Enfield Bleg
Dear Internet,
This Saturday, I shot the Enfield rifle. It’s sights are horribly out of alignment. Started at 25 yards just to see. The bullet landed about 50 yards out and about 10 yards to the left. How do I sight this thing in?
Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.
Uncle Pays the Bills
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August 18th, 2008 at 10:28 am
So does that mean at 25 yds you didn’t even hit the paper? Just for prospective, how large was the sheet? I don’t know that you can correct that much out of whack if you didn’t heit the paper at 25 yds. Unless you where shooting at a 3×5 card? Sounds like the rear sight got whacked.
August 18th, 2008 at 10:31 am
With a big hammer?
August 18th, 2008 at 10:39 am
Paul, I mean at 25 yards, the round was landing at 50 yards and 10 yards to the left. Target was an 8.5×11 sheet of paper.
Greg, that’s what i was thinking. Just wanted to be sure.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:25 am
I agree with Greg. Sounds like a hammer got used for somehting. Either the front sight ramp or the rear leaf. Maybe check with Bore sighting tool or a straight edge to verify the rear notch and the front pin are in the same universe.
August 18th, 2008 at 11:58 am
With a big hammer?
No, that’s the Mosin-Nagant Universal Tool. 🙂
August 18th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Shooter error
August 18th, 2008 at 12:48 pm
heh. did the same thing no matter who shot it.
August 18th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
shooters error
August 18th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Mount a scope. Problem SOLVED! 🙂
August 18th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
The Enfield. There’s like nine models in general and a brazillian subset variations. Sounds like the front site is way off for starters. Bore site, adjust, shoot. Repeat.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
It may have a really bad barrel. Severe crown erosion could do this … the bullets may be tumbling as soon as they leave the barrel.
What model Enfield are we talking about here? And what ammo?
Paki ammo is bad. Indian is even worse … I’m not sure it can even be trusted for malf drills.
Slug the barrel. If it is .312, then you need a standard magazine and should be shooting .303, not .308.
August 18th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Sorry, forgot to add: You will need a brass punch and ball-peen hammer in Whitworth measure to properly adjust the front sight on the Enfield.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Start at the beginning, as they say.
Get the gun nestled in sandbags or otherwise firmly secured. Take out the bolt. Look straight down the barrel and compare that to where the sights are pointing.
To be missing by that much at such a short distance, you probably have GROSSLY misaligned sights (enough that it should be obvious from looking at the gun), a bent barrel, and/or a seriously screwed-up crown.
August 18th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Before consigning the weapon as a wall-hanger, I’d use Kentucky windage and elevation to get the rifle on paper at 25 yards. If you can fire a group of ANY decent size (say 2″), it’s probably NOT the barrel, but is limited to sight misalignment. OTOH, if the rifle WILL NOT group, it’s the barrel (but that could also mean the wrong caliber). Fire a round into several cardboard boxes full of packed newspapers, and recover the bullet (or into water if you can do it safely) and examine the lower part of the bullet. If there is good land contact evenly around the bullet, and no multiple land-marks, the barrel is probably the right size, no need for the complex slugging process.
These rifles are what? $165? Don’t spend too much money on it.
August 18th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Take a good look at the crown too, just in case. Hammer, file, cinder block, whatever you have on hand for fine adjustments.
Oh, and depending on the topography, you could put a bullet through the center of the bull’s eye and have it land 50, 100, or 1,000 yards from the target.
Here’s somehting that might actually be useful:
http://enfieldrifles.profusehost.net/ti14.htm
August 18th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Sorry to hear it, Unc. I never shot the rifle, so I didn’t know how it would shoot. I remember one dog ear next to the front sight was bent. It’s possible the front site is bent or the sight assembly is canted.
August 18th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
no big deal, les. I can probably get working.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
Don’t forget the simple way to boresight-assuming you’ve checked that it’s not a rifling problem but is a bent sight, pull the bolt and visually align the bore with where the sights are aimed. Use a rest and simply shift your head up and down, do whatever you do to the sight (hammer) and check again. No sense wasting ammo until sights are roughly lined up with the view down the bore.
August 19th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Oops, that was redundant redundant to TD. Sorry.