Front sight adjustment

[rotty]

Ok, Ive got both a SKS and SAR1, i need to adjust the front sight for windage, both seem to be pretty well locked in place, ive been trying to adjust it with the front sight adjustment tool that looks ike a c clamp, too no avail, ive actualy bent the tool, would it be safe to tap it over/loosen it up with a punch? I guess im just concerned of making it too loose.

[Packrat]

Soak the front sight in penetrating oil for a couple of days, then put a socket that is just bigger than the cross-pin on one side and a penny on the other side (one that sticks out most), then put it in a vise and break it loose. Then your tool (or a replacement) should work. Note: the tools I've used in the past few years have a hole that is really too small for the cross-pin. It will fit in the hole when you force it, but you have to use force to remove it. The first one I got was thicker, and had a larger hole.

For the elevating screw, I have no answer. My old tool was broken when I loaned it to a guy to adjust his sight--came back with the top broken. (He replaced it, so it was OK.) If you have a C-tool that is already broken, break the rest of it and buy a new one. There's no guarantee you'd actually move the screw by the time you broke the tool, though.

I bought an elevating pin tool which was a hardened steel rod (!) in a plastic (!!) handle, which broke off when I first used it. I goldberged a way to hold it in a socket, but it was a pain, though it would break loose any of them. I don't know what a machine shop would charge for a T-wrench that would turn the pin, but that's what you need. :sad_small

[footlongcuban]

To adjust the elevation just go to the hardware store and buy a bolt that fits snugly between the front site ears. Now just hacksaw or grind (dremel or angle grinder) your slot into it. I like grade 8 bolts for this as they are VERY hard but lessor grades will work fine. The orginals which are all Chinese (that I have seen) never work worth a darn and bend.

You can drill a hole through your bolt to allow a T-handle but I just grab it with pliers or a wrench.

[Banker Billy]

B-Square makes a REALLY nice AK/SKS front sight adjustment tool. Not like those cheap C-clamp tools. Elevation tool is a "T" handle, and for windage you have two "plates" that screw together on the front sight base. Then you can move the front sight base by the two large set screws in the plates. Can leave the plates attached to the sight base while you sight in the rifle and make the required adjustments. Got mine from Brownell's for about $18 (C & R holder discount). List price is somewhere around $21 I think. Used it for the fist time this weekend and it is VERY easy to use. Will never go back to the old C-clamp style adjustments tools again ! !

[Packrat]

Cuban, I've tried your method, with singular lack of success.
I didn't try hardened bolts; they mak make the difference.
But a sight post that gave way to the adjuster on a "C"-tool
easily broke a tool made from a bolt, even though I put a nut
on the bolt and screwed it down as far as I could to minimize
the amount of bolt that could flex. And I drilled a hole in
the end of the bolt for the sight post, so the bolt was complete
as far down as possible.

If you use the bolt method, used a bolt with a good amount of
hardening.

The "C"-tools that came in before Clinton's Chinese armaments
ban in April '94 were pretty good. The stuff that is coming in
now is undersized and improperly hardened. The military stuff
was good.