AK front sight: canted or build differences

**Kb! Bob** · November 29th, 2009, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by PA Rifleman

Sorry, not trying to sound pedantic. I'm trying to understand whether this is a garden variety AK sight-in, or whether there's a base alignment issue. If so, this needs to be corrected first.

Which image (below) best represents your front sight base position?

The misaligned base (left photo, below) is off 6 degrees, which is very noticeable. Right image is properly aligned.

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If you successfully sighted it in, then you're done. Front sight base "cant" (misalignment) causes windage errors when the post height is changed, and elevation errors when windage is changed. A dead give-away is when the front sight post is pushed over excessively to one side.

We won't know without actually seeing your front sight. Your first post:

hints that you don't have a sight base alignment issue.

Is the sight base tilted? Compare to the two photos above. Better yet, why don't you post a similar photo of your rifle?

What I bolded, I guess, is my question. The rifle is indeed sighted in properly, making good hits on the target. The issue being that, in order to do that, the windage post needed adjustment.

**TonyF** · November 29th, 2009, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by Kb! Bob

What I bolded, I guess, is my question. The rifle is indeed sighted in properly, making good hits on the target. The issue being that, in order to do that, the windage post needed adjustment.

We had two INS agents in one of our carbine classes a couple of years ago and one of them couldn't get his rifle zeroed with the large aperture. We had him switch to the small aperture and the change was dramatic.

Even with correction, individual eyesight is very "individual".

There may also be an issue with the angle of the sunlight on the front sight. Was is a sunny day? If so, try shooting on an overcast day or rig something up to provide some shade.

**gunsrfun1** · November 29th, 2009, 11:31 PM

If it shoots straight and you're happy with it, leave it alone. AK front sights can be a bear to work on. Remember it's a battle sight, not a target sight, so being a bit canted, if that's what it is, probably wouldn't matter anyway for that purpose.

**Kb! Bob** · November 30th, 2009, 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by gunsrfun1

If it shoots straight and you're happy with it, leave it alone. AK front sights can be a bear to work on. Remember it's a battle sight, not a target sight, so being a bit canted, if that's what it is, probably wouldn't matter anyway for that purpose.

Ok guys, I gotta tell you, I feel a lot better this morning. First off, thank you to all who replied. I took the Yugo out to the range this morning and played around a little bit more, using all the suggestions I got, and all is well. To the naked eye, both front and rear sight bases are plumb. The front sight windage/elevation post continues to be ever-so-slightly to the left of center but, with the rear ghost ring sight and both eyes open, I was putting the front post on the target and hitting grapefruit sized groups at 50yds and just slightly larger at 100yds off-handed, under controlled rapid fire, so frankly, I dont care where the front sight is!! Its an AK for God sakes, and a damn pretty one at that. It will run all day long under any conditions and hit what I aim it at, and thats the point of an AK, right!?!? Whether it is in fact a very slight 1-2% cant somewhere, or just some wierd idiosycracy in the build, it does what I need it to do, every single time. On top of that, the wood is beautiful, chunky, and strawberry blond, and the finish is thick, dark, and smooth. Time to quit worrying about it and shoot the shit out of it. Its not an AR, its not a custom 1911, its an AK God damnit, the most versitile battle rifle of all time!!!