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M1 Garand Sight Help

platypusman
Hello. I was checking out the site and forums and stumbled upon this area. I was wondering if anyone could give me a hand?

Well, I recently got an M1 service rifle and was having a "Garand" old time (yeah I know stupid pun), when I got the bright idea of adjusting the sights. Then I had an even brighter idea to follow an internet manual to adjust them to the "battle setting". So here I am, I can't even hit a pizza box at 50 yards [:(] .

Can anyone out there help me to restore my sights to a setting where I can hit a target accurately between 25-100 yards? Maybe even give me some advice of how to adjust the sites for greater distance? Also, should I aim with the top of the front blade or what?

Thanks in advance.
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Comments

12 comments

Date Votes
  • gottashoot
    Platypusman, I know your pain. I believe the easiest way to adjust your sights is to lower the rear sight all the way down and adjust the windage to center the mark on the sight base and the sight. This should put you on the paper at 50 yds. Shoot a 3 round group and see where you are hitting. When you get it sighted in for 50 move the target back to 100yds and sight in again. Then you should loosten the lock bar ( or screw on later sights) on elevation knob and rotate the knob without mooving the adjustment on the sight to where the 0 is aligned with the hash mark on the sight base. tighten the screw and you should be good. This zero will put you dead on at 100 and by adjusting the knob to the desired yardage (numbers on the knob) should allow for drop. That's basically what I did for my Garand and everything has been peachy. If all else fails get it bore sighted at a gun shop.
    Mark
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  • platypusman
    Well GS, you seem to know what you're talking about. So I'm going to give it a shot...or 200. Should I use a tripod mount and a butt rest while sighting it in?

    Thanks again
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  • Tailgunner1954
    GS has you fairly well covered.
    BTW, All the way down and than UP 9 clicks should be fairly close to a 200yd (target) zero and 1-2" high at 100yd, with a 6o'clock hold (the black sitting on top of the front sight, and the bullets centered on the target). Unless your good at prone, use a sandbag under the front of the stock (not the forend/handguard) and a smaller bag under the buttstock.

    Whittemore
    Some guys like a mag full of lead, I still prefer one round to the head.
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  • bobski
    sorry to blow all of the ideas out of the water, but heres the correct way to do it. turn your rear sight all the way down and center the windage dial to center line. fire. see where the bullet is. loosen the front sight and adjust it until the bullet is on center. dont worry about elevation yet. just get it straight lined. the secret to the adjustment is in the front site. now with battlesight zero at 100yds(which is same for 25yds), which is down all the way, fire and see where the bullet goes. is the bullet low? file down the front sight until you hit the bulleye. is it high? replace the front sight and file down it into spec. keep in mind, most battle guns were fitted to battlesight zero. this means to get long shots over 100yds, all they had to do is crank it up. if your original sight came with the original gun, odds are, once you get centerline, it should hit the target bottomed out. if not, someone replaced the front sight and never did this correct drill. try it.

    former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, former navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction.
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  • nmyers
    I have to disagree with bobski on this one; I don't think that the front sight of an M1 should ever be filed down.

    platy, I suggest that you buy either "U.S Rifle, Caliber .30, M1" from the Director of Civilian Marksmanship, or "The M1 Garand: OWNER'S GUIDE" by Scott A. Duff. Both have instructions for zeroing the sights without damaging the rifle.

    Neal
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  • mrmike08075
    CHAMPIONS CHOICE sells a direct, no alterations, drop in globe match target front sight for the M-1 GARAND RIFLE. its the same front sight you see on match target smallbore rifles (ANSHUTZ, WALTHER, FIENWERKBAU). you can change the appature inserts, and swap the original front sight back on ASAP. you will tighten your groups immediatly. i bought one, and use it all the time.
    best regards, mike.

