thanks again, guys. This approach is a lot cheaper than buying and installing new sights!

 

[somerled]

nagantfan, if you don't feel comfortable drifting the rear sight, a gunsmith or armorer can do it for you. Some shops sight in pistols for $25 or $30. The shop you bought it from may even do it for nothing just because they want return business. Don't expect free service, however. It takes some time, and time is money.

 

[fastbolt]

Ditto ...

Don't attempt kitchen-table gunsmithing unless you're trained and experienced in doing it right. Helps to have the right tools, too.

Ever see one of those signs above a counter which say something to the effect "$25/hour to fix it & $50/hour to fix it if you tried to fix it first"?

Besides, it's only the work of a couple of minutes to adjust the sights for someone using a sight pusher. (Probably takes longer to locate the pusher tool from where it wandered off to, and place the slide in it, than it does to adjust the sight chosen for adjustment.) Why risk banging on something yourself? (FWIW, the rear sight base holds the firing safety plunger and its spring in the slide, and having an "OOPS" moment and damaging/loosing the spring would be a pain.)

That's why I simply took a moment and checked the 'centering' of my front & rear sights, adjusted the front one to 'center', and then fired a few boxes of different kinds of ammunition. Mine just happened to have the POA & POI match when the sights were both normally 'centered' in the dovetails ... lucky ... although I've had to drift some here and there, one way or another, from 'center'. That's why they're drift-adjustable.

I bet once the other guy brings his SW1911PD back by the range, I'll only have to drift one or the other sights just a bit to bring his hits leftward, back where they should be.

That's why he asked serveral of us to try his new pistol out, BTW, when he experienced the POA/POI issues. He wanted to make sure it wasn't the gun before he started to think about having the sights adjusted.

I have to admit that as an instructor I spend a lot more time 'adjusting' the shooters than I have to adjust the guns ... sights included.

I had one fellow who ws shooting a few inches off to one side and couldn't understand why. I went to try his pistol myself and stopped before I fired it. As soon as I looked at it I noticed his rear sight was hanging out over the left side of the slide. Gotta love Glock plastic rear sights. Sometimes it's the gun, but in this case I don't see how he could hold the pistol in front of himself, let alone shoot several magazines through it, without realizing the rear sight was overhanging the slide, casting a shadow on the left side of the gun because of how far it had been displaced to the left.

For some reason, the folks in charge don't seem inclined to let me 'fix' the shooters with the same hammer I use to fix the guns, either. It can sometimes make for a more tedious process, let me tell you ...

 

[nagantfan]

I Hate To Admit It, But It Was Me, Not the Gun....

I took it out last week and shot it off of a sandbag rest.

It shot a group the size of a golf ball at ten yards, dead center.

Jeez, do I feel foolish.

Thanks for all the input, folks, especially the tactful suggestions that the fault lied with myself rather than my stars. (apologies to the Bard for that one).

 

[fastbolt]

Good to hear it ...

Sometimes, with some folks, shooting from a rest causes them to relax their index/trigger finger during their trigger stroke. Dunno why ... maybe they just exert less overall force with their hand in the gripping/support of the pistol when using a rest, and therefore are less prone to have excessive tension in their trigger finger during the stroke. Who knows?

You're right-handed, though, aren't you?

Congrats. Enjoy the pistol. They can be tack drivers, if the several of them I've handled and fired are any indication of their overall inherent accuracy. S&W invested some money in these pistols, and they're apparently doing very well. I certainly like mine ... and I've always been a Colt owner.