So I have a K98, and once upon a time I was able to group 2" at 100 with it... About a foot and a half high from where I was aiming. I know that the sights aren't really adjustable for this, so I bought a front sight blank from Brownells. It required some mad filing to get it to fit in the dovetail, and it's also hilariously high. It's like twice as high as my original sight. So my questions are, since it went in the dovetail rather tight even after filing, should I be worried that I might have damaged the dovetail on my gun? It fit in the dovetail up to the edge of the sight blade with just my hands, and I pushed it in the rest of the way actually with an AK/SKS sight tool. And, especially if anyone's ever used Brownells' sight, how much did you have to file it down? Also, were Mausers designed to be aimed straight at the target, or at 6 o'clock (the bottom) of a target?
Anyone Ever Replaced Their Mauser's Front Sight?
- Thread starter F-Tang
- Start date
It's very common for milsurps to hit high when shooting at 100 yards. Your gun is probably set at 300 yards with the sight on the lowest setting. The idea was if you aimed at an enemy's belt buckle at 100 yards you'd hit him in chest and as the range got farther you'd still make hits without having to adjust the sight.
The way I've figured out how tall my new sight needs to be is quick and dirty but works.
When aiming with your old front sight you need to figure out how man inches your front sight width covers of the target. If say it covers 6" of width at a 100 yards and you are shooting 18" high then your new front sight would need to be 3 widths of your old sight taller to be close to dead on.
I've used that meathod in the last with good results. Leave the new front sight a bit higher then you need and adjust as needed.
The way I've figured out how tall my new sight needs to be is quick and dirty but works.
When aiming with your old front sight you need to figure out how man inches your front sight width covers of the target. If say it covers 6" of width at a 100 yards and you are shooting 18" high then your new front sight would need to be 3 widths of your old sight taller to be close to dead on.
I've used that meathod in the last with good results. Leave the new front sight a bit higher then you need and adjust as needed.
My Mausers have 3 K98, M98 Yugo and M48 Yugo all are laser finders with Sellier and Bellot SPCE, I can hit whatever I want perfectly with this ammo out to 300m with the iron sights by adjusting the leaf sights and somehow the ammo matches it perfectly...……
Federal, Winchester ammo lands exactly 8 inches below where the Sellier Bellot rounds land at 100m on the same vertical plane, I think they are loaded with less power or at least somewhat lighter
For iron sights it is really about knowing the set up of the rounds you are shooting for your sights and to make adjustments as needed. As for aiming picture for each range I use the standard notch and post style with the front post being level and square with the rear posts and when aligned the target is hit. Select one aiming point, fire several round at it without adjusting your aim. See where the group of bullets land. if there is a pattern perhaps adjust the rear sight elevation for the drop/rise of your rounds at various distances.
Federal, Winchester ammo lands exactly 8 inches below where the Sellier Bellot rounds land at 100m on the same vertical plane, I think they are loaded with less power or at least somewhat lighter
For iron sights it is really about knowing the set up of the rounds you are shooting for your sights and to make adjustments as needed. As for aiming picture for each range I use the standard notch and post style with the front post being level and square with the rear posts and when aligned the target is hit. Select one aiming point, fire several round at it without adjusting your aim. See where the group of bullets land. if there is a pattern perhaps adjust the rear sight elevation for the drop/rise of your rounds at various distances.
leebuilder
Regular
- Location
- Nova Scotia
As mentioned most mausers in service were sighted in at ranges above 100m. I replaced a few with front sights I made myself. Now I build them up with a bit of metal solder. Easier, fully reversible and much less effort. I have done more m96 and m38 swedes this way. It works, no one whines about the price.
Sight adjustment calculations are pretty straightforward. With all values in the same units:
Change in impact / distance to target = Change in sights / sight radius
For example, if I want to lower my point of impact 18" at 100 yards and my sight radius is 20", the calculation would be as follows:
18/3600 = x/20,
or x = 18*20/3600
This works out to requiring a 0.1" taller front sight.
