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adjusting Hellcat rear sight

I don't know that I've ever seen or even heard of an hydraulic sight pusher, but certainly there might be just such a thing. However, I've also never seen a sight that couldn't be moved by the simple mechanical pressure of a regular <$100 sight pusher.

Before I did anything more though, I think I'd ask another shooter or two (some that you know as a good shooter) to try my gun. I know you mentioned you were shooting from a bench, but there's always a chance you may have not yet quite got 'the feel' for the new gun, or some other logical reason for the POI dependencies. Even likely as it is not you, another opinion might just pinpoint the actual problem.

It's hard to see just how much "off center" your rear sight is actually 'off' from the pictures, but the marks are simply a reference to see visually where the sight is located and not a definite locating point. I'm just suggesting to give the gun every benefit of the doubt before making any changes. When my Hellcat came to me it was dead on accurate at IIRC 15m's. The sight is pretty close to centered between the two 'tell tale' marks, but if looking closely one can see a very slight difference one side to the other.

Just a question ..... was/is your gun brand new from SA, or was/is it a used gun when you received it? If new it should have been factory sighted and verified. If used, we have no way of knowing what may or may not have been done to it.

But keep us informed as things progress. (y)(y)(y)
 
When I got my new gun and was setting up the red dot, I noticed the front post was off center. Being crude and old fashioned, I got out my little mallet and a brass punch and gently pecked it to the right until it looked centered. I put a bit of blue loctite in front of the edge that would run on to it to keep it in place.
Now I find out about these marks.. I got my gun out and using some magnifiers took a look.
There they were, front and back. It's right on the money.
Get a brass punch and a gunsmithing mallet.
 
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Thanks for this thread... shot my Hellcat Pro yesterday for the first time I was hitting shot groups a nickel wide, but all was about 3 inches to the right from center mass... so hoping I can adjust that a little.

And "it's the user" or "get more practice" is an unnecessary and rude reply folks. lol
 
Magnum50 said:
Thanks for this thread... shot my Hellcat Pro yesterday for the first time I was hitting shot groups a nickel wide, but all was about 3 inches to the right from center mass... so hoping I can adjust that a little.

And "it's the user" or "get more practice" is an unnecessary and rude reply folks. lol
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Not necessarily. A lot of times it is the shooter. And it's certainly prudent to be sure before you go adjusting your sights.

Perfect example. I had begun to think my VP9 was shooting a little bit to the left. I took it to a training class yesterday and sure enough I was hitting slightly left. I expressed my opinion that the rear sight may need to be adjusted a little bit and a very good guest instructor at the class asked if he could shoot the gun. It hit dead on for him. We then spent the next half hour diagnosing and correcting the problem which turned out to be my trigger press. I am an experienced shooter like everyone else here, but the VP9 is not a gun that I have a lot of time behind and the trigger is very different than all my other carry guns. After working on taking up the pre travel, smooth trigger press and slowly letting out to reset I was drilling a single hole in the center of my targets.

So yes it was the user and yes I need to get more practice on this trigger.

So my suggestion to the OP or anyone having this problem is to first let someone else shoot the gun, try it off a rest and be damn sure it's not user error before you go drifting the rear sight.
 
Bassbob said:
Not necessarily. A lot of times it is the shooter. And it's certainly prudent to be sure before you go adjusting your sights.

Perfect example. I had begun to think my VP9 was shooting a little bit to the left. I took it to a training class yesterday and sure enough I was hitting slightly left. I expressed my opinion that the rear sight may need to be adjusted a little bit and a very good guest instructor at the class asked if he could shoot the gun. It hit dead on for him. We then spent the next half hour diagnosing and correcting the problem which turned out to be my trigger press. I am an experienced shooter like everyone else here, but the VP9 is not a gun that I have a lot of time behind and the trigger is very different than all my other carry guns. After working on taking up the pre travel, smooth trigger press and slowly letting out to reset I was drilling a single hole in the center of my targets.

So yes it was the user and yes I need to get more practice on this trigger.

So my suggestion to the OP or anyone having this problem is to first let someone else shoot the gun, try it off a rest and be damn sure it's not user error before you go drifting the rear sight.
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I just shot my Hellcat as well, set red dot sight, had it dialed in perfect, but was readily noticeable that my factory sights were off, or appeared to be off, same situation as described above, 3 in to left, before adjusting I tried shooting with them ignoring the red dot, still shooting to the left, I’m not sure why these sights are off by so much, I literally had to move my rear sight, to its limitation, I’ve never had this issue with any firearm in the past, very odd tobsay the least, looking into getting an adjustable rear sight at this point…. Hope this helps.
 
I had the same issue, firing 1 inch group with iron sights, all 3 inches to the left. I installed and zeroed a red dot optic, all shots perfect center now, and iron sights clearly are off. checked this thread because sights don't want to budge with the sight pusher and i was afraid of causing it damage using too much force.
 
