Tall Front sight for M1917?

[slamfire1]

I purchased a M1917 Enfield during smallbore from CMP North.

The sucker shoots at least 12 inches high at 50 yards!

Having gone through this before, bedding the action won't make up for this much elevation error.

Anyone make a tall front sight for these things, like the ones I found for my M96 Swede?

Information

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[kcw]

I purchased a M1917 Enfield during smallbore from CMP North.

The sucker shoots at least 12 inches high at 50 yards!

Having gone through this before, bedding the action won't make up for this much elevation error.

Anyone make a tall front sight for these things, like the ones I found for my M96 Swede?

Springfield Sporters sells a five piece "assortment" pack of front sights suitable for Brit enfields, P-14, M1917 (They're interchangeable). The one's I received appeared to be NOS GI of Brit manufacturer.
Or do you figure that no GI spec front insert will do and you're looking for something commercial?

[slamfire1]

Springfield Sporters sells a five piece "assortment" pack of front sights suitable for Brit enfields, P-14, M1917 (They're interchangeable). The one's I received appeared to be NOS GI of Brit manufacturer.
Or do you figure that no GI spec front insert will do and you're looking for something commercial?

Thanks for the lead. My sight reads .075, and I don't know how much taller they go.

[Dan Wilson]

They are the same blades as P-14 and as #1 and #3 smellys.

Are you using the sight ladder OR are you using the battle peep sight? The battle sight is set for 450 yards with the original front sight.

Dan

[shjoe]

slamfire, those of us who shoot trapdoor springfields will occassionaly use the "two target" sighting methode to establish front (or rear) sight correction at 100yds. place 2, 14x14 targets one above the other at 100yds with a LARGE cardboard backing which will extend a further 6" all around the targets.this targeting system will allowe you to spot flyers and to calculate the minute of angle changes required to place you shots on target at 100yds, with out expending a lot of precious ammo. the deal is, after you have established that the action and sights are secure, use a good sand bag style rest and fire at the LOWER target bulls eye. the verticle dispersion will be measurable. fire a 5 shot group and establish the average POI. measure from your average POI to the lower target POA. my calculations indicate that with an unaltered M1917 approximately .0087" equals 1 MOA. if your POI is 8 inches above your POA, 8x.0087 = .0696 change in either front or rear sight setting to place your shots at POA. in this case, you could raise the front sight to .145" height (.075 + .0696)to make your POI the same as your POA. i usually make a smaller adjustment first, because i take a 6 Oclock hold with my M1917. taking a 6 Oclock hold will allowe you to see your target better with iron sights and not require you to add as much to the front sight in order to place your shots in the bulls eye. once you have brought your shots closer to POA, then you can dispense with the double target and fine tune your sighting with different loads. dont try and make a big change in sight height all at once. different ammo will "print" differently. if you are 8" high at 100yds, make a sight correction of 4 MOA and practice with the ammo type that you will usually shoot in it. when you get comfortable shooting it, you may discover that your POI may not be as high as you first thought. at that point, once you have a favorite loading, you can fine tune your sights for accuracy. you may discover that a .090-.095 front sight height with a 6 Oclock hold will work. i have used this methode many times on different mil-surps to make them accurate and not alter their configuration. in some cases, i just purchase a taller front sight (save the original) and file it down as needed to adjust my POI. because i hunt with my trapdoor springfield, my front sight height is set to give me a 2" high POI at 100yds using the Buffington battle sight and my cartridge loading. with this setting, i am essentialy "point blank" at hunting ranges out to about 130yds, which is plenty for me. best, john

[kcw]

Thanks for the lead. My sight reads .075, and I don't know how much taller they go.

I believe that the assortment pack that I received went as large as .100.

kcw

[Mk VII]

According to Description And Rules For The Management.... the lowest ones is marked -.015 and so up in 15 thou increments and the highest is .135 so yours is in the middle.
P-14 ones are stamped '14 as well as the size number. Lee-Enfield ones are physically interchangeable but not the same; an allowance of 60 thou has to be added i.e. a LE -.045 is equivalent to a P14 +.015

[slamfire1]

They are the same blades as P-14 and as #1 and #3 smellys.

Are you using the sight ladder OR are you using the battle peep sight? The battle sight is set for 450 yards with the original front sight.

Dan

I am using the ladder sight, with the aperature all the way down.

Thanks for the information on sight blades.

If I can get the rifle to shoot to POI at 100 yards, I might get interested enough in the rifle to bed it. The bedding in the replacement stock is shot.

If I get too interested in it I will replace the barrel with a Criterion. I don't know if I want to do that, but since I have lots of M1917's, having one with critierion barrel won't hurt my feelings.

Still the muzzle gages less than 2.0. Just a couple rough spots in the barrel. Copper fouls something awful.