SKS front sight stuck

[ZeSpectre]

My SKS shoots fine in terms of windage but it shoots very low so I wanted to adjust the front sight but I can't get the stupid thing to screw/unscrew so I can adjust it. Broke the darn sight tool I bought (one of the heavy metal ones).

So far I've tried letting some Kroil penetrating oil sit on it for a while but I just can't get this darned sight post to break free.

Anyone have any other suggestions (maybe a tougher tool that I can apply more torque to without breaking it)?

:banghead:

 

[Jackal]

Just making sure, but are you turning it the right way? I ask becuase if its bottomed out, it wont turn. Sounds stupid, I know, but trust me, these things happen.....

 

[gunny1022]

Raise the rear sight?

 

[ZeSpectre]

It's not bottomed out, it won't turn period. I haven't ever tried to adjust this rifle until now.

Yes I can raise the rear sight (that's how it is now) but I'd rather zero it properly before I go to an appleseed shoot.

Thanks though.

 

[DMK]

I had one like that. You're doing the right thing. Let it soak with Kroil. I used a needlenosed vicegrips on mine. Try turning it one way, then the other, going back and forth. Keep soaking it with Kroil. Tapping (tapping, not beating!) it straight down on the shoulder with a screwdriver might help break it free too or at least help the Kroil get down in there deeper. Once you get it loose, take it all the way out, wirebrush the threads good and oil it.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Well I continued to work on that front sight post and the whole freakin' post snapped right off on me (not just the narrow -aiming- part but some of the "shoulder" as well). I wasn't even twisting very hard, I guess the whole thing was just really corroded or something. Then to get the windage barrel out I had to cut a small slot into one side to let the bottom part of the post through because it was still projecting from the bottom of the windage barrel.
:banghead:

Okay, so the MD Rally shoot is this Saturday and I have an SKS with no front sight post.

Anyone got any helpful suggestions? If not I may order a set of "firesights" and pray that they arrive before Saturday.

 

[Onmilo]

Most, but not all, com-bloc weapons feature a locking screw at the front of the sight tower.
If you didn't back the locking screw out first, that post wasn't going to budge no matter what you did.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Nope, no such screw on mine.

 

[DMK]

Most, but not all, com-bloc weapons feature a locking screw at the front of the sight tower.

There's no screw on the SKS. The sight just screws down into a windage drum.

Anyone got any helpful suggestions? If not I may order a set of "firesights" and pray that they arrive before Saturday.

Well, other than replacing the sight parts, you could file down the stub of the old sight, drill a new hole in the windage drum (perhaps 90deg from the other hole), press the drum back into the rifle, and press or JB weld a post into it made from a nail, roll pin or some other piece of metal. File it down to get your zero. That would get you through the weekend.

 

[ZeSpectre]

Well I finally got that sight drum removed (what an ugly job) and it was totally corroded underneath

Ordered the Firesights to replace it but don't know how long they'll take to arrive. A THR member (who will remain unnamed unless he wants the credit) is sending me a drum/post combo that should arrive in a day or so and will at least allow me to shoot in the upcoming "appleseed" event.

Man, the people here on THR absolutely ROCK! Thanks for all the help!