I just bought my RDP and fired it for the first time today. Zeroed SMSc red dot beautifully. Checked irons, 3 inches to the left, what ya know. Range master fired it, same. Brand new out of the box? Not found this thread.

SA know about this QA issue of theirs? You never see this stuff BEFORE you buy, do ya?
 
I've had a lot of guns that were shooting left or right and sometimes sight was a little offcenter and sometimes not. to fix it just take a brass or even a plastic punch and tap the rear sight over the same way the bullet needs to go. need to go left, tap the rear sight left. only go a small amount and shoot. it don't take much unless you gun is way off and then you have other problems than a sight. some sights have locker screws on them and some dont. if you don't see one on the sight on top or on the bottom of inside the slide it don't have one. I have a brass punch set in my gun range bag and have used it many times. no biggie, just knock it over a hair.
 
terryg said:
I just bought my RDP and fired it for the first time today. Zeroed SMSc red dot beautifully. Checked irons, 3 inches to the left, what ya know. Range master fired it, same. Brand new out of the box? Not found this thread.

SA know about this QA issue of theirs? You never see this stuff BEFORE you buy, do ya?
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Try different brand of ammo, not all guns like certain brands, it’s not a quality control issue, also try a different weight also
 
Hmm, don't think we're paying attention? I zeroed the RDP's SMSc Red Dot and the performance is as expected. (Did so with 4 different types of ammo: 115 FMJ, 115 TMJ, 115 JHP, 124 JHP, all different brands.)

Happy with the red dot zero, when I sight the firearm with the iron sights, the red dot is to the left, aiming left. When I fire the firearm using the iron sights, the grouping is left (where the red dot is).

Pretty sure there's no magic or jiggery pokery going on, iron sights are off. Need to push the front sight to the left so the irons line up with the red dot. Just would think the irons would be spot on from the factory. This is NOT ammo related, sorry. Definitely QC issue, sights are definitely off, and shouldn't be, it's brand new, IMO. Thanks.
 
Belt Fed said:
I've had a lot of guns that were shooting left or right and sometimes sight was a little offcenter and sometimes not. to fix it just take a brass or even a plastic punch and tap the rear sight over the same way the bullet needs to go. need to go left, tap the rear sight left. only go a small amount and shoot. it don't take much unless you gun is way off and then you have other problems than a sight. some sights have locker screws on them and some dont. if you don't see one on the sight on top or on the bottom of inside the slide it don't have one. I have a brass punch set in my gun range bag and have used it many times. no biggie, just knock it over a hair.
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This. Definitely will. I'm sure nudging the front to the left a smidge will line it all up. The back seems to be nicely between the indicators in the dove tail. The red dot tells the tale. Thanks.
 
Update: I bought a site pusher and pushed the front site to the left. The good news is the irons co-witness perfectly (windage) with the red dot. The front site is about a thin 1 mm to the left of center, but the base of the site is still in the rectangular part of the dove tail.

Spoke with Springfield and they said this is within normal range. I guess I could push the rear site a bit to the left and then the front a bit to the right if I want to better split the difference and get them both closer to center. I asked the SA CS rep and he said, " if it's working, i.e. not broken (accurate and grouping well), don't fix it ... but I could if I want to." Triple confirmed as long as the sight base is within the dove tail rectangle, it is within acceptable range. I'll use it for a while and see how it goes.
 
It’s easy to see if it’s you, shoot it weak hand, and see if it shoots the same as dominant hand. I bet you will find it magically shoots different.
 
New, kind of Hellcat owner here. Found this thread looking for ways to adjust my POI like many of you my group is about 3” to the left at 15 yards. Looking at the witness marks the left one, looking from the rear of the gun, is completely covered and the right one is completely exposed. A little quick math and some calipers say the distance is about what I’m seeing to move to the right visible wInness.

first thing I suspected was it was me, but my groups are consistently to the left and with the sight not centered but to the left makes me wat to adjust the sight.

im not thrilled about hammer and punch so I’m wondering what sight pusher people have used on their Hellcat. Reading the descriptions on them some works on some guns but not on others.
thanks
 
terryg said:
Update: I bought a site pusher and pushed the front site to the left. The good news is the irons co-witness perfectly (windage) with the red dot. The front site is about a thin 1 mm to the left of center, but the base of the site is still in the rectangular part of the dove tail.

Spoke with Springfield and they said this is within normal range. I guess I could push the rear site a bit to the left and then the front a bit to the right if I want to better split the difference and get them both closer to center. I asked the SA CS rep and he said, " if it's working, i.e. not broken (accurate and grouping well), don't fix it ... but I could if I want to." Triple confirmed as long as the sight base is within the dove tail rectangle, it is within acceptable range. I'll use it for a while and see how it goes.
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What sight pusher did you get?
 
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