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Older (pre M 10) Smith & Wesson sights

riley p
I have a Pre M 10 S&W sn C 312516 with a 6 inch barrel and fixed sights that is a bit unusual (to me) in that it's sights are regulated / adjusted to as near perfection as any fixed sight hand gun that I have ever owned. Usually, fixed sight handguns shoot a bit, maybe 4~5 inches, to the left (for me) but not this one. As I look at the front sight on this particular gun I note that it is machined offset to the left by about 0.020" as compared to the center line of the "base" / bore. Not much, but it is perceptible to the naked eye. My question is, was this off-set done on purpose?? Or by chance could you custom order this from S&W back when this was made??
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4 comments

Date Votes
  • nmyers
    Post war Military & Police revolvers were made first with a round blade front sight, then a 1/10" serrated ramp, finally a 1/8" serrated ramp. It might help if you posted photos or a precise description.

    Since POI changes with ammo used, there would be no reason for the factory to offer an offset front sight. Those looking for precision adjustments would buy a model with adjustable sights.

    My guess is that a previous owner had the sight altered so that it shot point of aim for his favorite load.

    Neal
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  • beantownshootah
    I'm not aware of Smith sighting in guns for customers with custom loads. If you wanted to do that, they'd happily sell you a gun with adjustable sights.

    Either you were "lucky" enough to chance upon a gun that happens to have a sighting defect that exactly matches your sighting preference (which is actually quite possible), or as nmyers said, the gun was sighted in by someone else.

    Either way, seems like a "keeper" to me. Enjoy it!

    By the way, you say every gun you have shoots 4-5" to the left. Are you cross-eye dominant? (eg right handed, but left eye dominant?).

    I am, and I find that I often get windage problems in sighting across a gun held in my right hand with my left eye.
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  • Laredo Lefty
    As stated, the sight on that gun had to have been altered at some point after leaving the factory. You just lucked out that your ammo shoots right on with those sights.

    As long as you dont change ammo, you'll be fine. If you change to a different velocity ammo, you will likely loose the elevation accuracy.
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  • riley p
    Guys, thanks for your responses. This gun has a 1/10th serrated ramp, and when I got it, from the widow of a coworker, she gave me a red/green box of Remington 158 gr RN lead cartridges which had 12 missing. From looking at it, my guess is that, that was the "box of shells" that was bought with the gun. I'm more a "shooter" than a collector, and am not really familiar, as you folks are, with the collecting aspects of these things. I've never had much use for fixed sight handguns because, until this one, they never shot to point of aim. The finish on this thing is unaltered (I think) from new, so I don't think it was messed with after it left the factory. I'll try hard to get a picture of this sight if you're interested. It is obviously off-set a few thousands.
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