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Adjustable Sights for pt 1911

HLOUIE2
I bought a PT 1911 a few month ago and after some initial problems it is shooting fine except for one thing. It shoots about 8 inches low at 10 yds. This seems to be a common problem with the pt 1911.

I have been waiting for someone to make adjustable sights for it. It isn't possible to file the front sight---there isn't enought of it. Anyone know of adjustable sights for these pistols or possibly a higher rear sight. Hlouie2
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5 comments

Date Votes
  • rufe-snow
    Likely it has metric dimensions, being made in Brazil. First I would check with Taurus to see if they have any higher rear sights available.

    If not measure the dove tail at it's widest dimension. Contact one of the customer service reps at Brownells, and see if they carry any rear sights with dovetails that will fit.
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  • beantownshootah
    This question has come up before.

    In a word, the rear sight dovetail on the Taurus 1911 is non-standard and proprietary, and like you, a lot of shooters find the gun shooting too low.

    8 inches low at 10 yards is beyond ridiculous, by the way.

    I'd say the FIRST thing to do is to make sure you're using the sights correctly. The Heine "straight eight" sight is a pretty unusual design, and the non-standard sight picture may be throwing off your point of impact. (Personally, I couldn't stand a vertical dot arrangement like that).

    You might simply try blacking them out and using a conventional sight picture to see if that helps.

    If adjusting the way you sight the gun doesn't fix this, and with the caveat that the cure may be worse than the disease, you might contact Taurus to see if they can help here. (Maybe they have a newer better design sight available).

    There are a few companies that make replacement sights for the Taurus now, though I don't know how well they address this sighting problem.

    Novak will customize their sights or your gun to get them to work with any given load, but you'll have to pay for the privilege and you may have to send them your gun.

    http://www.novaksights.com/products/sights/models/taurus1911.html

    Here's the Heine ones; I think they're the same as the stock Taurus ones, just with a three-dot picture. If the issue is just the dots, this may help a lot:

    http://www.botachtactical.com/he41heta19sl.html

    And here is one from high-viz:
    http://www.amazon.com/HiViz-Taurus-Fiber-Optic-Sight/dp/B002APVTHG

    You may be able to have a good gunsmith modify the rear sight dovetail to accept a more standard adjustable sight; that I do not know. There also probably are things that can be done to the rear sight (eg recutting the dovetail and/or shimming it) that might help too. Obviously, I'd consider these sorts of modifications to be "last resorts".

    Edit: I didn't want to turn this into a "bash Taurus" thread, but yeah. . .leave it to Taurus to be the only maker in the highly crowded 1911 market to *deliberately* use non-standard sights, and then to GET THEM WRONG.

    At one point I was actually looking at the Taurus 1911s, figuring the feature/price ratio looked good, and "how bad could any established gunmaker screw up a 100 year old design at this point", but when I heard about the sight issue. . ."fuhgeddaboutit". If Taurus won't make this right, and you figure it might take $100 (or more) to fix this problem, ask yourself at that point if its really worth keeping the gun.

    If you were to sink $100 worth of gunsmithing into a new $600 Taurus you'd still have a $500 (used) gun.
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  • nononsense
    HLOUIE2,

    quote:It shoots about 8 inches low at 10 yds. This seems to be a common problem with the pt 1911.

    Eight inches at 10 yards is ridiculous.

    It seems to me that if this is really "a common problem" then Taurus should know about it and stand behind their product.

    If this is truly the case and you can verify that you are not the problem then the best suggestion is to call or e-mail Taurus with your complaint. They should look at the gun at the very least (on their dime) then make the proper correction for you to be able to shoot it as long as you have that capability.

    Dick Heinie is a reputable pistolsmith and a manufacturer of fine products for the pistol lover. However, I have always railed against proprietary sights on any firearm since it's obvious that none of us see exactly the same way. If for some unknown reason no one wants to help with this, I suggest going to a pistolsmith capable of redoing the dovetail and have the slide fitted for the best angle to use sights which you can adjust and shoot properly.

    Best.
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  • perry shooter
    I agree with NONONSENSE anyone that builds a CLONE 1911 that then puts proprietary dove tail for rear sight . SUCK[:(!][V][:(] Yes non standard parts have a place in building custom guns . BUT an oversize dove tail cut in a slide is IMHO an attemp to prevent you from using other parts
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  • navc130
    That is a large impact error. It COULD BE that the barrel is not in the proper plane to the sights due to: (1) the bushing hole in the slide is not drilled to specs, (2) the barrel bushing is out of specs. Both conditions forcing the muzzle down. Correction would be to relieve the top of the bushing hole in the slide; relieve the barrel bushing at the top, and fill in bottom of the holes, thereby raising the muzzle. With a new gun, it would be easier to return it to the manufacturer for warranty repair.
    The opposite could also be true, the breech end of the barrel may be too high, when locked in battery, causing the muzzle to be pointed down. This too COULD BE caused by out-of-specs manufacturing of the barrel, or, more likely the slide.
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