You know the routine. Gun shoots to the right, or left. I have heard how the barrel can be tweaked to correct this but one thing I have never seen mentioned is, doesn't this throw off the ejector tube alignment? It would appear that afterwards the slot that accepts the nut would be in the wrong place. This may be something dumb on my part or somebody would have raised this question. Any replies appreciated.
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Tweaking the SAA Barrel
- Thread starter ulmer
- Start date
hoghunting
New member
You shouldn't have to turn the barrel more than a few thousandths so the alignment shouldn't be a problem. Check this month's Guns Magazine.
Magazine article or not, I strongly recommend that procedure not be followed with a Colt or similar thin frame revolver. If the barrel is tight, you can bend that frame quicker than you can say "scrap iron." The only right way is with a special frame wrench shaped to the SAA frame; these usually are found only at the factory or in shops that specialize in that gun.
Yes, "tweaking" can throw the alignment off, and the ejector rod housing won't fit right; that is pretty common. IMHO, the best practice is to just use "Kentucky" windage.
Jim
Yes, "tweaking" can throw the alignment off, and the ejector rod housing won't fit right; that is pretty common. IMHO, the best practice is to just use "Kentucky" windage.
Jim
It depends, too, on how far off is "off"? In the early 80's I had a Charter Bulldog .44 that grouped about 8 inches wide and about a foot low and left at 25 yards when I got it. This was not uncommon in the Charters. I returned it to the factory with an accuracy complaint and they actually replaced the frame.
It turns out the factory had pre-bent the original frame, no doubt hoping to save me time I might otherwise have spent "tweaking". The returned gun shot groups 1.5" wide and about 2" left at 25 yards, but vertically on point with 240 grain lead bullets over 4 grains of Bullseye. I corrected the windage by widening the rear sight frame notch to the right with a file and some cold blue. Not a lot of cutting was required with that short 3" barrel, and I wanted the notch a little wider for my vision anyway. So, yeah, you can see the notch is no longer quite perfectly centered in the frame if you look closely, but so what? This may work for small horizontal errors on the Colt design, too?
By the way, if you get one of the barrel spud type laser bore sighting tools, you'll find it useful for checking a fixed sight pistol you are thinking of buying. Just pop it in and see how far off the windage looks? Elevation will likely be low because the sights are set in anticipation of some muzzle rise before the bullet escapes, but windage should be pretty good. I roughed in the scope on a rifle with that one I linked to at Cabelas, and it was only off about 1/2" at the 25 yard indoor range I used to check it. Close enough to dead-on for a pistol.
Nick
It turns out the factory had pre-bent the original frame, no doubt hoping to save me time I might otherwise have spent "tweaking". The returned gun shot groups 1.5" wide and about 2" left at 25 yards, but vertically on point with 240 grain lead bullets over 4 grains of Bullseye. I corrected the windage by widening the rear sight frame notch to the right with a file and some cold blue. Not a lot of cutting was required with that short 3" barrel, and I wanted the notch a little wider for my vision anyway. So, yeah, you can see the notch is no longer quite perfectly centered in the frame if you look closely, but so what? This may work for small horizontal errors on the Colt design, too?
By the way, if you get one of the barrel spud type laser bore sighting tools, you'll find it useful for checking a fixed sight pistol you are thinking of buying. Just pop it in and see how far off the windage looks? Elevation will likely be low because the sights are set in anticipation of some muzzle rise before the bullet escapes, but windage should be pretty good. I roughed in the scope on a rifle with that one I linked to at Cabelas, and it was only off about 1/2" at the 25 yard indoor range I used to check it. Close enough to dead-on for a pistol.
Nick
GhostRider
Inactive
Bob James in Phoenix, Az (Colt SAA specialist) does this all the time, among many other things on Colts. He's located @ Legendary Guns in Phx. You won't be sorry. GR
It looks to me like, all things considered, you need to replace the barrel of an SAA that shoots off on windage. You can look down the muzzle and see, in my case, that a considerable turn is needed, that will certainly throw the ejector tube off. A new barrel, slotted in the right place, should do the trick.