Sights off a lot even shooting from Rest

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xlor8t

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I bought a tanfoglio Stock 3 new. Trying to get the gun sighted in as I replaced front with fiber optic. The rear sight is maxed to the left (clearly off when looking from the top of the slide) still windage is off by .5-1" or so at 15 yards shooting from a rest. I've had a couple of people shoot it and seem to have the same result. With the rear sight maxed to the left it's fine as I'm not super marksman to begin with but I wanted to see if anyone has seen this before. The barrel looks centred by just looking at it but I haven't got the right gear to measure exactly. Only other thing changed on the gun is the hammer spring (13lb). I've tried 115 winchester white box. Federal 124 and 147 with similar results.

I want to see if there's anything that can be looked at before shipping the gun back for possible warranty work.

Thanks everyone!
 
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On the tanfoglio the front sight can't be adjusted for windage. Well not in any way I can see. The front sight is inserted in a groove parallel to slide not perpendicular.
 
Have you access to a laser bore sighter? If you do, you will be able to see exactly where the pistol's bore axis is in relation to the adjustment of the sights. If by "maxed to the left" you mean the adjustable blade of the rear sight, you will still be able to drift the entire sight base closer to center of the slide, or even a bit left or right from center (brass drift punch), and then fine tune the rear sight blade for a more accurate point of aim, and point of impact.

I'm just trying to visualize what you are seeing, but a couple of pics would certainly help us to help you...
 
So now that I'm looking at the whole sight and not just the blade I'm thinking maybe it's sitting a tiny bit to the right which makes me adjust the back sight all the way left. Pics are here:



 
So if that's the case, then all you need to do is drift the entire sight base slightly over to the left...bringing it in as close to center as possible. You should be able to do this with the slide locked firmly in a padded vise, and then using a brass drift punch and hammer to lightly drift it in the proper direction, in this case to the left. When you're done, if there are any brass markings on the sight, simply use a blueing pen to remove them. Wipe clean when you're done...good luck.
 
strider007 said:
So if that's the case, then all you need to do is drift the entire sight base slightly over to the left...bringing it in as close to center as possible. You should be able to do this with the slide locked firmly in a padded vise, and then using a brass drift punch and hammer to lightly drift it in the proper direction, in this case to the left. When you're done, if there are any brass markings on the sight, simply use a blueing pen to remove them. Wipe clean when you're done...good luck.
Click to expand...

you could also stick a few layers of electrical tape on the sight, should keep the brass marks to a minimum.
 
Thank you!! Before I start moving things around if I want to measure with a caliber what's a good point of reference? is the flat area along the top of slide more reliable or the outside edge of the slide?
 
Put the slide in the vise...again, make sure that it is padded on both sides to protect it. Make your adjustment as close as possible to center by eye. Loosen the vise, and set up the slide a bit lower inbetween the jaws so that the rear sight dovetail is just below the top edge of the vise jaws on both sides. Now, measure with your caliper the gap from the outer edge of the rear sight (in the dovetail) to the inner edge of the vise jaw...it's going to look like a small empty area on both the left and right side of the sight. Do the same for both sides of the sight and keep drifting it left or right until this measurement is the same for both sides. This will allow you to center the rear sight as closely as possible.
 
Thought we figured the problem but I just realized by moving the sight itself I'm just giving myself more room to adjust. The final position of the blade will have to remain the same for the barrel to point to the same spot which brings me back to why would gun be shooting so far off centre to begin with. Ugh, It's not a fun puzzle.
 
From the picture the front sight is OK.

Is this front sight staked in? If so who did the work on it? Field strip the gun and check for signs of the staking for the sight sitting down and rubbing against the top of the barrel. You're looking for contact marks along the top of the barrel roughly where the sight is located. If in doubt felt pen the area then assemble and hand rack the slide a half dozen times then field strip and look for marks. If you're getting contact there the barrel might not be seating correctly in the locking lugs of the slide.
 
Maybe your rear dovetail is a bit off angled.... the rear sight doesn't look like it's adjusted to hard to the left looking at the slide but it appears more to the left looking at the centerline of the hammer.

I'm surprised that is as far left as the rear sight will go because it really only looks like it's less then 1/8 of an inch off center?
 
BCRider said:
From the picture the front sight is OK...
Click to expand...

Is it? Take a really good look at it. Doesn't it seem like the "black" area surrounding the "red dot" is slightly larger on the right side of the fiber optic insert than it is on the left? That would certainly cause the rear sight to be adjusted to the left. To me, it looks as though the the front sight may be the issue. I could be wrong as lighting/shadow in the photo may affect actual imaging...but the OP did say that he replaced the front sight for the current fiber optic one. Just sayin'...
 
I would reverse what you have done,
re-center the rear.
Setup a target around 13m and go from there.
(Edit) Standing and not from a rest.

How many rounds have you put through the gun.
Can you honestly be that confident its not your fault?
Nobody is fully adjusted to a gun they have never shot before.

Doubt your skills first, blame the equipment last.
Spend more time with the gun.
 
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I tested original sights and same problem. I've put about 600 rounds through it and with sight setup right now it shoots a 2" group at 15m in the hands of a couple of the good shooters at the club. Before adjustment I couldn't do a 1 hole drill at 5 meters, after adjustment I can. I'm the first to claim shooter error but it's shooting tight groups just right of bullseye for good shooters.
 
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