All,

Trying to sight in my 1894CBC nad I have 2 issues I need help with.

1. I adjusted the elevator and moved the white diamond insert up to get the round to the right height (I did the combination so that the ear site sits in the center of the elevator)...problem now is when I fire a "hot" round the elevator jumps to the right or left and gets all messed up! I'm thinking I may have just bent the long site piece a little but can I just bend it back down to put more pressure on the elevator?

2. I'm at the right height but the round is 3 - 5 inches to the right. The diamond insert only moves up and down...how do I get this gun to sight in a little "left"?

Thanks for any help!

That rear sight is dovetailed to thr barrel...driving the sight base dovetail a bit to the left should bring the groups to the left.

How much? hard to say...not a lot...probably better to take a well sharpened pencil and make temp. lines of the barrel to help seeh how much you drift the sight and enable you to drift it a more-or-less measured amount. Could put doen a bit of masking tape and mark off lines on the tape to make it easier to see...once "on" take the lined tape off.

Not sure from your description how the sight "jumps"...is the whole sight moving side to side? Is the elevator (the little step wedge thing you slide under the rear sight) leaning to the right or left after each shot (i9f it is, that's going to shcnage eleavation, but not actually drift the rear sight left or right)?

On the jumping elevator, say I have the buckhorn sitting on the middle notch of the elevator and the elevator itself cetered across the width of the barrel, everything lined up nice and pretty - then I squeeze of a shot and look down at the sight and the buckhorn is just holding the elevator on the the barrel, the thing has moved right off the side of the barrel almost. I was thinking that maybe I had bent the arm that streches from the dovetailed point to the buckhorn when I was making adjustments to the elevator and maybe there isn't sufficient downward pressure on the elevator anymore to hold it in place...but not sure if I should just bend that arm stretching from the dovetail to the buckhorn "down" a little at the buckhorn to see if it again applies sufficient pressure.

Thanks for the tip on the dovetail! I didn't even think of that.

On the jumping elevator, say I have the buckhorn sitting on the middle notch of the elevator and the elevator itself cetered across the width of the barrel, everything lined up nice and pretty - then I squeeze of a shot and look down at the sight and the buckhorn is just holding the elevator on the the barrel, the thing has moved right off the side of the barrel almost. I was thinking that maybe I had bent the arm that streches from the dovetailed point to the buckhorn when I was making adjustments to the elevator and maybe there isn't sufficient downward pressure on the elevator anymore to hold it in place...but not sure if I should just bend that arm stretching from the dovetail to the buckhorn "down" a little at the buckhorn to see if it again applies sufficient pressure.

Thanks for the tip on the dovetail! I didn't even think of that.

Sounds like that signt base dovetail is too loose for the barrel's dovetail slot...that kind of thing happens when the sight has been moved back and forth often or when they just screw up maing the slot.

Four fixes...call them the good, bad, ugly, and useful.

Good fix is to silver solder a shim on the bottom of the sight's dovetail...making it a good bit tighter...stoning the shim until the sight barely starts in the slot, and driving it in place. This one will assure the sight is tight and the shim is hidden in the dovetail.


"Bad" fix is to tighten the dovetail by raising a few burrs on the bottom of the dovetail with a sharp center punch. Don't "wang" on it like you're building the Brooklyn Bridge, just raise a few little burrs, making the sight tight in the dovetail. While it will be hidden by the sight, those burrs will be visible when the sight is taken out and if you tend to move the sight back and forth, the fix won't last long. Much prefered if the sight's dovetail is soft enough is to raise the burrs on the bottom of the sight's dovetail...most aren't soft enough to do this...if it is possible, always try to work on teh cheap part (the sight) rather than the expensive part (the barrel).

"Ugly" fix is to peen the edges of the dovetail..PLEASE DON'T...willtighten it, but it is higly visible and looks ugly...kind of screams, "Bubba...the ham-handed gun owner."

The "useful" solution is to have the sight's dovetail base drilled and tapped for a set screw. With it push-loose (as it is now), can move it into whatever position you want, then tighten the set screw to keep it there. Gives you an easy way to sight it, makes use of the loose dovetail, and looks fine. HOWEVER...thsoe dovetail blocks on the sight are usually hard, and drilling and tapping that hole may be better done by someone not likely to get fustrated and ruin the job.

Just ordered a Marble tang sight for my rifle...should fix my issue and give me the additional accuracy I'd like. My eyes are great but I just don't think I'll get the hang of the buckhorn site. Question now is do I have to remove the rear sight to use the tang sight...If I do I think I'll call Marble back and get a folding flat top for the rear.

Just ordered a Marble tang sight for my rifle...should fix my issue and give me the additional accuracy I'd like. My eyes are great but I just don't think I'll get the hang of the buckhorn site. Question now is do I have to remove the rear sight to use the tang sight...If I do I think I'll call Marble back and get a folding flat top for the rear.

Remove the elevator and di\rive the slight out of it's dovetail (from left to right). Will leave the dovetail, so order a dove-tail blank...it's a filler for the slot.

Thanks ribbonstone.