looking for advice on adjusting rear sight

jacotsmith

jacotsmith

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
500   0   0
Location
The Yukon
Hi everyone,

I picked up a used Glock 19 with aftermarket sights not too long ago and finally had the chance to try her out this week. I went through 2 mags and couldn't punch a single hole in the paper at 15 yards so I pulled out my crappy bore sighter. Sure enough, the sights were way off, and with me being slow and all it was then that I looked down and noticed that the rear sight was off centre. From what I remember of my high school trigonometry class it seems to me that with the short sight radius of a compact pistol it won't take much movement of the rear sight to considerably alter the point of impact.

So I took it home and got out my tools. First of all, I couldn't find an Allen key that fit the set screw. The closest one I had almost felt like it would work but it just clicked and spun on me every 60 degrees when I applied pressure. So I got out the punch and mallet, applied a small drop of oil and tapped ever so gently, then a little bit harder, then a little bit harder and then POP it moved 1/8 inch. So I flipped it over and repeated this process 4 or 5 times until I got the sight as close to centre as I can eyeball it.

The gun has a Warren Tactical rear sight just like the one in this photo I found on Google:

DSC_00503.JPG


I took her out again yesterday and she is still wide by 6 or 8 inches at 15 yards. So this weekend I plan on getting out the punch and bore sighter and closing the blinds (so my neighbours don't report me for waving a pistol with a laser around) and doing my best to sort this out. I am looking for advice on the following and any other wisdom you care to pass along:

  • Is there a better technique for nudging the sight over a fraction of millimetre at a time (as opposed to a country mile)?
  • Would backing off the set screw help?
  • Any idea what size of Allen key these things use (metric/imperial)?
  • Any suggestions on how to gauge how far it's moved? There aren't any markings on the top of the slide so it is very difficult to tell, should I scribble some lines on a piece of masking tape maybe?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for looking!
 
Last edited:
You need to buy a better allen key set with finer sizes between keys. You should need a 3/16" key.

You should not have tried drifting the sight without first loosening the locking nut. If the previous owner had it tightened down pretty good, drifting it without loosening might have galled (lack of proper word) up the dovetail.

For fine adjustment, you should use a sight pusher.

Place a small piece of masking tape in front of the sight. Take a Sharpie and mark a witness mark in line with the notch of the sight. Make your fine adjustments using that.
 
Not on paper at 15. You sure your not jerking the trigger? Friend sent me a picture of his glock target from 10 m and first shot was bull. But another target way right on( he's left handed )on target some off paper. He said was trying new finger position.
 
Thanks for your replies everyone.

Unfortunately I don't have access to a sight pusher. I have a lot of Allen keys but it seems to me the 1/16 is just a hair too small, and the 1.5mm is 2 hairs too small, whereas the 5/64 and 2mm are too big. I don't think I've scored the dove tail as I nearly pushed the sight right off in one of my early attempts and there weren't any visible markings underneath (thankfully).

I've nudged it again ever so slightly and the bore sighter is showing it as fairly true now so I think i'll leave it be for tonight and bring my tools and masking tape to the range.

But as OkayShooter alluded, it could very well be operator error! I haven't owned a Glock in quite a while and the trigger sure is "sproingy!"

Thanks for all your input!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom