M1 carbine shooting too high

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  • lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    I think I know the answer, but I have an M1 carbine that I just swapped the pic rail off it and put a reproduction kent peep sight on it. To the best of my knowledge they conform to GI issue rear sight dimensions.

    Anyway, at 75yds it was about 6 inches high and around 3 inches high at 100.

    And yes, with rough .30 carbine BCs I cant even figure out what that means it is zeroed for. Around 175yds seems to be the closest, but it still shouldn’t add that high.

    With the 10-20mph gusts today it make it awfully hard to get good groups, so it is possible center group was more like 4” or so high at 75yds which makes the 2 inches or so high make a little more sense at 100yds.

    Anyway, adding height to the front sight is the only way to bring it down, isn’t it?

    Should I just get a new old stock front sight and then file it to the proper zero? I need a front sight removal and installation tool to do that an M1 carbine?

    Thanks.
     

    Art3

    Eqinsu Ocha
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 30, 2015
    13,267
    Harford County
    I get this backwards at times but think you can file the front sight to bring it down.

    this is one of those times...:o Move the REAR sight where you need to move the POI. The FRONT sight is opposite.

    An easy way to remember is that is why adjustments are on the rear.
     

    Art3

    Eqinsu Ocha
    MDS Supporter
    Jan 30, 2015
    13,267
    Harford County
    Told ya I got it backwards..............
    Just thought about it and came back to correct it.

    :D I don't usually try to be "that guy" to jump right in and nitpick, but I was afraid somebody might come away with the wrong info...and potentially damage their firearm.


    As to helping the OP, it sounds like he's got the WWII style sight...which I don't know much about, :o ...other than the later adjustable ones simplify this problem. :innocent0
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    Yeah, sorry a kensight adjustable with 100, 150, 200, 250 and 300 settings. 100 seems to be more like a 150 hard zero. That said, based on the thread you linked, it might be actually military zeroed if the goal was to aim at the belt buckle and hit in the chest for a 100yds.

    I’d still really like to bring it down a little, but no idea how I could modify the rear sight to lower that any. I’ll have to go do some poking to figure out what height needs to be added. I think it is in the 3-4 hundredths of an inch range to bring it down ~4 inches at 100yds. If it is a really small amount I may be able to file off some of the underside of the kensight ramp. That won’t change the further back positions much, but when all the way forward(at 100) it’ll bring it down a little I think.
     

    Threeband

    The M1 Does My Talking
    MDS Supporter
    Dec 30, 2006
    25,232
    Carroll County
    The sights on many Carbines were filed down by armorers in order to adjust them long, long ago. Then sights got replaced, barrels got replaced, stocks got replaced, continental drift occurred... plus ça change, plus ça change. So this is normal.

    Replacing the sight is a hazel, but is one option.

    Melnic, a user on this forum, has made clever raised sights for other rifles, using a 3d printer. These have a base ring that slips over the barrel and I believe are held by a set screw. They are purely for range use. He posted a picture of one within the past few weeks, which might be revealed by a diligent search.

    Frankly, 2 or three inches high at 100 sounds ideal for me. It would allow for a 6 o'clock hold on the black.
     

    lazarus

    Ultimate Member
    Jun 23, 2015
    13,678
    The sights on many Carbines were filed down by armorers in order to adjust them long, long ago. Then sights got replaced, barrels got replaced, stocks got replaced, continental drift occurred... plus ça change, plus ça change. So this is normal.

    Replacing the sight is a hazel, but is one option.

    Melnic, a user on this forum, has made clever raised sights for other rifles, using a 3d printer. These have a base ring that slips over the barrel and I believe are held by a set screw. They are purely for range use. He posted a picture of one within the past few weeks, which might be revealed by a diligent search.

    Frankly, 2 or three inches high at 100 sounds ideal for me. It would allow for a 6 o'clock hold on the black.

    Yeah, I need another trip back with PPU, which is mostly what I’ll be feeding my carbine moving forward (unless or until I hand load). PPU seems to actually be full power and not super dirty, also regularly can be found for under $20 a box on sale or with discounts. That and on a day when I am not dealing with 20mph wind gusts. I hadn’t realized how much drift that results in...but pulling up a ballistic calculator and roughly what .30 carbine is for BC, I am getting as much as 4 inches of drift at 100yds. Which would help explain my groups at 75 and 100yds (also why I couldn’t get my AR-15 with match ammo, which it SHOULD be grouping at roughly 1MOA was grouping more like 2 MOA with a lot of horizontal spread).

    I may just live with it. I was shooting at IWLA and it is a fair amount of down hill to the 75yd target (and 50), but the 100 is about level with the benches. So that may be exacerbating how much the sight is off at 75yds, especially with a slower round like 30 carbine.

    I know 200yds is a gnat’s chance in a hurricane for reliable hits, but at some point maybe I’ll schlep it over to happen baker and try it at 200 with the sight set to 150 and to 200 just to see accuracy and if I can get semi-reliable hits. I have a hard time imagining I’ll ever be in a gunfight and even harder that’d I’d be bringing an M1 carbine to said gunfight, but it would be nice if the sight could at least get on paper at 200 reliably with the sight set to either 150 or 200.
     

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