Sight Offset Question

[gunboat57]

I have a sporterized 1898 Krag. The barrel is now 24" long and the front sight is dovetailed in. The front sight appears to be the regular military base and blade. The front sight is directly at the 12 o'clock position (within a few thousandths) as measured using a square and calipers and using the underside of the magazine as a reference.

However, the rear sight (model 1901) is mounted almost .020" to the left of center. It's really noticeable when the ladder is raised and it leans off to the left.

Is this normal? I'd expect the rear sight base to be mounted right at the 12 o'clock position like the front sight. Can someone with a full military condition rifle raise their sight leaf and see if it leans to the left relative to the front sight?

[butlersrangers]

gunboat57: Krag front and rear sights should be dead nuts 12 O'clock. Check the breech end of your barrel and see if the notch for the tip of the extractor is a bit left of 12 O'clock position.

[gunboat57]

The right side of the notch for the extractor in the receiver lines up exactly with the right side of the notch in the barrel. But the left side of the notch in the receiver is slightly to the right of the left side of the notch in the barrel. I can feel the "step" when I use a bent paper clip.

In other words, the barrel could be VERY slightly torqued in too far.

Should I look for a witness mark somewhere that will verify the barrel isn't quite clocked right?

[gunboat57]

After doing more measureing it looks like my dovetailed front sight is leaning too far to the right so the front and rear sights look skewed from each other and the windage is off.

I can't redo the dovetail so I'm going to replace the front sight with a band type so I can get everything lined up.

Should I use the front sight from a 1903 or from a 1903A3 Springfield? It seems like a lot of early sporters used those front sights. I think either one will be a perfect fit on my .643" diameter barrel but I don't know if one would be better than the other.

[butlersrangers]

gunboat57: Krag barrels and receivers have an index mark. It is viewable (when the barreled action is out of the stock) on the right side at about 3 O'clock. You should see a fine line on the face of the receiver ring and this should match a fine line on the barrel. Also, the flat upper surface of the Krag extractor serves as a good reference point to tell if sights are in 12 O'clock position.

[gunboat57]

OK, I found the index marks right where you said. They were hard to see because the barrel/receiver had been re-blued. The marks are perfectly lined up. So I guess the rear sight being a little to one side was within tolerance.

But I think whoever cut the dovetail for the front sight didn't get it aligned with the rear sight so I'll get either a 1903 or a 1903A3 front sight.

Thanks for the helpful replies!

[Dick Hosmer]

SA's workmanship was usually "perfect", and I would have trusted the indices and the rear sight way ahead of some unknown's work on a new front sight prep. By any chance have you checked the rear sight to be sure it has not been buggered, bent, is sitting up on a burr, or some crud on one side, not properly seated, etc?

[gunboat57]

Dick, the rear sight is in near perfect condition, threaded holes are un-messed-with. I'll check for burrs, crud, etc. but I removed the rear sight, put the screws back in the holes, and found the screws were also off center by .015". So, it's the threaded holes themselves, not the rear sight.

But you know, I'm not sure what to use for a reference surface to see if the rear sight is off. I was using the rear underside of the magazine box as a horizontal reference. Maybe I should use the extractor notch in the receiver to find the centerline?

I'll try to post a couple pictures soon.

In any case, when I get the new front sight I'll align it with the rear sight.

[madsenshooter]

Does your barrel have a P proofmark? Reason I ask is Numrich has sold some Krag barrels in the past that had alignment problems. If yours has the proofmark, then that's not the case.

[gunboat57]

There is a single "P" lying on its left side stamped on the left side of the barrel just forward of the receiver. Is that the P proofmark?