    What other dungeon is so dark as ones own heart, what jailer so inexorable as ones own mind.
    contact me at the shop at waltsgun@aol.com best regards, mike.
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  • bobski
    the reason why the front sight is the primary adjustment is because not all bbls are perfectly fitted to the receivers. you can adjust a rear sight so much just to get it centered, that if the day ever comes that you need to make a windage or elevation adjustment on a windy day, it is possible to go all the way left, right, or up and not achieve zero. by correcting the error in bbl to receiver mating, at least you can establish a zero closer to the factory tick marks. if i remember correctly, 3 clicks up should get you 200yds with battle sights. 6 is the average for NM sights, (at least mine is anyway.) so lets think it out. you have left and right perfect by sliding the front site left or right and you have your sights all the way down and youre still shooting low. what else can you do besides file the front blade? follow me? with your sights all the way down and filed to battle zero(100yds) you should have approx 30 clicks up before you run out. that gives you a good spread to 600yds. dont hold me to the click count, but you get the idea. once you get all your knobs perfect, mark them with red nail polish so you can find the marks fast. i shoot 6 oclock hold with the top of the front blade touching the bottom of the bull.

    former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, former navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction.
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  • perry shooter
    I agree with BOBSKI you would never have a need to have a bullet hit low at 1000 inches or 25 yds. so if the front sight is correct to obtain this zero with rear sight all the way down you can take full advanage of the adjustments of the rear sight to zero at the longest distance possible quote:"PRAISE THE HARDBALL GUN"
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  • Sunray
    "...the front sight is the primary adjustment..." Nonsense. The rear sights on the Garand are completely adjustable for both elevation and windage.
    platypusman, turn the rear sight down to the bottom, then up 8 clicks. That should put you on paper at 100 yards(forget 25 yards) depending on the ammo you're using. Good ammo is critical. The CMP sells good ammo for a reasonable price. Jump through the hoops and shoot the matches. They're fun. You'll meet a great bunch of helpful people too.
    Then go here for a real on-line M-1 Rifle manual. Scroll down.
    http://www.biggerhammer.net/manuals/
    And buy a copy of Hatcher's Book of the Garand and Hatcher's Notebook. Most gun shops or Amazon.
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  • bobski
    youre not listening. he wants to shoot 25yds. you guys are giving advice for a gun that has been set up properly. platypusman...email me. i'll bank my reputation on this one.

    former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, former navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction.
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  • beachmaster73
    Sunray....you completely misunderstood bobski's comment. With a rifle that is completely out of alignment the rude adjustment of the front sight provides instant accuracy that is not at the expense of your rear sight clicks. Also etch or scratch a line in the metal on the rifle at the base of the front sight...that way when and if your front sight loosens during shooting you can reestablish near zero with far less effort. And as far as grinding on the blade of the front sight...hey if it helps your shooting go for it...I had Don McCoy grind mine so I could shoot 200 yards with 6 up instead of 9,10, or 11 up. McCoy didn't even blink at the request.

    Finally, realizing that bobski doesn't need any defense from me, I would add that he did spend much of his life keeping the weapons of SDVT 2 in tip top accuracy, He was captain of the perennial Navy East Coast Champion Rifle and Pistol Team fron SDVT 2. He is a Double Distinquished shooter.....and that's not even with a shotgun. Keeping prima donna SEALs happy with the accuracy of their weapons can be a full time job even for a master armourer like bobski....other than that he can be a real a--hole...he never let me steal brass from in front of the line...he's completely unreasonable to us brass hogs!!!!Beach
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  • bobski
    with the advent of rattle battle shooting events, grinding sites as per the suggestion to get a battle zero is more common than ever. when you charge towards the 100yd line, you dont want to have to grope with adjustments. its just...slam down, center, and shoot perfect zero. much like a street fight. heck...they dont even use iron sights anymore...its all dot optics. ha...like to see them shoot when the batteries go dead.[:0] hey....you....put that brass back! you west coast shooters are all the same.[}:)]

    former air operations officer SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team 2. former navy skeet team, former navy rifle/pistol team member. co-owner skeetmaster tubes inc.. owner/operator professional shooting instruction.
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