NP-34 shooting pretty far to the left.

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angrypanda83

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Took my NP-34 to the range for the first time, and noticed I wasn't hitting anything. Moved up to within 10 yards and fired another mag. I noticed it shooting to the left a fair bit... So I took my time, made sure my grip was right, and the trigger squeeze was consistent... Still to the left by a fair bit.

So I figured, with any other gun, I could adjust the sights... But how the heck does one adjust the dovetails?! When I took a really good hard look at the sights, I can see that the rear sight is pretty darn centered, but the front sight is not completely centered.

What I want to do is move the rear sight to the right a bit, does anyone know a good way of doing this. I see guys online with brass punches, sight pushers, and other weird DIY sighting tools. I don't have the funds for a sight pusher, but I can afford a 10 dollar brass punch.

Any tips and or advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Put the slide in a bench vise between two pieces of wood and tighten the jaws. Position the brass punch and give it a good wack with a hammer and look to see if the site moved. Some sights are staked in place, others have a set screw. Set screw needs to be backed out if so equipped. Do a Google search and you will find a number of videos on how to adjust various sights.
 
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angrypanda83 said:
Took my NP-34 to the range for the first time, and noticed I wasn't hitting anything. Moved up to within 10 yards and fired another mag. I noticed it shooting to the left a fair bit... So I took my time, made sure my grip was right, and the trigger squeeze was consistent... Still to the left by a fair bit.

So I figured, with any other gun, I could adjust the sights... But how the heck does one adjust the dovetails?! When I took a really good hard look at the sights, I can see that the rear sight is pretty darn centered, but the front sight is not completely centered.

What I want to do is move the rear sight to the right a bit, does anyone know a good way of doing this. I see guys online with brass punches, sight pushers, and other weird DIY sighting tools. I don't have the funds for a sight pusher, but I can afford a 10 dollar brass punch.

Any tips and or advice would be greatly appreciated.
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If its your first time with gun you might want to run a few more rounds thru it or have someone else try it out, also try shooting off a bench as it might be shooter induced.
Hate to be "chasing the sights"
 
Like StoneHorse said.

I use a steel punch with a tab of tape on the end of it. Make sure the vice jaw is real tight.

Use a pencil or a dab of WhiteOut on the sight so you can see how much you have moved it, Try about 3 mm of movement, to start.
 
My NP 34 shoots slightly low and left as well just haven't gotten around to drifting the sights.

For the record my Non Commie sh_t Ruger P series and Colt Commander pistols both required MMC sight upgrades due shooting low and off so this comment applies across the board.........

So it isn't just off shore pistols..........................

The NP34 is quite well built especially for less than 380.00.
 
Thanks for the suggestions... I think another range trip is in order, using a bench, to confirm it's not my trunk mitts that are the problem.

Where can brass punches be purchased if I want to get one? Amazon only has kits, and nothing comes up on CT or Home Depot's websites...
 
I think Princess auto has brass punches come in a kit of 3 if i remember, you can put a small piece of tape as well on the slide in case it slips off
 
I have found that a number of new pistol purchases all shot quite low. I solved the problem with either a higher (or adjustable) rear or a lower front. If i change the front, I go with a fibre optic sight.
 
angrypanda83 said:
Where can brass punches be purchased if I want to get one? Amazon only has kits, and nothing comes up on CT or Home Depot's websites...
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In addition to the aforementioned Princess Auto, I have purchased brass punches at Home Hardware and seen them at Lowes (in S. Edmonton).

Canada Ammo used to sell a kit that included a bunch of brass punches (they still might). Sears sells them too, as does Lee Valley Tools.

I haven't seen them at our local CT, but that doesn't mean they don't sell them in YOUR local CT - ours is very small. Rona has a big catalog that they can use to order stuff in (again, our Rona is VERY small) so they might be worth checking as well.
 
misanthropist said:
Yeah, but they do everything to the far left.
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LOL Now THAT is some funny SHYTE! Good one there misanthropist!

Brass punches for the win. A steel punch will much too easily press out or cut through a bit of tape on the end. Don't even risk it.

And if using a bench vise to hold the slide be SURE you only pinch the slide between the jaws. Do not under any circumstances tighten the handle or you'll bend the slide. You want to support it bettween sheets of thin plywood or use an old leather belt as padding and tighten only to where you need a strong two finger pull to move it within the padding. And on a bench vise that equates to a "pinch" at the handle's end. If it moves too easily when you start trying to drift one or the other sight then pinch the handle a touch more. NEVER give it a good reef though or you'll be posting to buy a new slide.

From what you are describing I think it's more likely a case of mostly being you. Get on You Tube and review a few videos of "handgun grip". In particular look up "travis haley handgun grip" and watch the video that comes up.

Another reason for sending off shots to the left is not putting your trigger finger onto the trigger directly and using a motion that results in a direct back pull. If you are pushing the trigger to the side then what happens is that when the trigger breaks that pressure is left and the shot pushes off to the left. To "fix" this try some dry firing before you drift any sights around. With the gun directed at a spot you can use for reference dry fire the gun and pay attention to any little jiggle it makes at the moment that the trigger breaks. If you're using a good finger position on the trigger and the proper finger pull the sights will stay on the spot during the break. If you're adding side pressure during the pull the sight picture will kick to one side or the other than snap back. It happens in the blink of an eye so do it a bunch and work it out. Work on both getting the gun centered in your strong hand as per the videos as well as working out the best way to pull the trigger directly back with no side pressure.

