1842 Springfield shoots low

[ck76239]

Hello,
I recently had a chance to acquire an Armisport 1842 Springfield. It's practically brand new, I doubt it was ever fired.

I was excited to try it out at our regional Skirmish this weekend. It shoots a nice group, but its 10" low at 25 yards.

The front sight is barely a nub on the barrel band as it is. I can't really see myself filing that much off of the front sight to raise the point of impact. There is no rear right, so I was trying to line the front right up so it was just over the tang of the rifle, it seems pretty hard to do.

I'm shooting .678" balls with 60grains of FFFg.

Wondering if any of you have suggestions, tips, tricks, etc to raise the point of impact.

(I have a couple of Potsdams, much easier to aim, but the barrels are little rough and they don't group as nicely as this springfield does.)

Thanks!!!!
Chris

[John Holland]

Chris - As per N-SSA Rules you are not allowed to modify the sights on any smooth bore arm. The sights are required to be in the "as-issued" configuration. You have noted that the front sight is currently not much more than a "nub". If it has been filed down, it will have to be restored to the original configuration in order to be used in the N-SSA's competitive matches. Or, if it is in the original factory configuration, you will have to use an extremely fine sight picture, like just the very minimal tip of the blade.

If you would like me to take a look at it at the Dansville skirmish I will be more than happy to do so.

John Holland
Small Arms Staff Officer

[ck76239]

John,
Thanks, I will be at Dansville (as we are hosting), and will bring it with me for you to look at if you have time. I don't think it's been filed down, it looks pretty much like any other one I've seen, but I haven not tried to measure it.

I appreciate your expert advice!

Thanks!
Chris

[John Holland]

Chris - I will see you there, and of course I will have time for you!

[Carolina Reb]

Try sighting down the barrel so that you can see just a bit of each band stacked up, nose above middle above bottom. With some practice that should get you close.

[Harry Gaul]

Some skirmishers use the slot of the tang screw as a rear sight. Using the slot will get you left and right but up and down can be a problem. Use the bands for up and down and the slot of the tang screw for left and right and practice, practice, practice.

Harry in Pa.
forney's
03626

[Maillemaker]

Because the M1842 has no rear sight, shooting it requires a bit of a "knack". Basically, you need to raise the muzzle until you get the desired point of impact. Pay attention to how the middle barrel band "nests" under the front one. That is the "sight picture" you need to keep.

Eventually you will not even look at the barrel bands when you shoot. You will develop the muscle memory on how to hold the gun.

[John Bly]

It is general practice to bend the barrel to sight in a smoothbore since no sight alteration is allowed.

[John Westenberger]

I line up the tang with the small vertical portion of the rear barrel band, so I can just barely see a sliver of rear band over the tang. This has gotten me within an inch or two with any 1842 smoothbore I've played with. I came up with this after playing with my sight picture and firing a 3 or 4 shots to make sure it's not just the broken clock being right twice a day. Once you get it to where you want, grab a little notebook and doodle up what you're seeing, write the date, time, and lighting conditions. From what I understand, bending the barrel is more of a windage thing than anything else, unless it is an extreme case. You may also want to play with the powder charge, 60 grains of old Eynseford or Swiss 2f works well for me. Any more or less and I have to change sight picture because the velocity changes.

[Jim_Burgess_2078V]

My unsighted M1842 also shoots low and I have to hold at 11 o'clock. Your eye is essentially the rear sight. If you want to shoot higher you have to raise the rear sight. That means you may have to take a lower cheek weld and do so consistently for optimum results. I'm of the opinion there should be separate classes for sighted and unsighted smoothbores. It is not a level playing field.

Jim Burgess, 15th CVI

[ck76239]

Thank you all for the suggestions, I will try to think about how I'm holding and aiming, keeping the sight as low as possible. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Regards,
Chris