Canted front sight No.4 Mk.1

[MattE93]

The front sight on my No.4 Mk.1 appears to be canted to the left. Has anyone seen this before? I have also included pictures of the chamber to see if my barrel is timed correctly and if this could be causing the cant.

 

[slug]

The sight looks OK. Try checking the first photo with a right angle.
The sight protector is bent and may need repair or replacing.

 

[Ganderite]

Looks like the right ear is bent. Left and the sight looks ok.

Got a hammer?

 

[MattE93]

Just my eyes playing tricks on me then? Yes I do, can I hammer it back straight? If so, how?

 

[PinkyPlinker]

There are narrow and wide bases and guards. A wide guard on a narrow base looks just like that.

 

[MattE93]

How do you tell a narrow from a wide guard?

 

[RifleDude]

Put a few wraps of duck tape around the right ear and use water pump pliers to bend the ear straight. It looks like it did its job of protecting the front sight at one time when somebody dropped the rifle.

 

[purple]

A quick way to check for barrel indexing is to remove the rear sight and leave the front sight protector in place, then invert the rifle on a sheet of glass. If there's a rocking motion it shows that the barrel is off index.

The front sight protector that is catywhampus, like the one that is currently installed, isn't good for this check. In this case the bent protector may be leading the eye to believe that the barrel is somewhat off index.

The eyeball is a pretty good check for index. If a front sight is off index to the extent that it matters, it will be seen to be off. When barreling Garands I use horizontal angles on the gas cylinder and rear sight surface of the receiver to establish vertical index. When the angles appear to be parallel, they are and the barrel is correctly indexed. I cross check this with an angle finder and find that it always confirms what the eyeball comparison has shown.

 

[MattE93]

I know the barrel must be in the ball park for indexing as head space is good and the extractor fits in its groove but it wouldn’t take much to make the sight canted. Is tightening a barrel something I can do myself if it is in fact off?

 

[XRCD011]

Put a few wraps of duck tape around the right ear and use water pump pliers to bend the ear straight. It looks like it did its job of protecting the front sight at one time when somebody dropped the rifle.

This but use a couple of pieces of leather to not transfer tool marks to the protector in the process.

 

[Snider shooter]

Protect the site with leather and bend back with a pipe wrench.

 

[purple]

I know the barrel must be in the ball park for indexing as head space is good and the extractor fits in its groove but it wouldn’t take much to make the sight canted. Is tightening a barrel something I can do myself if it is in fact off?

You require a proper action wrench and barrel vise before doing this. At the end of the exercise you will still be checking for vertical index by eyeball or the method that I described. There is a military alignment gauge to check for index, but I've never seen one on the loose.

BTW, where does the rifle group when the front sight blade in centered in the mounting block? If it shoots significantly to one side, and can't be corrected by shifting the front sight blade laterally in the mounting block, that is another indication of a possible indexing problem.

 

[MattE93]

I haven’t actually got it out to the range yet. I was cleaning it after buying noticed the sight last night.

 

[7ECA]

As mentioned previously, it's a bent sight protector - you can either bend it back or replace it (they're easy to find).

 

[MattE93]

I’ll try bending it back first. Thanks for the responses everyone. I’m guessing I bend the sight with it OFF the rifle

 

[7ECA]

That'd be a good idea.

 

[MattE93]

I think I have bigger problems. The first picture shows the rear sight with the front sight level, the second shows the level on the front sight, and the third the cant of the rear sight with the front sight level.

 

[Potashminer]

Yeah, "bigger problem" - if your level is oriented the same way (left / right) to eliminate level errors, plus your earlier pictures of the extractor slot cut in the barrel's breech end, it looks like your barrel needs a couple more degrees to be "clocked". Are there alignment marks on the bottom side of your barrel and your receiver?? Even if not original, good smith's would make a mark before pulling a barrel to be able to set it back in the same place. If yours is a "bitzer" (made from bits of other guns), then you have to go with what your level is telling you...

 

[MattE93]

I will check for marks in the barrel now. Yeah I am pretty sure it is made up from bits and pieces.

Is the extractor cut out supposed to be flush on the bottom of receiver? If so is it costly to clock the barrel?

 

[7ECA]

Bugger...

I'm starting to think this No.4 is a lot more trouble than it's worth, especially being a new collector. I'd be penning a rather strongly worded email to JoeSalter asking them what sort of QA/QC they do on products before they sell them - and possibly even asking for a full refund.