Quote Originally Posted by tower06 View Post
Attach the bayonet and shoot it, then see how you group. Those guns were sighted with bayonets attached as I understand it. Also rather than filing the stock sight, get some finishing nails and cut them down to different heights and exhange them with the front sight post. You should be able to get it set fine that way. Once you have an acceptable zero, blue the new post and you are set to go.
It's an M44, so the bayonet ought to be "attached", regardless, but you do make a point- try it both folded and extended, but it doesn't usually make that big a POI change. (24 MOA!)

True enough about the sight pins- IF there's any that will fit w/o "wiggle". It requires removing the entire dovetailed assembly, or close to it, to remove the sight post downwards. However, be careful! It's fairly easy to spread the dovetail's base "ears", resulting in a loose front sight assembly or loss of one of the ears off the base. No fun, that.