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Stuff in the box.

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blarby

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So, I got a new M4 from Windham Weaponry not long ago.

As it turns out, that purchase did not include a front sight adjustment tool.

I called them and asked why. They said it wasn't needed, as they are factory zeroed @ 100. I laughed and said have a nice day. My "factory zero" @ 100 yards was about 14" off.

So, I bought one finally, and I'll fix it this week.


My question is : is that normal ? Normal for any gun not to have specialized tools you need to do basic things ? Got a new VEPR the same week- it came with gobs of tools- and was about half the price.


Just wondering if thats unusual, or the norm.... and I'f i'm cranky if thats the norm ?

If it took a screwdriver, sure.............. But this a2 sight adjustment is not a screwdriver job !


Anyone else not get something in the box they thought should be there ?
 
Can't say that I have. Other than common hand tools or just my fingers, the only thing special needed to disassemble any of my guns is a 1911 barrel bushing wrench. And if my 1911 wasn't a match gun (very tight bushing) I wouldn't even need that.

I would not occur to me to expect to get a sight adjustment tool with a new firearm I bought. The rear sights (and sometimes front too) on many handguns are drift-adjustable for windage. But I've never seen or heard of a new pistol coming with the necessary tool.
 
I don't think it's standard to include a sight adjustment tool. Maybe a sling, a cleaning kit, and one or two spare magazines, at most.
 
Manufacturers are all over the place concerning such things. The only way to know what is in the box is to check the box. Springfield XD's are shipping with holsters and mag pouches, but Springfield 1911's do not. The cause of your issue may have been the wrong front sight base.
 
I've never heard of a non-specialty AR that came with a front sight adjustment tool. That function in military service was performed by the tip of a bullet. I bought an adjustment tool for a very decent price from either Brownells or Midway USA.

I bought a very expensive, top-rated AR once that came with nothing but the owner's manual, a sling, and one magazine. So I think your experience is about the norm.

I also made a trip to a trusted parts seller's website and purchased a new firing pin, firing pin retaining pin, and bolt cam pin. Actually, I'd go heavy on the firing pin retaining pin. I keep them with the gun at all times. FWIW
 
If you have FMJ ammo, you have a front sight adjusting tool. Push the little spring loaded plunger down and rotate the front sight opposite the direction you want the POI to move.

LNK
 
A few years back I was at the range with my son and a family friend with newly assembled ARs, one with a new 6.8mm Rem upper. The front sight adjustment tool we used was a .223 spirepoint FMJ bulleted cartridge.* If you don't have ammo, you really don't need to adjust your AR sights, I guess.



*We also had some 5,56mm NATO rounds but thats another thread I suppose.
 
*tries with round*

Well, I can push the plunger down... but cant get it to spin.

Not a biggie as I have the tool now.... seems to take quite a bit of torque.

I guess mebbe its just me- I'd have kicked in the $6 tool, lol. Thats just chintzy.
 
blarby

Talk about chintzy...

Years ago my brother was an infantry officer stationed in Korea. This was at a time when the Army was going to switch over to the M16A2 so naturally they didn't want to buy any more front/rear sight adjustment tools for the M16A1. Which didn't exactly help those soldiers who were still using the M16A1 and trying to zero their rifles. Back then these cost maybe $2 or $3 each retail. So I went around to the local gun shows and bought a bunch of them and shipped them to him in Korea.

Sort of like the same problem he had with their M21 sniper rifles. They had them in the armory and there were soldiers who were sniper school qualified; only problem was they didn't have any magazines, cleaning gear, or magazine pouches for them. Once again the Army was possibly looking ahead to when it would adopt the new M24 sniper rifle and didn't have any replacement parts available for the M21 in their inventory. And once again, I found everything they needed to get their M21s up and running at the local gun shows.

I think maybe the outright chintziest example had to be that between three Lieutenants they had only one sidearm, a very used M1911A1, which while it didn't have a magazine, it did come with 5 or 6 loose rounds. The gun of course had to be shared between the three officers, depending on who had an official function that day that required them to have a sidearm. This was also at a time when the Army would soon be switching over to the new Beretta M9 pistol so replacement M1911 magazines were essentially nowhere to be found. I bought 3 new Colt magazines and shipped them out.

