Rear sight problem

[Paul B]

The slide on my 1903 is a bit loose and as i shoot it moves to the right even if the screw is tightened ,i use it as a competition rifle and the fault is costing me a few points ,is there a way i can stop this from happening with out marking the rifle .
Thanks Paul

Information

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[Mike D]

Make sure the slide cap screw (on the left side) is tight. Otherwise, it might be one of those "start replacing parts" deals.

[John Beard]

The slide on my 1903 is a bit loose and as i shoot it moves to the right even if the screw is tightened ,i use it as a competition rifle and the fault is costing me a few points ,is there a way i can stop this from happening with out marking the rifle .
Thanks Paul

Your problem is likely caused by the technique you use to adjust windage.

The rear sight is spring-loaded in the windage axis. To properly adjust windage, you should turn the windage knob clockwise to over-correct windage, then turn the knob counter-clockwise to the correct windage setting. This technique removes all slack in the windage mechanism.

If you crank in too much windage, then you need to turn the knob clockwise to over-correct again, then start over turning the knob counter-clockwise to the correct windage setting.

The rear sights on National Match rifles were precisely made and carefully fitted to remove the slack for precise adjustment in both directions. But, service rifle sights were not so carefully made and must be adjusted in one direction only for accurate shooting.

Hope this helps. Good Luck!

J.B.

[Paul B]

Thanks ,i think i will pull the little bugger to bits and see if rebulding it helps ,i dont want to use the windage feature anyway ,would a little center punch mark stop it moving when im shooting ? .
i hope our american mates didnt get too drunk on the 4th .

[Paul B]

I examined the rear sight of this rifle and found that if i put me thumb on the left side of the rear sight i could push it to the right but if i put my thumb on the right side of the sight i couldnt push it to the left , any ideas ??.
Plus how do i disasemble the rear sight ???

[Johnny Peppers]

That is the spring tension JB described. They all do that.

[John Beard]

That is the spring tension JB described. They all do that.

Johnny Peppers is right. That's why windage should be adjusted from one direction only, i.e., counterclockwise rotation of the windage knob. Otherwise, you'll be dealing with erratic movement caused by spring hysteresis.

Hope this helps.

J.B.