accidently canted the front sight, how to fix?

[icefire 10]

While adding a tantal muzzle brake on my Saiga x39, due to having a folder on it and wanting to make it legal folding length, I torqued on the brake so tight to get it indexed that my entire front sight is now a bit canted to the left. how do I fix this? Just carefully whack it with a rubber mallet? or is this something serious that a gunsmith will have to fix?

 

I did use the search function, and a lot of talk about WASR's and canted sights, but I cant find how to actually FIX this issue.

 

thanks.

[donteatbugs 1]

i believe the is a clamp type tool that tapco makes to cant the front sight.

 

Here it is

[TARE 47]

i dont that that tool will help with his problem. Really you can try to adjust it with a rubber mallet or put some gloves on and try to turn it by hand, but Im not sure either will work easily. Worst case scenario, you drive out the pins in the front sight block and remove, then replace it.

 

Im really surprised that you were able to get the FSB to become canted just by overturning the brake usually there are pins in place to hold it where it was installed

[icefire 10]

i believe the is a clamp type tool that tapco makes to cant the front sight.

 

Here it is

 

 

Well, Ive seen that tool, but my entire front sight assembly is moved from the barrel up, and that tool only moves the sight pin IN the assembly.

 

Somehow I got the entire assembly moved, is there any way I might have moved the entire barrel?

 

I will take a pic tommotrow and add it in...has anyone ever accidently moved the barrel?

 

or is it just the pressed on front sight that moved?

 

I cant tell. its just a bit off, but you can tell easily by looking down my quad rail....

[icefire 10]

i dont that that tool will help with his problem. Really you can try to adjust it with a rubber mallet or put some gloves on and try to turn it by hand, but Im not sure either will work easily. Worst case scenario, you drive out the pins in the front sight block and remove, then replace it.

 

Im really surprised that you were able to get the FSB to become canted just by overturning the brake usually there are pins in place to hold it where it was installed

 

 

ive tried by hand, waaay too tight to move. It just so slight you cant etll unless you really look, but it makes it unsightable. I think I moved it about 1/8th". If I put my laser boresighter in, I can tell the front iron is off...I'll try a rubber mallet, but I wont bend the barrel, will I ?

 

And you'er right, I'm surprised I got it to move, thats why I'm wondering if the whole barrel turned...but I had a screwdriver wrapped in rubber thru the end of the brake, and was putting a lot of pressure on it near the end. Saigas with cut off shrouds dont have any pins to lock in a brake like other AK's..., mine is factory threaded....and I needed to make the barrel longer to get to a folded length of 30".

[TARE 47]

If you bend the barrel i'd be surprised. Lay the rifle down with the sight canting upwards, put something like a towel under the gun and the barrel and start away at it giving it modest strikes. Of course this would only work if your hypothesis about how the sights became canted is true. It is possible that the front sight block came out of the factory canted in which case the pins that go through the FSB are going to prohibit any movement toward correct alignment, in that case you are going to get nowhere slow, but if you drive the pins out and adjust the FSB to proper alignment you can look through the holes in the FSB and see if you are going to have to alter the slots the factory made that can get tricky depending how bad off they are.

[icefire 10]

If you bend the barrel i'd be surprised. Lay the rifle down with the sight canting upwards, put something like a towel under the gun and the barrel and start away at it giving it modest strikes. Of course this would only work if your hypothesis about how the sights became canted is true. It is possible that the front sight block came out of the factory canted in which case the pins that go through the FSB are going to prohibit any movement toward correct alignment, in that case you are going to get nowhere slow, but if you drive the pins out and adjust the FSB to proper alignment you can look through the holes in the FSB and see if you are going to have to alter the slots the factory made that can get tricky depending how bad off they are.

 

 

Yes, I'll try it. The FSB was perfectly straight until I added the brake. Even lined up perfectly with the laser boresight. Now the entire tower is off to the left. I'll gently whack it with a mallet, after first trying to put a big screwdriver thru it and try to gently move it back. I know they're brittle and can crack if pushed too hard...ive been researching how to fix this for the last hour on the net....

thanks.

 

ill post pix when I get home to start this, before and after...

[Rhodes1968 1,638]

Ok here is what you dont want to hear,

I don't see this happening unless the entire barrel moved. If the pins sheared you would have noticed that its just beyond me also. I would check the trunnion and also see if those pins in the FSB have receded inward as if pulled. For safety if nothing else run it by a smith.

