RG45-70S Front Sight

[BeerHunter]

Picked up my RG45-70S a few weeks ago and the workmanship seems pretty good. Action is smooth and no loading gate problems that others have reported. Unfortunately for several reasons I haven't been able to get out to the range with it yet but one thing I did notice when looking at everything closely is that the dovetailed front sight is not quite centered on the centerline of the bore. I assume they aren't fired at the factory, that this is normal, and the front sight may require some adjustment once I see where the rounds go. Is that correct?

[Ranch Dog]

I've pretty sure the fire them at the factory in Brazil before the are pickled for shipment. There is a chance that the sight was bumped, here is where a picture is worth a bunch of describing. I check everything with laser bore sighter before I first shoot it, even fixed sight handguns, but some don't have the equipment to do that. The main reason I do this with a new firearm is that I'm responsible for where the bullet goes and if I didn't put the sights on or at least check them, I have no idea where that bullet might really go. My second reason for checking the sights is why waste ammo aligning the sights?

Slap a orange dot target on a backstop at 25 yards. Pull the bolt out of the gun and using a sand bag rest while looking through the barrel, align the rifle with the target. Adjust the sights with a brass punch if necessary.

[AKShawn]

I have a different problem with mine, as far as I've read you're supposed to use a brass drift to make left/right adjustments, however I can move mine side to side by grabbing it. It doesn't take much at all to move it. Is there a way to tighten this?

[Tuco Ramirez]

I have a different problem with mine, as far as I've read you're supposed to use a brass drift to make left/right adjustments, however I can move mine side to side by grabbing it. It doesn't take much at all to move it. Is there a way to tighten this?

Houston we have a problem.....

This is not good. I have tighten the dovetail on other firearms in the past as a last resort. Hopefully it is just a defective front sight and not that the dovetail was cut to large. I replaced my front sight when I installed the Skinner sight system. I can drop my original front sight in the mail to you and see if that fixs the problem. It is does not IMO the only option left is tighten the dovetail to hold the sight. What I have done is tighten the dovetail using a hammer and punch. It was the only way I could see to hold the sight in place without adding some type of additional material to the sight itself.

If you want my original sight send me a PM and I will get it in the mail to you free of charge.

[AKShawn]

PM sent Tuco, a really appreciate your offer.

[BeerHunter]

Glad I don't have the "loose" sight problem. Hope it's just a problem with the sight and not the dovetail!

I took Ranch Dog's advice and removed the bolt to sight down the bore and compare with the sight. I need to do it again more preciesly before sending rounds down range but I can already tell that the sight is not aligned with the bore as I suspected just looking at the off center sight placement in the dovetail (see photo).

Rossi 45-70 Front Sight Alignment.jpg

Now I'm acquiring a brass punch to move it closer to CL and then hopefully be "on paper" for refining the alignment.

Thanks!

[Tuco Ramirez]

Now I'm acquiring a brass punch to move it closer to CL and then hopefully be "on paper" for refining the alignment.

I don't get to excited until the shooting starts. Adjust from there. What RD advised is a short cut so you don't have to fire as many shots. I on the other hand like off center sights because that means more

[Ranch Dog]

You can also do my recommendation indoors at a fairly close distance, 25'.

[BeerHunter]

Yes, I'm starting off in my unfinished basement with about 50 ft of clear space to a taget on the wall. That should get me close and then I'll reinstall the bolt and be off to the range for final adjustment.