DIY AR front sight adjustment tool:

Sporting Lad

Sporting Lad

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An AR front sight tool?? That's a really good question. Hard to believe Stoner, et al didn't design a designated tool for raising and lowering that post. Every SKS owner has one for his carbine, but the AR/M-16 doesn't even come with an on-board cleaning rod as did the M-14 and every other main battle rifle up until these plastic .22s.
I've seen the US Army training film that suggests using the tip of a live round to rotate that wheel with the detentes in it. It ain't that easy!
I gave up on it cos it looked like a dog's breakfast was about to occur.

I found an easy way to adjust the sight post. I took the drift that was included in my (ahem) ex-Soviet Mosin-Nagant's cleaning kit
and used it to depress the retaining pin, then grabbed hold of the flats on the sight post with an old hemostat I often use as a mini locktite
needle nose. I was then able to relax and spin that sight base like a carousel.
An original solution to a vexing problem? I expect others have discovered similar methods; there may even be an aftermarket tool available that works better.
Anything would be better than trying to use a live round! Sheesh. f:P:2:


The tools:
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The operation:
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Aren't you marring the hell out of the front sight post? I just use a small Allen key to press the detent and rotate the post. Works a treat.
 
Yes the tool is cheap, but I agree with the OP that it should come with the cleaning kit.
Cr5, I must say I love the look of the wood-furnished AR.
I did buy the tool, mine looks a little different as it adjusts the fixed-carrying-handle rear sight too. Can I add in a third "Sheesh" for this thread too?! You can never get too much sheesh
View attachment 22981
 
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Ok, ok...

Gunner: I know the "live round works". I just don't like the way it works--it was starting to take the finish off the sight.
I think it's just a "field expediency" thing to be used in extremis when you have nothing better available.
Besides, our range officer always says, "Don't play with live rounds!" ;)

CR: I forget--Did I say I didn't like "plastic"? Or are you peeved because I used that word? Look, I'm no chemist, but isn't
polymer a form of plastic? Were you making joke, or were you just being sensitive? ;)
I've had Enfields over the years, and if I still had any today I would treasure them.
I'm not prejudiced about materials--it just depends on what they get made into.

WRH-- No, no marring. Once the pin goes down, then the post spins and, the way the hemostat locks, it does not slip.
Question for you, sir: After you've depressed the pin with your allen key, how do you turn the post? By hand?
I can't get my banana-sized fingers to grasp the post--that's why I'm using the hemostat.

JR-- I already had those tools on the bench, so I saved the $8.
BTW-- Is that CAD? 'All in'? S&H? These days the shipping can be more than the price of the product; I checked the other day, and
we're down to about 73 cents US!

Machie-- Oooo, I like your tool! A dually--2-2-2 tools in one! Ah, but did you find it in less than 8 seconds?
I can't even find my computer in much under a minute.... :0 |

Everyone-- Thank you for your kind and thoughtful advice. I love this forum, and especially the consideration I get from its members!
Now, if just one of you experts will be so kind as to show me a link to a sight tool, then I won't have to..."Google" it. thx

:cheers:
 
To answer your question: I use the Allen key to turn the post. I gently push against the notch where the detent sits. Mind you, I've never had to turn the post more than a couple turns to get sighted in on either of the ARs I've owned.
 
The Allen Key Method--

WRH said:
... I've never had to turn the post more than a couple turns to get sighted in on either of the ARs I've owned.
Click to expand...

Yeah, raising/lowering that post is not something that ought to be necessary very often. Mainly for sighting in purposes and, once the rifle is well and truly zeroed as per
The Book, additional adjustment should seldom be necessary.
The last time I tried, it was cold and windy and I was tired, having just finished working on several other rifles. The FMJ I was trying to use on the AR was leaving a copper coating on my virgin AR's site disc, so I packed up and went home, grumbling about the efficacy of that live ammo method.

I'm going back out there today with my Rube Goldberg invention in hopes of setting my elevation correctly. If I'm successful, then I won't be needing any of those special sight tools for awhile.

Thanks for your contribution to the discussion.
SL
 
Thank you, cr5!

Very useful intel there.
I do know how to google, and I do it freqeuntly, but I always like to get the opinions of Gun Nuts who have had personal experience with the products
in question; I did conduct a search of this forum, but failed to find anything of value.
Mainly, I just wanted to share my discovery of how I found tools already on my bench that enabled me to accomplish the sight adjusting job just fine.
As I mentioned above, I'll be out at the range today with my tools. If I don't get it right, I may well have to await the arrival of one of these special tools.

Does your AR have a place for an on-board cleaning kit and sight tool?
My friend's M-16A2 has a flap door in its (old-style) butt plate, but my AR (adjustable stock) has no such provision.
Remove the butt-end and you're left with the back of the buffer tube and that's it. No storage compartment.

SL
 
Sporting Lad said:
Very useful intel there.
I do know how to google, and I do it freqeuntly, but I always like to get the opinions of Gun Nuts who have had personal experience with the products
in question; I did conduct a search of this forum, but failed to find anything of value.
Mainly, I just wanted to share my discovery of how I found tools already on my bench that enabled me to accomplish the sight adjusting job just fine.
As I mentioned above, I'll be out at the range today with my tools. If I don't get it right, I may well have to await the arrival of one of these special tools.

Does your AR have a place for an on-board cleaning kit and sight tool?
My friend's M-16A2 has a flap door in its (old-style) butt plate, but my AR (adjustable stock) has no such provision.
Remove the butt-end and you're left with the back of the buffer tube and that's it. No storage compartment.

SL
Click to expand...

No provision for a cleaning kit. I don't see a need for it though. I've run hundreds of rounds through in an afternoon without cleaning and I've had no failures. A drop or two of oil every 300-400 is all an AR needs to function reliably.
Unless you are running a high end precision AR and going for extreme accuracy you don't need to clean them very often. I know a guy that runs service rifle and 3-gun and he only cleans his AR once a year and just gives it a little oil from time to time.
If you want to increase reliability even more just buy a Nickel Boron BCG and then you barely even need to oil it and it will keep chugging along. When I bought mine I was amazed at how slick the surface was before I ever gave it a single drop of oil. They are also much easier to clean as the carbon doesn't stick to them :)
 
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