Edited December 17, 2010 by Rhodes1968

[ChileRelleno 7,071]

i believe the is a clamp type tool that tapco makes to cant the front sight.

 

Here it is

WTF Chuck!?!?

That is a front sight adjustment tool, windage & elevation... Not for correcting a canted FSB.

.....................................................

 

@ the OP

 

Are you 100% positive it wasn't canted before? I know you say it lined up with a boresight, but I gotta ask.

 

How did you have the rifle secured when you were torquing down on the muzzle device, were you using the FSB for leverage, or was the receiver/barrel the leverage?

Barrel or receiver in a vise? If you weren't using the FSB for leverage there is no way you canted it.

Therefore I agree that the barrel would have to had to have turned, or you even possibly warped the receiver.

Rhodes1968 has the best advice yet.

 

EDIT: However, if you were using the FSB for leverage, it is indeed possible to cant the FSB.

As far as I know, the Saigas FSB is not pinned, simply pressed on and then dimpled.

While it would be possible to move it back into true vertical position, the dimples will be stripped under the FSB/shroud.

It would be, IMHO, prone to moving again, if dropped, bumped or such.

If it can be straightened, I'd drill and pin it, or just remove the damned thing and put a real pinned FSB on it.

...................................................................

 

Unsightable? Did you actually try to sight in with live fire and not just a bore sight?

Shitloads of canted FSBs out there, very common issue and the majority of'em sight in just fine... Even if it oft requires near max windage to compensate.

Edited December 18, 2010 by ChileRelleno

[Rhodes1968 1,638]

i believe the is a clamp type tool that tapco makes to cant the front sight.

 

Here it is

WTF Chuck!?!?

That is a front sight adjustment tool, windage & elevation... Not for correcting a canted FSB.

.....................................................

 

@ the OP

 

Are you 100% positive it wasn't canted before? I know you say it lined up with a boresight, but I gotta ask.

 

How did you have the rifle secured when you were torquing down on the muzzle device, were you using the FSB for leverage, or was the receiver/barrel the leverage?

Barrel or receiver in a vise? If you weren't using the FSB for leverage there is no way you canted it.

Therefore I agree that the barrel would have to had to have turned, or you even possibly warped the receiver.

Rhodes1968 has the best advice yet.

 

EDIT: However, if you were using the FSB for leverage, it is indeed possible to cant the FSB.

As far as I know, the Saigas FSB is not pinned, simply pressed on and then dimpled.

While it would be possible to move it back into true vertical position, the dimples will be stripped under the FSB/shroud.

It would be, IMHO, prone to moving again, if dropped, bumped or such.

If it can be straightened, I'd drill and pin it, or just remove the damned thing and put a real pinned FSB on it.

...................................................................

 

Unsightable? Did you actually try to sight in with live fire and not just a bore sight?

Shitloads of canted FSBs out there, very common issue and the majority of'em sight in just fine... Even if it oft requires near max windage to compensate.

 

Yeah this is a real stickler I dont really like any of the solutions come up with except take it to a smith. I just cant see how that barrel rotated with the gas tube also involved it is eating my brain!!!

Waiting for pics.

[ChileRelleno 7,071]

Yeah this is a real stickler I dont really like any of the solutions come up with except take it to a smith. I just cant see how that barrel rotated with the gas tube also involved it is eating my brain!!!

Waiting for pics.

Being that the Saiga FSB is pressed on and then dimpled... My bet right now is that he was using the FSB for leverage, sheared the dimples and thus canted the FSB.

Solution, realign FSB, drill and pin current FSB, or, completely replace FSB.

Edited December 18, 2010 by ChileRelleno

[Rhodes1968 1,638]

No pics...sad panda.

Mine looks to be pinned but I aint beating on it to find out.

[icefire 10]

Canted, or my imagination?

Edited December 23, 2010 by icefire

[icefire 10]

view from top looking down...

[icefire 10]

looking down top rail forward...

 

[icefire 10]

view from the muzzle in..

[icefire 10]

and here's the muzzle brake i was threading on....

 

[Klassy Kalashnikov 1,393]

Yes, your front sight is canted.

 

However, it has likely been that way since you got it. The FSB has four dimples that are crushed into four dimples on the barrel at the factory using some sort of press. In order for you to rotate that FSB you would need an absolutely fucking incredible amount of torque that I highly doubt you applied by hand. I'm talking hundreds of ft-lbs of torque here.

 

Did you sight the rifle in when you got it? At what distance?

 

Either way, the best fix for a canted factory FSB is to remove the entire thing and install a new 24mm threaded block.

