# 19 Rear Sight Adjustment



## cbrgator

The rear sight on my 19 is not aligned in the perfect center of the slide, its is a fraction of an inch to the right, but noticeable nonetheless. I don't want to just take a tool to it and start playing and the manual doesnt help. Can anybody tell me the right way to adjust the horizontal placement of the rear sight?


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## DJ Niner

Have you shot it yet? What were the results on target?

Rear sights mounted in a dovetail slot, like those on your Glock, are designed to be moved left or right to center the shot group on target. Many things can affect the group's location, including manufacturing tolerances inside the weapon, ammunition type/weight/velocity, grip symmetry and pressure from the shooter, and last-but-not-least, shooter skill. In my opinion, certainly shared by many others, the ONLY reason to move the sight is to get the shot group closer to the center of the target. This is usually accomplished by using a screw-threaded mechanical sight adjustment tool, or carefully tapping it left or right using a small hammer and non-marring punch.

In my experience, once your Glock is zeroed so it shoots in the center of your target with the ammo you are using, it is completely normal for the sight to be slightly off-center. Of my three Glocks, and one my son owns, none of them have the sight perfectly centered, although one is close. I have also seen one Glock, in .40 caliber, that was zeroed with one edge of the sight "hanging off" the edge of the slide, completely out of the dovetail; that this was the needed position was confirmed by several shooters who all hit center when they tried it.

Here are the choices: center the sight on the slide for pleasing visual symmetry, and miss the bullseye (or entire target) when you shoot; or, suffer the slight assault on the senses produced by an off-center sight while being able to hit what you shoot at. Choose carefully... :mrgreen:


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## cbrgator

Well I have never adjusted it to be more accurate. It's how it came from the factory. I am accurate with it the way it is, I just figured I'd adapted naturally over the course of time.


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## neophyte

*Glock Sight*

cbrgator: Sir, "DJ Niner" gave a most excellent account of adjusting your rear sights. 
Many times from the 'factories' parts are not aligned to an exact position.
With rear sights; sometimes yes sometimes no.
I believe you and the "DJ Niner" have missed each other.

You are concerned that the 'rear' sight isn't centered?
DJ Niner was concerned with the 'sight' adjustment for targeting.

Correct answer is? More information.
Should I have missed the 'boat' then we are three for three.:smt033

Feed-back when you can.:smt023


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## cbrgator

Yes sir, you are absolutely right... at least from my end. My concern was that the rear sight was not centered on the slide.


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## JeffWard

I had a Glock 23C, that for me, hit low (common occurance for the Glock Grip angle). I bought a taller rear sight from Glockmeister.com for a few bucks.

If you DO plan on moving your Glock rear sight... It is polymer, not steel. Take it to a gunsmith who has a press tool specifically for moving dovetailed sights. I destroyed my first one, trying to take it out with a hammer and a nail set.

It should be "pushed" out, not driven out w/ a set.

If it hits bullseyes, off a rest, at 20 ft/7 meters, right where the sights are set... don't touch them. If your pattern off a rest is off, get them adjusted. My XD came from the factory a bit off, and the groups were printing about an inch right, off a sand bag at 20ft. I told my gunsmith where it was hitting (showed him my target) at 20 ft, and he moved them. Now they are perfect.

If they do not hit dead center off a rest, get them moved. Don't learn to shoot the gun where it hits. This will build a "band-aid" flaw into your sight picture or trigger pull. Any other gun you shoot, with the sights allined correctly will shoot to the wrong spot.

If a gun is sighted correctly, it should shoot to the same point for every shooter. It's physics, not technique. Correct technique should not move the sight picture.

Check it of a sand bag, or rolled up jacket, off a bench, with 5 perfect squeezes.

My 2 cents...

Jeff


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## DJ Niner

neophyte said:


> cbrgator: Sir, "DJ Niner" gave a most excellent account of adjusting your rear sights.
> Many times from the 'factories' parts are not aligned to an exact position.
> With rear sights; sometimes yes sometimes no.
> I believe you and the "DJ Niner" have missed each other.
> 
> You are concerned that the 'rear' sight isn't centered?
> DJ Niner was concerned with the 'sight' adjustment for targeting.
> 
> Correct answer is? More information.
> Should I have missed the 'boat' then we are three for three.:smt033
> 
> Feed-back when you can.:smt023


I believe I understood his concern completely. My point was, the purpose of a dovetail rear sight is not to be centered on the slide like a picture on a mantle, for visual enjoyment; it is to assist the shooter in directing bullets to a target. If, once adjusted to correctly direct said bullets, it happens to be centered on the slide, that is a (somewhat rare, in my experience) bonus. Apparently that point was lost in my long-winded post.

That is why I initially asked if the weapon had been fired, and if so, what were the results. If the gun was reported as hitting center, then alas, the sights are set for their primary purpose and they will not (unfortunately) also be visually centered. If the gun is NOT hitting center, or has not yet been fired to determine where it is hitting (with that shooter and ammo), then hope is still alive for getting the sights adjusted to meet both their functional and his visual goals.

Most factories have a laser bore-sighting apparatus that fits over the slide and compares the barrel position to the rear sight, giving them a means to perform a general initial sight adjustment (without firing the gun) that gets most new gun owners hitting near the center of a target on their first range visit. This is only an approximate setting, as ammo selected, personal grip, and shooting skill (or lack of it) play a huge part in where the bullets end up. If the weapon came with the sight in that position from the factory, there is probably a very good reason for it; it's not a sloppily installed part, or a manufacturing defect. So...

Shoot it. See where it hits. Adjust the sights so it hits center. Visually check the sight position in relation to the slide. If the sight is not centered on the slide, and you REALLY want it to be centered, buy some different ammo and repeat the above steps. Multiple times. Maybe you'll get lucky and find a load that "works" properly for both purposes.

Or, just decide it's more important to have the sight centered on the slide than your shot group centered on the target, and go forth and be happy. :smt023

(The firearms instructor part of my brain simply cannot believe that I typed that last line.)


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## neophyte

*correct*

DJ Niner: Sir, I understood you completely. Your account of the whys and fore-too's are excellent.
The "cbrgator" isn't aware; or doesn't know of factory set-up; was my take to his response. His concern; was; the rear sight wasn't sitting centered within the dovetail rear rail. 'DJ's" response covered it exactly.


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