If your hands don't fit the gun that well it's better to get the proper grip of the gun so it is centered in your hand than to twist it around to the right so you can reach the trigger better. If you reach around to get a better trigger pull the gun will kick in your grip way too strongly and over to the left. So proper hold first and foremost and work out what you can with the trigger.

I know a few folks that can't shoot a DA/SA gun in DA mode for beans due to short fingers. If they try they need to twist their grip around to reach the trigger. And when they do that the shots are wildly off to the side. And that sort of sounds like your issue. So look at those grip videos and get a proper centered grip on the gun first and foremost.

I'd do this first before you drift anything. If it's still shooting off to the side strongly then drift the sights. And remember that the front gets moved opposite the way you want the bullet holes to move and the rear gets moved the same way you want the holes to move.
 
Are the sights on the np-34 replaceable? I mean can you get other sights that fit? I feel like i read the dovetails were a funny size or something?
 
BCRider said:
LOL Now THAT is some funny SHYTE! Good one there misanthropist!

Brass punches for the win. A steel punch will much too easily press out or cut through a bit of tape on the end. Don't even risk it.

And if using a bench vise to hold the slide be SURE you only pinch the slide between the jaws. Do not under any circumstances tighten the handle or you'll bend the slide. You want to support it bettween sheets of thin plywood or use an old leather belt as padding and tighten only to where you need a strong two finger pull to move it within the padding. And on a bench vise that equates to a "pinch" at the handle's end. If it moves too easily when you start trying to drift one or the other sight then pinch the handle a touch more. NEVER give it a good reef though or you'll be posting to buy a new slide.

From what you are describing I think it's more likely a case of mostly being you. Get on You Tube and review a few videos of "handgun grip". In particular look up "travis haley handgun grip" and watch the video that comes up.

Another reason for sending off shots to the left is not putting your trigger finger onto the trigger directly and using a motion that results in a direct back pull. If you are pushing the trigger to the side then what happens is that when the trigger breaks that pressure is left and the shot pushes off to the left. To "fix" this try some dry firing before you drift any sights around. With the gun directed at a spot you can use for reference dry fire the gun and pay attention to any little jiggle it makes at the moment that the trigger breaks. If you're using a good finger position on the trigger and the proper finger pull the sights will stay on the spot during the break. If you're adding side pressure during the pull the sight picture will kick to one side or the other than snap back. It happens in the blink of an eye so do it a bunch and work it out. Work on both getting the gun centered in your strong hand as per the videos as well as working out the best way to pull the trigger directly back with no side pressure.

If your hands don't fit the gun that well it's better to get the proper grip of the gun so it is centered in your hand than to twist it around to the right so you can reach the trigger better. If you reach around to get a better trigger pull the gun will kick in your grip way too strongly and over to the left. So proper hold first and foremost and work out what you can with the trigger.

I know a few folks that can't shoot a DA/SA gun in DA mode for beans due to short fingers. If they try they need to twist their grip around to reach the trigger. And when they do that the shots are wildly off to the side. And that sort of sounds like your issue. So look at those grip videos and get a proper centered grip on the gun first and foremost.

I'd do this first before you drift anything. If it's still shooting off to the side strongly then drift the sights. And remember that the front gets moved opposite the way you want the bullet holes to move and the rear gets moved the same way you want the holes to move.
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Love the detail man, I appreciate that! I'll be trying these new grip techniques Wednesday!

Question, disregarding ease, if it is the sights being off... Which one would be the best to move in this scenario...? The rear sight seems really easy to get to with a punch, but for better zero do I punch the front sight instead?
 
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Suther said:
Are the sights on the np-34 replaceable? I mean can you get other sights that fit? I feel like i read the dovetails were a funny size or something?
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This is something that I have also seen in some reviews of the NP22, which I can only assume will be the same with the 34... One gentleman was having the same issue with his pistol shooting left right out of the box, and had to move the sight. He also mentioned that some people have had issues putting new sights in, as in the dovetail isn't made to the same tolerance, and the new sights would come out. Personally, this is my first pistol, I don't plan on dolling her up too much. Having the option to slap in new sights would be awesome, but I wouldn't want to chance smashing out the old sight, and having the new sight just fall out.
 
Question, disregarding ease, if it is the sights being off... Which one would be the best to move in this scenario...? The rear sight seems really easy to get to with a punch, but for better zero do I punch the front sight instead?
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Six of one, half a dozen of the other. You can move either one or do both by half as much.

I have yet to see any handgun where the sights needed to be very far off from centered at front and rear. So if you need them to be very far off at all then either the gun is made crooked or it's your holding and trigger finger.

To prove the gun is there any way to shoot someone else's gun that is a known straight shooter? That'll soon tell the tale. But work on matching your hand grip to that in the videos and try that sight jump dry firing to work on a neutral trigger pull before you go much further.

The chinese dovetail sizes on some guns seem to be a funky size. So you're better off sticking with the stock sights unless you want to get into a heap of fussy fiddling around with shims and such.
 
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