10/22 front sight canted to right

dburkhead

New member
I have a Ruger 10/22 and have just installed Tech-Sight brand sights on it. The rear sight screws into the rail mount holes at the rear of the receiver and that was no problem.

The front sight goes into a dovetail in what appears to be a band around the barrel, just behind the muzzle. The sight went into the dovetail with a nice, tight fit. However, when I when I tried to sight the rifle in, I noticed that the front sight "tower" was canted 5-10 degrees to the right. A closer check showed that it was tight and flush to the mount so it appears that it's either the barrel or this band that's canted. The factory rear sight appears to be at the correct alignment so my guess is the band/front scope mount.

Obviously, having the front sight tilted puts the end of the post out of position for lining up the sights.

Can this be fixed as a DIY project or does it need to be referred to a professional--or do I need to replace the barrel itself?
 
Was the original front sight canted? If not, it's entirely likely that the Tech Sight is defective and should be replaced. I have the Tech Sights on my 10/22, and when I had a problem, they made it right immediately.

All the best,
Rob
 
It turned out that the problem was that the whole barrel was canted. I hadn't noticed previously because both the front and rear sights were canted the same, small, amount.

When I broke the rifle down for cleaning, I took a careful look at where the V block clamped it into the receiver and it didn't look like it was quite even. I loosened the holding screws and gently twisted the barrel. It practically "clicked" into place. When I tightened it back down the sights were nicely aligned.

Of interest is that I bought the rifle new and hadn't loosened or had the barrel out of the receiver at any time. It looks like it came that way from the factory.
 
dburkhead wrote
It turned out that the problem was that the whole barrel was canted.

That's good that you found that out! I'm glad that nothing major is wrong, and now that your barrel is situated properly, I'm sure you're going to just love the Tech Sights - I know I do. They're just so much more precise than the factory sights, you'll wonder why the gun doesn't come with them.

All the best,
Rob
 
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