[BobWright]

I fired this target last Saturday. As you can see it groups high and the rear sight is as low as I can get it:



Now, in examining the rear sight it does not seem bottomed out, but the elevation screw seems to have bottomed out. Should this (Colt Accro) sight bottom out on the frame? In other words, is the elevation screw too long? I can see the bottom of the screw in the frame, don't know if it would pass through or not if the hole were opened up. I know the screw passes through far enough to score the cylinder on a Ruger Blackhawk. If this were to be the case, the screw could be shortened.

Anybody's suggestion would be welcome.

Bob Wright

P.S. This is a good load in my 44 Specials, not wanting to create a load dedicated solely to this gun.

 

[Boge]

Bob, for Pete's sake, you're shooting at 10 yds. right? This is not a combat handgun for IDPA. If you get some more pasture between you and the target I think you'll find it will be close to dead nuts on at 25 yds. This handgun will flourish between 25 yds. to 100 yds. Also, you might try using Unique as it is the "go to" smokeless powder for .44 Special IMO. It does everything well from plinking to hunting and is extremely accurate.

 

[PonyLover]

Grip it tighter. It won't shoot as high.

 

[Jim Martin]

Bob: Either use a little less of the sight blade in the rear sight or aim @ a 6 o'clock hold which is where I want my guns sighted for,by holding a 6 o'clock hold you have the entire black area in view which helps you center your group because you can see all of it as opposed to blocking out some of the black w/your sights.

 

[BobWright]

First of all, I do grip my guns tightly. I'm accustomed to the .44 Magnum. And I do use a six o'clock hold. And I don't want to use "Kentucky windage", I want to use the same sight picture for every gun. This target is what I'm after, same distance, same load, different New Frontier:



As to increasing the range, I'll go to a Ruger Super Blackhawk for increased range. The idea of my .44 Specials is just a more relaxed close up plinking practice.

As to powder, I discarded Unique many years ago when I discovered Winchester 540, then Winchester 231. Hodgdon's HP-38 is one and the same with Win. 231. For slightly more ooomph! I go with HS-6.

Bob Wright

 

[PonyLover]

Looks like your barrel is two inches too long on the top gun Seriously, it appears that the rear sight is not adjusted all the way down. If you can press the sight down, your screw is not all the way down. I had the same problem with a NF .22.

 

[BobWright]

Well, the rear sight elevation screw is bottomed out. I can see it flush with the underside of the top strap. And this sight has no "spring" to it.

My thinking is that I might be able to shorten the screw to allow the base to bottom out in the frame mortise.

Bob Wright

 

[Colt75]

Well Bob, you seem intent on ignoring all the requested advice from some very knowledgeable single action Colt aficionados - so get out that Dremell Tool and grind away. That is the do-it-yourself-spirit that made this country great.

 

[BobWright]

Well Bob, you seem intent on ignoring all the requested advice from some very knowledgeable single action Colt aficionados - so get out that Dremell Tool and grind away. That is the do-it-yourself-spirit that made this country great.

Well, I consider myself no less knowledgable of the Single Action, nor do I have any intent to "get out that Dremel tool."

I was seeking advice on how to lower the rear sight. As I said, the screw seems bottomed out, while the rear sight boss is not. The elevation screw seems captive in the base, there being no "spring" when the sight is elevated.

I do appreciate the advice, though I wanted to keep my pet load as it works in all of my other .44 Specials. I suppose a trip to my gunsmith is in order.

Bob Wright

 

[BobWright]

And, for whatever its worth, I loaded up 100 rounds this morning using 8.0 grs. HS-6 which should be in the 920 fps neighborhood.

Bob Wright

 

[ussmanlovede36]

try a different bullet, 200 grain. but to me that gun is shooting good. if you move out to 25 yards it will be shooting even higher. a 200 grain bullet will bring the groups down as i'm sure you already know. nice single action. and yes looking at the picture it looks like the rear sight has more room to come down. I wonder if there is something under that rear sight keeping it from going all the way down. a burr maybe or a high spot on the frame?

 

[smkummer]

There is a chance that the sight spring is what is causing the sight to not go any lower as the spring is fully compressed. I would check that first and see if removing 1/4 to 1/2 coil would allow it to further down. You could see if its the spring by simply taking out the spring and seeing if the rear sight goes lower with the elevation screw installed.

 

[BobWright]

There is a chance that the sight spring is what is causing the sight to not go any lower as the spring is fully compressed. I would check that first and see if removing 1/4 to 1/2 coil would allow it to further down. You could see if its the spring by simply taking out the spring and seeing if the rear sight goes lower with the elevation screw installed.

Now that's the kind of response I was lookin' for!

Bob Wright

 

[BobWright]

...... but to me that gun is shooting good. ........

The point is, if I had been shooting at a dime or a washer, I would have missed it with most of those shots.

Bob Wright

 

[Tomray]

Bob,

BE VERY CAREFUL!

The elevation may feel bottomed out, but it may be contactiong the Cylinder!!..........I found the elev screw in my NF would do that, and Luckily I found it BEFORE I rotated the cylinder.

I short time on a surface grinder corrected the issue for me.

Tom

 

[BobWright]

Bob,

BE VERY CAREFUL!

The elevation may feel bottomed out, but it may be contactiong the Cylinder!!..........I found the elev screw in my NF would do that, and Luckily I found it BEFORE I rotated the cylinder.

I short time on a surface grinder corrected the issue for me.

Tom

Thanks for the warning, but I observed the screw is flush, or just below the surface, of the bottom of the topstrap.

Bob Wright

 

[JohnnyP]

I know this sounds crazy as hell, but comes from Gen. Julian Hatcher who was a brilliant ballistician.

The revolver starts to recoil the moment the bullet starts to move in the barrel. Firing the same load in the shorter barrel, the bullet exits the barrel sooner, hitting slightly lower on the target. In the longer barrel it remains in the barrel longer, hitting the target higher up.

As was suggested, a 200 grain bullet would reduce the recoil motion and should hit lower on the target.

From Hatcher's Notebook:
pg.297

" To take a concrete example, it has been found by experiment that with a six inch barreled revolver the 200 grain .38 Special Super Police bullet will strike 4 1/2 inches higher on the target at 20 yards than will the 158 grain .38 Special with 860 feet per second muzzle velocity. While the difference in impact at 20 yards is 4 1/2 inches the entire drop in trajectory for the 158 grain standard velocity load at that range is only 9/10 of an inch. If we could raise the velocity of the .38 Special from 860 feet per second to 2000 feet per second, we would raise its point of impact only some 3/4 inch, and the low velocity 200 grain Super Police bullet would still strike nearly 4 inches higher."

 

[azshot]

People have recommended using different loads, different grip, different range, and yes a different weight bullet. I'm not even going to suggest use a bigger bullseye so the 6 O'clock hold gets the rounds in the center. I think he just wants the sight adjusted down more.

 

[BobWright]

People have recommended using different loads, different grip, different range, and yes a different weight bullet. I'm not even going to suggest use a bigger bullseye so the 6 O'clock hold gets the rounds in the center. I think he just wants the sight adjusted down more.

BINGO! You've got it!

Bob Wright

 

[PonyLover]

JohnnyP,
If you go up this chat, you'll see I already told him the barrel was two inches too long If in fact the sight is bottomed out, he will have to change to a lighter bullet or a reduced powder charge.