I think the U.S. Army has Windham Weaponry outchintzied by a considerable margin.
 
AR front sight should be very close OOB. I wouldn't mess with it unless adjusting the rear just can't get it done.

But I suspect you already know that.
 
I never heard of an M16 front sight tool in the Army.

A FMJ bullet tip was the SOP front sight tool.

And that "should" be all you need to adjust it if the rifle is mil-spec and the front sight turns like it should.

rc
 
Have bough many ARs (whole or upper) and none came with a front sight adjustment tool. Agree with rcmodel, bullet tip should do the trick. Having said that, I have only adjusted a front sight once, and was on an aftermarket install.
 
"Thats just chintzy."

The other side of the coin is that a lot of folks don't want to pay that extra $1 or $5 for something they either have already or don't even want. Sort of like gun locks. :)
 
rcmodel said:
I never heard of an M16 front sight tool in the Army.

A FMJ bullet tip was the SOP front sight tool.

And that "should" be all you need to adjust it if the rifle is mil-spec and the front sight turns like it should.

rc
Click to expand...
USMC too.
 
But this a2 sight adjustment is not a screwdriver job !
Click to expand...

You are right it is not a screwdriver job, just a bullet tip job. That's how we adjusted them.

Jim
 
+1 for the bullet tip method. I was AF and even they never gave us a tool. Got one now for private use because it's faster, but definatly an extra add on more than somthing that should be inc.
 
Current USMC use a ball point pen most of the time. Some people have tools on the range, others use a M855 round.

We usually have a data book that we record all of our shots in, hence the great availability of the ball point pen.
 
We were issued a big diaper pin in Basic and used either the tip of a round or a pen the rest of the time.
 
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Never saw any M-16 series rifle sight adjustment tool such as is sold to civilians as either an enlisted man or as an officer and both times responsible for training Basic rifle marksmanship and property book officer while commissioned.

"The Book" stated that front sights were adjusted with the tip of a FMJ loaded cartridge or dummy round on both everything through A2 and the rear on the E-1 ands A1 and XM 177 series was adjusted with the same "tool".

While I was in Basic and AIT and while I was serving as a Assistant Instructor and "non-drill Sargeant Instructor" (ie "white hat) in Tigerland at Ft. Polk BRM instructors carried a spare M-16 firing pin to use as a sight adjustment tool tucked in the pistol belt next to one of the keepers where the belt was doubled over.

Why would one even think of giving troops something they do not need?

-kBob
 
These sights were designed from the get-go to be field adjustable without special tools.
That said, If you can't turn the sight after pushing the plunger down, then maybe a drop or 2 of penetrating oil will help. It certainly won't hurt.
 
No, I wouldn't expect an AR to include a sight adjustment tool. The proper tool is also VASTLY easier to use than a cartridge.
 
Anyone else not get something in the box they thought should be there ?
Click to expand...

IMHO, guns in general
Should include: cleaning kit, extra mags (3?), care instructions, nice case

Not needed: trigger lock, spent brass (I guess that they need this in certain parts of the country), lengthy instruction manual, ridiculous warnings (do not point gun at self and pull trigger), crappy allen keys (Taurus), and the cardboard box. Anybody else have forty of these in the basement?
 
Why would one even think of giving troops something they do not need?
Click to expand...

Not to belittle, or be extra tart... but didn't that list of "not needs" originally include a cleaning kit on the m16 ? What one man considered essential, and another frivolous...

Would not and probably will not be the first time front-line kit was a little lacking.

Didn't a soldier come up with that handy all in one tool that cleans the gas piston- or is that internet rumor ?

I'm guessing that the tightness of this rifles front sight must be an irregularity, given the # of folks telling me to adjust it with a round.
 
I have never heard of a sight adjustment tool being included with a new gun, and can't believe anyone woulf think they would be.
 
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