I would start by seeing where your rifle shoots with the new front sight and go from there. Of course, you want to err on the side of leaving it too tall, since you can always file it down, or possibly use the rear sight adjustments.
Change in impact / distance to target = Change in sights / sight radius
For example, if I want to lower my point of impact 18" at 100 yards and my sight radius is 20", the calculation would be as follows:
18/3600 = x/20,
or x = 18*20/3600
This works out to requiring a 0.1" taller front sight.
I would start by seeing where your rifle shoots with the new front sight and go from there. Of course, you want to err on the side of leaving it too tall, since you can always file it down, or possibly use the rear sight adjustments.
It is unlikely you damaged the dovetail.
If you plan on shooting your rifle, I suggest you set the rear leaf to the lowest position, and shoot the rifle. It should shoot low.
The problem with a 6 o'clock hold is that it assumes the same sized target at all distances, at all times. I prefer to have the bullet strike just above the top of my front sight. With that sight picture I can place bullets on any shape target, at any distance.
Take a file to the range and start filing, and watch the bullets strike higher and higher. Once you are about right, leave the final file for the shop so you can make it a nice job.
A target like this one is easy to see at 100, and easy to put the front sight on the middle.
Or, you can make a flat bottomed aiming mark like this, for an excellent target to aim at.
Last edited:
K98 are suppose to shoot 6-8 in high at 100 on lowest setting which is 100 meters. It’s for long range shooting. Having poi right at tip of front sight is alright at 100 but at say 400 it’s a blurry picture.
Imagine a basket ball at 100. You put front sight on bottom and will hit center or just above centre. Now same basket ball painted white at 400 so you can see it. Adjust sight to 400 and put sight on bottom of basket ball again. Same poi Easier to do than try and put front sight in middle of ball at that range.
Also further out say 700. Adjust rear sight too 800 to make sight picture even better. This is so you are placing target on top of front sight rather than cover part of target with sight.
Imagine a basket ball at 100. You put front sight on bottom and will hit center or just above centre. Now same basket ball painted white at 400 so you can see it. Adjust sight to 400 and put sight on bottom of basket ball again. Same poi Easier to do than try and put front sight in middle of ball at that range.
Also further out say 700. Adjust rear sight too 800 to make sight picture even better. This is so you are placing target on top of front sight rather than cover part of target with sight.
Last edited:
It is unlikely you damaged the dovetail.
If you plan on shooting your rifle, I suggest you set the rear leaf to the lowest position, and shoot the rifle. It should shoot low.
The problem with a 6 o'clock hold is that it assumes the same sized target at all distances, at all times. I prefer to have the bullet strike just above the top of my front sight. With that sight picture I can place bullets on any shape target, at any distance.
Take a file to the range and start filing, and watch the bullets strike higher and higher. Once you are about right, leave the final file for the shop so you can make it a nice job.
A target like this one is easy to see at 100, and easy to put the front sight on the middle.
Or, you can make a flat bottomed aiming mark like this, for an excellent target to aim at.
Oh boy does it shoot low alright, about a foot low now at 50m. It would take hours with a file to take off that much material, so I'm probably going to Dremel it down at home a bit since it's faster, and then fine-tune it with files at the range. I expect that would take me literally an entire day, but whatever. Tenda has 8mm on sale in bulk. As for visibility the best group I ever shot was aiming at a bright orange circle about 4"-6" in diameter, so I think I'm going to go find some of those.
It just seems silly to me that the sight is set for 100m but is actually designed for 400m, when it already has a 400m setting you could choose. My Mosin and Enfield both hit more or less where I aim them at 100m, so the Mauser being this high was just odd and surprising to me. Also this is what I meant about point of aim being 6 o'clock or not, and I might have used the wrong term, but I meant do you aim so that the thing is above the front sight and you hit the thing, or so that the front sight is overtop of the thing and you hit the thing? Like, when I shoot my pistol, I aim so that my sight cuts the bullseye in half basically, and I'm looking at a semi-circle, and I do that intending to hit the bullseye. With this, am I supposed to aim below the circle so I see the whole circle to hit the circle, or aim so that the circle is cut in half to hit the circle?
