Interarms Virginian Dragoon Sight Problem

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Frank Maglin

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Howdy! I acquired a Virginian Dragoon Stainless in 44 magnum with adjustable target sights. Had it at the range yesterday and ran a box of 44 special 200 gr bullet cowboy loads through it. At 25 yards, my windage with the rear sight centered was off 11.5” to the right. I moved my rear sight as far left as it’ll go and was still about 11.5”.
Tried a box of Remington 44 mags with 180 gr bullet and had to raise my elevation slightly but windage was still about 10.5” off. Looks to me like I’ll need to remove and reattach my front sight, which won’t be easy as it appears to be brazed on. Any other suggestions? Thanks.
 

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No offense intended, but are you sure it's the sights? The group looks roughly centered in the second target with the black bull. The red dot target has the group off to the right but without a scale for size, it's hard to tell how much it's off. Are you shooting off a rest or sandbags? Standard advice here with this sort of issue is to have someone else shoot it from a solid rest and see what their groups look like.

Is it possible you are pulling the pistol to the right? Too much finger on the trigger? "Milking" the grip, i.e., squeezing with the whole hand instead of pressing the trigger? Is this your first single action revolver? The fact that the offset remained even after you moved the rear sight makes me suspicious. Again, these are just suggestions without knowing how much experience you have. If you shoot good groups with another handgun, then I'm off base. But I would look at all factors before I did major surgery on the front sight.

If you confirm that the revolver is in fact off to the right, it may be possible for a gunsmith to turn the barrel slightly to correct. Again, I'd investigate that option before removing the front sight.
 
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Thanks for your reply Coyote. No offense taken. My goal is to find the problem and fix it. All shots were taken from a rest. As for experience, I have never been off this much on windage with other revolvers. I’m going to try your suggestion having someone else fire it. I’m a lefty and would like to have an experienced righty give it a try. BTW, the target diameter is 6”, the paper is 24” across, and my POA is approximately 11” from my POI at 25 yards.
 
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Your gun doesn't seem to be grouping too well. Try using a larger diameter target, if you are in fact aiming at that small red sticker. Shooting at a target that's too small makes you hold and try too hard to maintain the sight picture. At 25 yards, a 6" dia. bull is better.

And you might try to getting rid of that rest. Unless its absolutely rock steady, you can probably shoot better without a rest.
 
It's possible to adjust windage on a revolver by turning the barrel slightly. Clamp the gun between two soft wood blocks in a vise, then clamp two more blocks on the barrel. Use a lot of resin on the barrel blocks and clamp them tightly. Use a wrench to turn the barrel slightly -- and remember the rule: When adjusting the rear sight, chase the target. When adjusting the front sight, chase the bullet.

But I'd do quite a bit more shooting with that gun before I did anything else. It is a truism that you cannot sight in a handgun from a rest -- you can get close, but you still have to make your final decisions based on shooting off-hand.
 
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