Slide on or off for drift adjusting sights?

[redneck]

I have a Taurus PT92 AR that I've never been quite satisfied with as it always shoots to the left. I can adjust my grip and get decent results, but as I have gotten to shooting more and shooting other guns it has become a pain. It groups fairly well, and has not had one malfunction in thousands of rounds. I definitely like the gun, just wish it would shoot to center for me.

As far as I can tell the rear sight is mounted in a dovetail but is not staked in place or anything. I was hoping I could shift it to the right a little bit. I know it would not sit flush anymore, but this isn't a carry piece so it won't matter. I even considered buying better sights, but don't see any reason to put that kind of money into this gun.

Do I need anything besides a brass punch and a solid working surface to do this? Is it better to have the slide on or off the gun? I have a feeling it will be pretty tight, and don't want to risk messing up the fit of the slide, or causing any other damage.
Any advice? Or other ideas I should try first?
Appreciate any help you can give.

 

[JDGray]

I prefer to adjust with the slide off. I've done it in a vise, and on a sturdy wooden bench, with the slide on it's side. If using a vise, either use wood strips against the jaws, or layers of duct tape. It all depends how stubburn the sight is, as to what method I use. A sight pusher is the best way

 

[redneck]

Had to look that up at midway, didn't know they existed
I'll give it a try with the punch and a vise, and if i can't get that to work, maybe I'll try and make or borrow a pusher. If I'm going to spend $100 it will be towards another gun
Thanks for the advice

 

[Drail]

Redneck, you definitely want to have the slide held in a solid vise. Sometimes they'll move with a gentle bump, sometimes it takes considerably more. You don't want to subject the whole gun to the pounding. A pusher is great if the sight wants to move, I have seen several people break the pusher on a tight sight. Get a big brass punch.

 

[redneck]

Thanks Drail
I have a decent vice, and several different sized brass bars and rods left over from knives. Will have to give a go before I go shooting again next weekend.

 

[Drail]

AHHH, a knifemaker eh? Always wanted to try that. Custom knives are nice.

 

[redneck]

Used to crank them out on a regular basis. Finished one or two a week. Now I'm lucky to make 3 or 4 in a year. You should give it a try though if you're interested. Chances are if you can work on guns you've got enough tools to build a knife. The shoptalk section over at bladeforums has alot of great information from beginners to advanced, much like this site is for guns.

 

[diego]

I also have this problem on my Taurus 24/7. Mine is a screw down type site. I really don't know if this is the one they call Henie sight with white dots on it. My shots are down left inside the Alpha on the target board. My club coach tells me that it is me who has the problem but I shoot fairly well when I use my other gun. I was very much disappointed but got my confidence back. I haven't tried to adjust the rear site yet hoping to push it down if it can still be done but since it is going towards the left, I might have a problem with it since it only goes downward when I will adjust it.

 

[redneck]

I originally thought it was just me as well. If I deliberately push the thumb of support hand into the frame and hold a little bit high I can shoot the center out of the target at 25 feet. This isn't a grip conducive to rapid shooting though as you usually have to reset your thumb after 2 or 3 shots.

I have a buckmark .22 and it doesn't require any special grip, and I did not have to crank the sights way over to get it centered. It shot to center the first shot out of the box, and has stayed that way for several thousand rounds.

Then I ended up shooting a smith and wesson M&P that was a range gun and shot it almost as well as my buckmark with no grip adjustments or changes to my POA. Between this and having a few other folks shoot the taurus I'm 99% sure that it is an issue with the gun.

So I'm going to try and drift the sights a little bit......and buy an M&P

 

[moooose102]

+1 on checking yor sight prior to swatting it. my rear sight is also dovetailed in, and it has a set screw in it as well. if yours has a set screw in it, you can swat it till the cows come home and it won't move!

 

[redneck]

Well I got the sight to slide over a little bit. Moved it until it was just about to start sticking out of the dovetail on the right side.
Took it to the range today and shot the plate rack for the first time since the regular line was crowded. I don't know how much I shifted the POA, but it was a definite improvement. The gun points much more naturally and I was easily hitting 9 out of 10 plates (ranging 30 to 50 feet) at a much faster pace than I normally shoot.
Thanks for the advice everybody