L1A1 rear sight...

[Bimjo]

Got to shoot an L1A1 (Hesse rcvr) for the first time yesterday (cool). The rifle wouldn't shoot under 10" @100 yds (not cool).

A bit of investigation showed that the rear sight appeared to be loose (I could make it move side-to-side & up-down by hand).

The owner said this is the second sight he's had & the original was worse. Wedging a bit of cardboard under one side of the sight allowed a 3" group until the cardboard came out & then it was all over the paper again.

Anyone familiar with this problem on this class of rifle? And how to fix it?

Thanks,
JP

[Destructo6]

Strange. I'll get this out of the way first: were the two screws that face opposite directions, below the dovetail tightened? Not just one, but both?

Since the rear sight is mounted on the gripframe/lower receiver, is that part a Hesse piece also? It may also be a case of inch on a metric or vice versa, though I understand that the actual dimensions are the same.

You could check out the FAL Files and see if their FAQ or someone at the discussion board know what's up: http://www.fnfal.com/falfiles/index.html

[jimc]

what you need to do is first determine exactly what sight's you have on there. what does the front one look like? a flat blade type with no adj hole's on it or more of a post with adj holes?
what does the rear sight look like is it a short fixed or a tall one that is either fixed or fold's down?
and are there 2 screw's one on each side of the ramp?
you may have a combo on there or just improperly installed one. if i had more info or if you could post a pic(i know i haven't figured it out yet also) i might be able to help.

[Bimjo]

Destructo6-
I have no idea if the screws were tight or not, I didn't check them. I don't know if it's a Hesse lower or not, I'll check and find out.

Thanks for the link to the FAQ page, I'll check that out as well.

jimc-
Front sight is a flat blade. Loosen set screw in front of sight, turn front sight & retighten set screw.

Rear sight is a tall one, don't think it folded, but I could be wrong.

This rifle was about 5 different colors, so there's no telling where all the parts came from. If more than two came from the same manufacturer I'd be surprised.

I'll try & get a pic to post, may be next weekend before I can get one. In the mean time you guys have given me a place to start. The one good thing about all this is it isn't my rifle. ;)

Thanks for the help.
JP