M14 Forum

stainless1911 · February 17th, 2012, 10:15 AM

I changed the front sight on the SOCOM 16, wanted to get rid of that oversized one that came with it. I put the new one on, got it centered as best I could, and shot it an 25 yards. The shots were consistently to the right. Windage was centered on the rear sights.

If I move the front sight to the right, it doesnt look centered on the gun, is this OK? Is it normal? If I get the gun to shoot center, is it going to be off at 100 yards, and further off at 200?

Im new to rifles, and can only shoot a couple times a year, so I really dont know what Im doing.

NoExpert · February 17th, 2012, 10:18 AM

You are correct, adjust the front sight to the right to get your zero. Just make sure it doesn't hang off the edge.

stainless1911 · February 17th, 2012, 10:20 AM

Its not that far over, but it looks funny, you can see that its off center.

NoExpert · February 17th, 2012, 10:38 AM

Yeah, just how it is, mine is a hair off also (to the right as well). My rear sight being off center would bug me a lot more than my front sight being off center though.

Mocos · February 17th, 2012, 10:59 AM

I had the same thing happen when I put my socom into a wood stock. To zero the windage, I had to move the front sight all the way to the right edge. By accident, I found out was was causing it. When I locked down the trigger group, I could see light through one side of where the heel of the receiver was not in contacted the stock. I lightly sanded the opposite side until both sides of the heel of the receiver contacted the stock. It brought the front sight back to center to zero it for windage. You might check to see if you have even contact of the receiver to the stock. If I were to do it all over again, I would not remove material if at all possible but would add material to the opposite side. Trial and error using layers of aluminum foil between the receiver and the stock to determine the adjustment and subsequently to us a bedding compound to make it permanent. I concluded that the uneven pressure along the contact points of the receiver to the stock caused it to throw rounds off to one side. It might be the same in your case.

stainless1911 · February 17th, 2012, 11:35 AM

I'm not exactly sure what you mean.

stainless1911 · February 17th, 2012, 11:36 AM

Moved the front sight a bit to the right, Its still too short, but I got it shooting straight.

Mocos · February 17th, 2012, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stainless1911

Moved the front sight a bit to the right, Its still too short, but I got it shooting straight.

sounds like your question is about elevation (high/low impact) and not about windage (side to side impact)...what I wrote applies to windage..

so.. you changed your front sight because the front sight blade it was too wide and where does it shoot now?

stainless1911 · February 17th, 2012, 11:52 AM

no, I was looking for windage info.

I know its too short, because its hitting high, even when the rear sight is all the way down.

Before I moved the front sight to the right this morning, it was hitting an inch and a half to the right, and about 2 inches high at 25 yards with the rear sight 1 click up from the bottom

I traded out the old front sight for one from an M14, and then filed the front blade to nearly a point, it now measures .673from the base, to the top of the center post.

NoExpert · February 17th, 2012, 12:58 PM

You might need a Scout front sight and not a standard front sight. A few people here have played with this, hopefully they'll chime in.

stainless1911 · February 17th, 2012, 01:19 PM

A saw a (sticky) on here somewhere abut front sights, shows many many different ones. I looked for it, but no luck. Can someone post a link?

Mocos · February 17th, 2012, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stainless1911

no, I was looking for windage info.

I know its too short, because its hitting high, even when the rear sight is all the way down.

Before I moved the front sight to the right this morning, it was hitting an inch and a half to the right, and about 2 inches high at 25 yards with the rear sight 1 click up from the bottom

I traded out the old front sight for one from an M14, and then filed the front blade to nearly a point, it now measures .673from the base, to the top of the center post.

The socom sight that you replaced is .70 tall...from the base to the top of the front blade.... the scout sight is not tall enough and the grenade launcher sight is...too tall if you can find one. The easiest fix is to buy a national match front sight for a garand....it is .7 tall and .062 wide. The base is larger than the m14 dovetale base and the dovetail is about .030 wider so when you install it on the socom, you have to shim the gap with something that is about .030 thick......(the thickness of a large paper clip)

I got mine from E-gunparts.com......$13-ish for the std sight and 30-ish for the national match....and get the cap screw too....

geepee3 · February 17th, 2012, 03:00 PM

Stainless1911,
Here is the link to the thread I did on Socom front sights.

m14forum.com/modern-m14/102642-socom-front-sight-options-factory-gas-lock-muzzle-brake-pic-heavy.html

I hope this helps.

Glenn

stainless1911 · February 17th, 2012, 03:09 PM

Thats the one, thanks.