Front sight canted to right

[dburkhead]

I have a Ruger 10/22 and just installed Tech-Sight brand sights on it. The rear sight screws into the rail mount holes at the rear of the receiver and that was not problem.

The front sight goes into a dovetail in what appears to be a band around the barrel, just behind the muzzle. The sight went into the dovetail with a nice, tight fit. However, when I when I tried to sight the rifle in, I noticed that the front sight "tower" was canted 5-10 degrees to the right. A closer check showed that it was tight and flush to the mount so it appears that it's either the barrel or this band that's canted. The factory rear sight appears to be at the correct alignment so my guess is the band/front scope mount.

Obviously, having the front sight tilted puts the end of the post out of position for lining up the sights.

Can this be fixed as a DIY project or does it need to be referred to a professional--or do I need to replace the barrel itself?

 

[rcmodel]

Was the factory sight crooked too?

If not, it's the new sight.

Or, the barrel clamp is loose, and you turned the barrel slightly driving the new sight in.

Take the barreled action out of the stock, loosen the Allen-Head barrel clamp screws, line everything up, then re-tighten them.

rcmodel

 

[dburkhead]

It turned out that the problem was that the whole barrel was canted. I hadn't noticed previously because both the front and rear sights were canted the same, small, amount.

When I broke the rifle down for cleaning, I took a careful look at where the V block clamped it into the receiver and although it was tight it didn't look like it was quite even. I loosened the holding screws and gently twisted the barrel. It practically "clicked" into place. When I tightened it back down the sights were nicely aligned.

 

[Kruzr]

Just make sure the extractor is aligned with the extractor slot and not "angling" into it.

 

[pdowg881]

I've been thinking about getting tech sights. How much did you get them for and where? Once you shoot it, I'd like to hear your opinions too.

 

[dburkhead]

I got them direct from Tech Sights. http://www.tech-sights.com. The model I got is the TSR200, which has a front sight adjustable for elevation and a rear sight adjustable for both elevation and windage. There's a lower price TSR100 what had the rear sight adjustable only for windage.

The rear sight screws into the receiver, using the rearmost two holes that are normally meant to secure a scope rail. The front sight consists of a post (they are supposed to be able to use front sight posts from AR15 type rifles) in an aluminum housing (they call it the "tower") which fits into the dovetail slot in place of the factory sight. Note that I said aluminum, which means that some care is needed in installation or you can mung up the dovetail badly (guess what I did with my first attempt at a front sight install).

I plan to run down to the range tomorrow during my lunch break. We'll see how it goes.

 

[Sunray]

"...broke the rifle down for cleaning..." You shouldn't ever need to do that.

 

[rcmodel]

Why not?

.22's get extremely dirty inside the action.

It is necessary to "break the gun down for cleaning" every so often to get all the crud out of them.

It is not necessary to remove the barrel from the receiver, but on a 10/22, it certainly couldn't hurt anything either unless you did it every time you cleaned it.

rcmodel

 

[dburkhead]

By "break the gun down for cleaning" I mean:

- remove barreled action from stock
- Remove trigger housing from receiver
- Remove the bolt stop and bolt

I then scrub out the inside of the receiver with a toothbrush, clean and oil the bolt, and run a boresnake through the barrel a few times. This last time, since I've run something like 3000 rounds through the rifle, I took the firing pin out to clean and lube it and the slot it rides in.

 

[LKB3rd]

I've been using a spray on dry lube in my 10/22, and I think I will use it on other guns too, because it doesn't attract gunk, and after 1000+ rounds the inside was only slightly dirty, and a quick spray with more of this lube blasted it right off.