Sighting in revolver.

OverUnder725

OverUnder725

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I have been messing with the sights on my S&W model 17 and am not getting consistent results. First off I have noticed the rear sight is not tight, it will wiggle a bit front to back
(the blade portion with the notch), not so much left to right. If some one could check one of their guns for me and see if it is the same, I would appreciate it.

I have been trying to sight it a 25 yrds off the bench and am having poor results. I have been using federal bulk ammo (may be an issue?) but am going to try something different today. I can get it to shoot in 2-3" group for 3-4 rounds and then I will get a couple flyers out a 5-6" and then it seems like I'm back at square one. Again, bulk ammo causing flyers?

Am I better to start out at 10 yards and try to dial it in there and then move back to 15, 20 and 25? I hear stories of these guns being quite accurate but I'm not having much luck with consistency. I am also new to shooting it and attribute some of the grouping to my capabilities. That being said I will also look at a better bench rest today and see if that helps eliminate some of the shooter error.

Any thoughts appreciated.
 
Buy some different/better ammo as a start. I'd also suggest a wet patch or two, dry patch and then inspect the barrel's bore for crusty looking spots that indicate leading. If you see any such then it's worth a couple of passes with a bore brush. There's no doubt that even small areas of leading will open up the groups.

The adjustable rear does have a very slight amount of fore and aft hingeing play. The blade sits in a slot in the rear sight base and there's bound to be a touch of play. But it's minimal and given you found that it's locked solide for side to side play it's not the cause.

Another option is to pay a little more and get ammo that comes in separate 50 round packs inside the outer "brick" cover. The ammo packaged that way tends to suffer less bullet loosening and other damage caused by transport. You can see this for yourself. Pull out and carefully inspect a batch of the bulk rounds and you'll find a surprising number where the bullet can be easily spun in the crimp or where the bullet is slightly pushed off to one side. The first rule of accuracy is consistency. You can't be accurate and consistent when the ammo is variable in this way. The protection plates in the 50 round packs does a lot towards avoiding this issue.

You don't need minimags or other higher velocity rounds either. Instead see if you can find some CCI Standard Velocity or similar. My own 17 does pretty well with CCI Blazer, CCI SV and I had some sort of Remington at one time which it shot well. Sorry, not a clue on what it was. But the box was green and white as I recall.
 
I was looking at some of the ammo last night and did notice that maybe only 2 out of 10 rounds were tight in the casing. It would be worth the extra money on rounds to get things sorted out for sighting and a better day at the range. I carry my cleaning kit with me and probably don't clean as often as I should. I will try these things today at the range, thanks!
 
If your new to hand guns you should probably start shooting paper at closer then 25 yards and work back keeping the groups fist sized.

Are you shooting single or double action?
Off hand or off a sandbag or some other rest?
 
OverUnder725 said:
...and am not getting consistent results.
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~ Use consistent ammo, try a couple of types in a couple of different brands.
~ Make sure you are being consistent.
~ Keep the trigger held to the rear until recoil subsides.

OverUnder725 said:
...the rear sight is not tight, it will wiggle a bit front to back
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~ The Rear Sight Assembly is long, it is also a spring. There is a screw forward, towards the barrel, make sure it is tight. Because the sight is a leaf spring it may appear to be tight when it is actually loose. Use a screwdriver to check.

OverUnder725 said:
I can get it to shoot in 2-3" group for 3-4 rounds and then I will get a couple flyers out a 5-6" ... Again, bulk ammo causing flyers?
Click to expand...

~ Yeah, it could be the bulk ammo, but it could also be you, the gun, or the target.
~ Use as small an aiming point as possible.
~ Try a 6 o'clock hold if sight alignment is an issue.
~ Be sure to breath, sights get blurry if you're holding your breath too long.
~ If the gun is well used, or you are suspicious of it's potential, have it looked at by a gunsmith.

OverUnder725 said:
Am I better to start out at 10 yards and try to dial it in there and then move back to 15, 20 and 25? I hear stories of these guns being quite accurate but I'm not having much luck with consistency..
Click to expand...

~ If you're shooting 2-3" groups at 25yds then I don't think you need to move closer. But, if you do move closer use a much smaller aiming point. For the closer distances I like blank paper for a target and a bullet hole for an aiming point.
 
I was at the range today with all kinds of different ammunition and ran it all through the gun. I tried CCI subsonics, Remington target, Winchester target, Federal target, Remington subsonics, Remington viper, Winchester xpert hv and American eagle.

