M1A Sights help

[gunsmoke50]

Howdy All,

I just bought a used M1A Scout, and took it out to the range to test. It functions fine, but I wasn't able to get a consistent grouping or zero. I noticed over the course of fire that the rear sight's elevation wheel was not in the same spot that I left it, and the whole unit seemed a little loose. I believe the elevation knob is shifting from the recoil.

I need to tighten up the rear sight unit. On observation, on the windage side of the sight, there is a small nut with a screwdriver slot. I turned it clockwise slightly, and it seemed to tighten up a little, but i don't know if that will hold under the recoil.

To those with more experience out there, is there anything else on the rear sight I should pay attention to, or should be doing? Thanks.

[45R]

Start your zero at 25 yards. Count how many clicks it takes to bottom out your sights. Lets say its 6.

Fire a 2 strings of 3 shots.

Take it out to 100 and fire 2 strings of 3 shots. Then bottom out the sight again. It should be 6 clicks. If its moving you'll want to make sure you tighten up the slotted screw on the right side of the sight..........

I've made adjustments to the rear and have in the post forgot to make sure that stays secure so my only saving grace was I counted how many clicks up from the bottom before I started shooting again. If the clicks are inconsistent and your sight adjustment screw is tight you might want to check the rear sight to make sure it wasn't stripped.

[wjc]

That screw/nut on the knob is to set your zero mark after obtaining zero.

After obtaining your 100 yrd (or meter depending on the sight), you loosen the screw and turn the knob to line up your 100 yd indicator to the hash mark on the sight (should be around 10-12 clicks up).

After that, you have a set 100 mark and can range the sight to 200, 300, etc. pretty easily.

FYI, here are the instructions for zeroing the sights that I got with mine.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/2630304/Zeroing-the-M1A-Rifle