Smith & Wesson 686 rear sight height? Mepro night sights disappointment.

[kawasakifreak77]

Hi all.

I got a set of Mepro night sights for my 686. I drifted the front sight in as soon as I got them & adjusted the rear (WAY UP) to compensate. Shot great! but the rear sight looked like poo cranked so far up.

Once I got the rear sight installed, I noticed it wobbles. I took it out to the range & had to crank the rear sight back up to get the gun to shoot anywhere close to where it should. It's just about at the end of it's adjustment.

I thought the sights being sold as a set would have the extra height built into the rear sight.

On top of that, the gun is no longer consistent. Resting on a bench, it will place a cylinder all over a 8" circle at 25 meters. I used to easily put 6 rounds, at that range in half that size offhand.

The glow of the sights is incredible. But the fit on the rear is pretty poor.

I've since misplaced my original rear sight blade. I think I'll just go with the Mepro front with a taller factory style rear blade. At least the front sight will glow (it's my nightstand gun) & I'll be able to get the gun to shoot right again.

Does anyone know what the factory 686-4 rear sight blade height is?

As close as I can measure, I need a sight blade .070 higher than factory.

Anyone else had problems with Mepro sights fitting correctly?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[gooseman80]

Did you ever get an answer to this?

 

[Bob Wright]

I reckon I'm missing something here: You took a revovler with perfectly good sights and removed them for glow-in-the-dark sights? And this gun is for use in the dark? And you're trying to sight it at 25 meters?

Night sights are not intended for accuracy. They are made only to locate your gun in the dark.

Bob Wright

 

[Salmoneye]

I thought the sights being sold as a set would have the extra height built into the rear sight.

The rear sight has nothing to do with it other than for minor adjustments...

The height of the front sight is the issue...Shortening the front sight does the same thing as raising the rear sight...

Your front is too tall for the POI of that gun with that particular ammo...

 

[carguychris]

I thought the sights being sold as a set would have the extra height built into the rear sight... Does anyone know what the factory 686-4 rear sight blade height is?

IIRC there are 4 different blade heights, depending on the barrel length and front sight type. Call S&W customer service and they should be able to tell you which one your gun would normally use.

Does your gun have a 4", 6", or 8-3/8" barrel, and what ammo are you using? My suspicion is that the Mepro sight set is calibrated for a 2-1/2" or 3" snubby firing full-power Magnums with fairly heavy bullets. The long-barrel 686's are VERY muzzle-heavy and will exhibit a LOT less muzzle rise than a snubby, particularly using low-powered .38Spl practice loads. This may result in low hits on the target.

On top of that, the gun is no longer consistent. Resting on a bench, it will place a cylinder all over a 8" circle at 25 meters. I used to easily put 6 rounds, at that range in half that size offhand.

Night sights are not intended for accuracy. They are made only to locate your gun in the dark.

+1 Bob.

Here's the key. Kawasakifreak77- when you were attempting to sight in the gun, were you indexing the sights from the glowing dots, or from the actual tops of the sights themselves, as you would with traditional all-black sights? The reason I ask is that 3-dot sights are NOT intended for high precision; they're intended for fast acquisition during defensive use, i.e. rapid-fire into a pie-plate size area inside 12yds. The trick to high precision at longer ranges with 3-dot sights is to IGNORE the dots. However, like many other aspects of pistol shooting, this is easier said than done. If you're not accustomed to 3-dot sights, this may be the issue.