Here is my list of worst to best for me and my gun.

Winchester Target. I'm not sure how they performed, I couldn't even get them into the cylinder of my gun! They would go 2/3 of the way in and jam. I would have had to use a hammer to get them all the way in.
Remington Viper. Lots of power but seemed to throw lots high.
Remington Target and Subsonic. Middle of the road for me, seemed fairly accurate but larger groups.
Federal Target and American Eagle. Reasonably accurate with slightly better grouping.
CCI Subsonic. Good accuracy, nice groups.
Winchester Xpert HV. Smallest groups, and most accurate.

I noticed with the American Eagle, CCI and Winchester Xpert, they all fit the cylinder loose until the last 1/16" and then required a firm push to seat them. No of the other ammunition did this. Coincidence, I'm not sure but they were the rounds that performed the best for me.

I had high hopes for the target ammunition I bought and was surprised when the bulk out performed it. I tried to shoot the ammunition randomly, one cylinder of one brand and then one cylinder of another on separate targets. I know it's far from scientific but I did find the ammunition that works best for me and my gun.

** I have some pics of the target I shot but it won't let me post it.
 
I, by no means want to take over this thread, but why can't you place the barrel on a padded rest? I'm fairly new to pistol/revolver shooting and I just sighted in my R8 resting the barrel on a thin V-shaped shooting bag and it's bang on at 25m with a Vortex red dot. At 10-15m the thing is great...then my lack of skill/practice kicks in and I can't hit sh!t off hand at 25m...but it's still fun. By the way, I contacted S&W regarding the loose rear sight and it's made that way. They suggested a VERY small dab of blue loctite once zeroed in if I didnt' want to fiddle with it...of course it all depends on magnum or .39 special rounds...sorry I'm rambling...back to the original thread
 
clhdluke said:
I, by no means want to take over this thread, but why can't you place the barrel on a padded rest? I'm fairly new to pistol/revolver shooting and I just sighted in my R8 resting the barrel on a thin V-shaped shooting bag and it's bang on at 25m with a Vortex red dot. At 10-15m the thing is great...then my lack of skill/practice kicks in and I can't hit sh!t off hand at 25m...but it's still fun. By the way, I contacted S&W regarding the loose rear sight and it's made that way. They suggested a VERY small dab of blue loctite once zeroed in if I didnt' want to fiddle with it...of course it all depends on magnum or .39 special rounds...sorry I'm rambling...back to the original thread
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http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/bot51.htm
 
This is how my 17-3 shoots SA with the butt only on the rest with cheap bulk pack ammo. Target at 25 yards.

SW17.jpg
 
target.jpg
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This is the target I was talking about the other day with the barrel on the rest at 20 yards, SA. Thought it was ok and went and bought some more of the the same ammunition.

25yard.jpg
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This is what I produced today with the same ammunition at the same distance shooting off the rest with the grip of the gun, SA.

rest.jpg
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This is the rest I was using. I have been shooting rifles and such for 25 years and am familiar with proper sight picture target hold etc. but this is beginning to rattle me a bit! I would expect this shooting off hand, not off a rest.

Am I just that crapy with a revolver or should I move up to 5 yards and hope no one sees!
 
Brutus said:
Better ammunition maybe. Perhaps try some SK Standard Plus.
I found Federal in the regular blue box to be pretty sad for accuracy @25 yards from a pistol.
Click to expand...

I tried a bunch of different ammunition and these for some reason worked the best.

I talked to one of the guys out at the range today and he is going to meet with me tomorrow and put a few rounds through it and give it a look.

A few people suggested it may be out of time, from what I've seen on the web, mine doesn't seem to have an issue. How much rotational play should there be with the hammer cocked and the cylinder lock in firing position?
 
OverUnder725 said:
I tried a bunch of different ammunition and these for some reason worked the best.

I talked to one of the guys out at the range today and he is going to meet with me tomorrow and put a few rounds through it and give it a look.

A few people suggested it may be out of time, from what I've seen on the web, mine doesn't seem to have an issue. How much rotational play should there be with the hammer cocked and the cylinder lock in firing position?
Click to expand...

Just a few thou' left or right I believe.
Maybe it is badly out of time? The big hint for that, is it should "spit" small lead shards from the bullet Lh & RH out of the sides of the cylinder to frame gap, every time you shoot.
 
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