The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Skunkworks > The Smithy

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old September 29, 2001, 05:29 PM   #1
PaulTX
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 9, 1999
Location: Denton, TX
Posts: 107
Swedish Mauser - shooting high

I just purchased a model 96 and I put an Ashely Outdoors front sight (taller) on it that is supposed to bring the rear sight to 100 yards when set at the lowest point of 300 yards. I shot it for the first time today and it was still shooting about 3-4 feet high when the tip of the front sight was placed on the target.

I'd like to keep this Mauser fairly stock. What can I do to resolve this situation.

TIA!
PaulTX is offline  
Old September 29, 2001, 08:39 PM   #2
Walt Sherrill
Senior Member
 
Join Date: February 15, 1999
Location: Winston-Salem, NC USA
Posts: 6,348
I bought one of the relatively inexpensive taller sights from SARCO for the Model 96, and mine shoots pretty much to point of aim at 100 yards. (My cousin and I -- he's the better shot -- were able to get sub- 2 inch groups with the iron sights the first time we tried it.)

Check Shotgun News for the Sarco ad, and give them a call.
Walt Sherrill is offline  
Old September 29, 2001, 09:58 PM   #3
PaulTX
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 9, 1999
Location: Denton, TX
Posts: 107
I'll call Sarco and see what height their front sight is compared to the Ashley Outdoor's one I got from Brownell's.

Thanks.
PaulTX is offline  
Old September 30, 2001, 03:50 AM   #4
Mikke
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 30, 2000
Location: Ume?, Sweden
Posts: 154
3-4 FEET high?!?! With original sight and ammo it should be about 10" high (less then a feet) at 100 m. Sounds like something is awful wrong?

What ammo are you using?
Mikke is offline  
Old September 30, 2001, 08:35 AM   #5
George Stringer
Staff Alumnus
 
Join Date: October 12, 1998
Location: Earlington KY
Posts: 2,299
Paul, the formual for determining the height you need for your front sight is: (Error at target x sight radius) divided by distance to target. All measurements have to be in inches. Using an old Mauser bbl as an example and your 3' error you'd have something like 36"(error at target) x 25.875"(sight radius) divided by 3600" (100yds) and you would need an additional .259" added to your present front sight. Is it possible that your rear sight is bent upward? George
George Stringer is offline  
Old September 30, 2001, 04:45 PM   #6
PaulTX
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 9, 1999
Location: Denton, TX
Posts: 107
Mikke, I was very surprised when it was so high. The previous owner mentioned it would shoot about a foot high at 100 yards. Unfortunately I didn't have a good spotter with me. When I put the front post tip right on the target, it hit at least 2-3 feet high. It was hard for me to tell. When I aimed a little low I either hit the target or bounced it along the ground. I had to quit shooting cause at times I was close to putting it out of the range. Unfortunately I was operating too quickly and not very scientifically.

I didn't check the target, cause I never put one up. I was shooting at an existing target just to get the feel of the rifle until I had a chance to put up a new one.

I was shooting S&B 131 grain SP's. I was concentrating and putting the tip of the front sight right in the rear sight's notch and squeezing off the round.

If I had been thinking and the range wasn't so busy, I should have gone to the 50 yard range and worked the problem more carefully. I probably did about a poor of job in checking out the situation as you can do. I do know that when I put the sights right on the target it was at least 2-3 feet high.

George, thanks for the formula! The rear sight appears to be normal, not bent in any way. I'm going to make a few phone calls tomorrow to check out front sight measurements at Ashley Outdoors and Sarco. Ashley makes a tall front sight post with increments you can snip off as you "zero" in on the right height. I may get one of those.

Thanks for your help and concern!

Paul
PaulTX is offline  
Old October 1, 2001, 06:02 AM   #7
Mikke
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 30, 2000
Location: Ume?, Sweden
Posts: 154
Ok, before doing anything else I suggest you try to find some 140gr FMJ, Swedish surplus is pretty good if you can find it, and go shoot it again. Or just shoot it again with same ammo, just check more exactly where it hits. At least you'll have a better starting point for working out exactly how to change the sight if you choose to do that.

Good luck anyway!
Mikke is offline  
Old October 1, 2001, 07:57 AM   #8
Clemson
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 9, 2001
Location: Greenwood, SC
Posts: 874
Paul, just out of curiosity, where was your rear sight in relation to the front sight when you did your shooting? The tip of the front sight must be aligned with the sides of the rear blade horizontally.
__________________
NRA Endowment Member, NRA Certified Instructor
CWP Holder
US Army veteran
Gunsmith www.boltandbarrel.com
Clemson is offline  
Old October 1, 2001, 10:29 AM   #9
sleeping dog
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 2, 2000
Location: MI
Posts: 536
Paul,
Have you tried zeroing the thing at a shorter distance, like 50 yds? That would be a good starting distance, and you can bore-sight it before shooting anything - just to get on paper. Once it's shooting within 2" of your aim point, you're good to move to 100 yds.

Regards
sleeping dog is offline  
Old October 1, 2001, 06:53 PM   #10
PaulTX
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 9, 1999
Location: Denton, TX
Posts: 107
The Ashley Outdoors front sight has a white line on it. I put the tip of the front sight right in the rear notch - centered and at the same height.

On my next trip to the range I'm going to shoot at 50 yards with a lot of paper! Ashley Outdoors is also going to send me a front sight that's used for finding the correct height. You snip it off a small section at a time until you get to the right height.

I may not be the best shot with a rifle using iron sights, but can't imagine that I'm that far off. I shoot my stock M1 Carbine at 100 yards and am pretty accurate.

I'm not used to shooting such a long barrel that the model 96 has. A slight change in the sights made a big difference at 100 yards! I want this rifle to be accurate and to keep it fairly stock.
PaulTX is offline  
Old October 2, 2001, 01:26 AM   #11
Waterdog
Junior member
 
Join Date: January 6, 2000
Location: AZ
Posts: 1,236
I thought putting a taller front sight on, would move the point of impact down.

Waterdog
Waterdog is offline  
Old October 4, 2001, 06:25 PM   #12
PaulTX
Senior Member
 
Join Date: March 9, 1999
Location: Denton, TX
Posts: 107
Well Waterdog, it is supposed to move the point of impact down. The theroy is good, but there's a problem with my application. I'll work on it again at the next range visit.
PaulTX is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:12 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.05520 seconds with 10 queries