AR15 scope & sight issue

[hvychev77]

Hey all, i'm a little new to the AR platform style rifles, and i'm running into a potential issue. So, i'm waiting on a scope to arrive for my AR and realized that there's a potential of my front sight being in the way once the scope is installed. I really would rather take off the front sight altogether, but i know part of the gas block is located there as well. I had future plance to change out the stock handguard as well, so i could put a forward handle there. Anyhow, how big of a deal is this to change it out so that there's nothing in the line of the scope? Any suggestion on what brand parts to replace it with? videos or instructions on line anywhere? My rifle, is the Rock River Arms tactical entry model. The scope i ordered is the Nikon p223, which is on backorder everywhere i've looked.......Thanks in advance guys. Cheers, hvychev77

 

[dogmush]

It's not that big a deal to swap gas blocks. You'll need to take the flash hider off, knock out three pins (two on the block, and one on the gas tube) and slide the gasblock off. Then replace with the block of your choice.

But, it's not really needed. A scope with anything over about 3x mag will not focus on the front sight. You won't be able to see it in the optic. That allows you to have a nice robust front buis for no extra money.

 

[madcratebuilder]

Another option is to cut the front sight block to a low profile.

 

[RatDrall]

At 4 power and above, you will be looking past and around the front sight.

That said, if you move the rifle just right, your picture will be interrupted, it's hard to explain.

I've had scopes on fixed sight ARs, and never will again. I want a scoped AR bad, but won't mess with it until I have a rifle with a low profile gas block and rails that extend past it with flip up sights on them. It's the right way to do things.

 

[mdauben]

I've had scopes on fixed sight ARs, and never will again. I want a scoped AR bad, but won't mess with it until I have a rifle with a low profile gas block and rails that extend past it with flip up sights on them. It's the right way to do things.

I have to agree. It may "dissapear" with 3x or higher scopes, but it will still be degrading the optical quality of the image. Personally, I've got a 1x red-dot sight on my AR and while the front sight is "colocated" with the dot, I find it intrusive and distracting. Next thing I do to my gun will be to replace the gas block with a sightless one.

 

[jim243]

If using a carry handle on the rifle, the front sight becomes a non issue when using a scope and gives you the option of both scope and iron sights on the same rifle. Having said that, depending on the power of the scope you will not see the front sight in your scope at higher powers.

Jim

 

[tyeo098]

I just put a scope on my AR.
Front sight isnt 'there' but its 'there'.

In just the right light you can see the gray outline and it bugs me. Its reducing the quality of the image.

I'm just gonn hack it off to a low-pro, the hit it with some matte-black.

 

[hvychev77]

thanks guys, i've been doing some reading online. seems like half the folks out there are fine with it (not seeing the post), and the other half states that it's 'there'. So, i'm pretty anal about stuff, and i wanna make sure it's not affecting my sight picture so, i'm gonna just change out the gas block. seems simple enough........thanks for all the feedback guys. cheers, hvychev77

 

[KeithET]

FYI, it can be a real pain to remove the front sight if its pinned in place. You may want to save some trouble and try the scope out before trying to replace the front sight with a block. If you are OK with the front sight being there then you have just saved yourself a lot of work and possible frustration by not removing the front sight. Just my 2 cents.

KeithET

 

[hvychev77]

yea, i'm no gunsmith so that's exactly what i had planned. thanks for the heads up!