[icefire 10]

Yes, your front sight is canted.

 

However, it has likely been that way since you got it. The FSB has four dimples that are crushed into four dimples on the barrel at the factory using some sort of press. In order for you to rotate that FSB you would need an absolutely fucking incredible amount of torque that I highly doubt you applied by hand. I'm talking hundreds of ft-lbs of torque here.

 

Did you sight the rifle in when you got it? At what distance?

 

Either way, the best fix for a canted factory FSB is to remove the entire thing and install a new 24mm threaded block.

 

 

That's the strange thing. When I first got the gun, there was no visible cant to it, and a laser, placed into the groove on the top of the top rail, its dot would be dead center on the FSB. Now the lasers dot is off,to one side of the FSB so, I must have done it somehow...I had a big screwdriver thru the muzzle brake, and since I have a crush washer and a small piece of shroud still over th threads for more length, was torquing wih all my might to get that Tantal brake to index right. Right after that, I noticed the cant.... This is why i asked if I might have rotated the entire barrell...I did have it sighted in at 100 yards...and I know I can adjust windage to allow for this, but I cant live with it looking this crooked....

Edited December 23, 2010 by icefire

[Klassy Kalashnikov 1,393]

I'm really not big on lasers at all to check for canted sights. I use dental floss as a preliminary but will not pin a block or consider it OK until it's been zeroed on a range. It's very possible to zero a rifle with canted sights, just that the windage adjustment will be screwy. That would explain why your rifle zeroed at 100 yards but still has canted sights. My guess is that it's been canted all along and now that the brake is on it is more apparent to see as you have a better reference point at the muzzle.

 

Once again I really doubt you could have possibly twisted anything. The barrel is pressed into the front trunion and then pinned in place with a large pin, and the entire thing is made of hardened steel. And then of course the previously mentioned dimples on the FSB. Unless you went Incredible Hulk style berserk on it with a breaker bar or impact wrench or something, I highly doubt it's anything you did. To actually twist a barrel with hand tools would be pretty insane.

 

I'd recommend just replacing the front sight block with a 24mm one.

[dobravery 49]

The fact that the front sight post seems to be moved to one side suggests to me that it was canted at the factory. When the sights were set, they drifted the post slightly to compensate.

[stnls1911 55]

view from the muzzle in..

 

 

The fact that the front sight post seems to be moved to one side suggests to me that it was canted at the factory. When the sights were set, they drifted the post slightly to compensate.

It definitely is drifted to the left, good eye!!

[wdfaulk 0]

Ah one pic is worth a thousand words. Common on saigas its the typical ruskie leftwing slant.

[stnls1911 55]

Ah one pic is worth a thousand words. Common on saigas its the typical ruskie leftwing slant.

 

 

I checked mine yesterday, and sure enough it's canted too; with the post being drifted to the right (from shooters perspective.)

[Smw421 0]

Yeah, I too sort of had that experience. I never noticed my Saiga had a slight front sight post cant until after I had the gun for almost a year. It was my first rifle so I didn't know anything about sight cant or to check for it. I checked the link to the Ak Sight Adjustment tool, and some reviewers are saying that it fixed their cant. Is it possible to fix the cant with the tool?

 

Part of me doesn't mind the cant too much because I can hit a human sized target at 100 yards just fine, while another part of me hates an imperfection in the gun. I'd be pretty scared to break the front sight post. I have a muzzle break permanently attached to the barrel, so I don't know if I could get the front sight block off if it needed to be replaced.

[VaiFanatic90 360]

I'm so glad my '06 was pinned and not dimpled, it was on straighter than a 180 degree line

 

But now I've chopped it off and am putting on a bulgy AK-74 FSB, along with a stylish new gasblock, bahaha.

 

However, I'm looking at the old FSB right now, and the sight pin is perfectly in the dead center. I musta gotten lucky, I feel bad now for saying such awful things about it

[dobravery 49]

In the end, if she groups well, don't even sweat the cant. Save that fix for a rainy day.

[icefire 10]

In the end, if she groups well, don't even sweat the cant. Save that fix for a rainy day.

 

 

Thanks, I did get it a bit straighter with a dead blow hammer under a towel. I think I can live with it now...I just ordered an Aimpoint Micro t-1 clone for it, we'll see how that does...I also ordered the MI/US Palm top cover for my MI quad rail that will allow it to co witness....(I hope)...

 

I'll report back after all the new goodies get on it, thanks, all...