Nice video Robski. I had this issue with my WASR. I just needed to unscrew my muzzle brake, sprayed liquid wrench on the sight and beat it with a rubber hammer to center it. It was way over at the 10 o'clock position and it didn't take but a couple wacks to center it up. Always use some type of lube guys! Make sure to smack it in the Butt-stock a couple times too. She'll love that
Back about 10 years ago my dad and I tried that on a Romanian G kit. We got the under pins out. My dad was a machinist for nuclear parts for ABB. He nor I could get the front sight base to move with normal tools. He determined that the front sight base was undersized and press fit on with a few thousands interference fit. We beat on it with rubber mallets and brass hammers and couldn't get that front sight to move at all. I left it.
The front sight may be canted to allow for some other alignment issue. I test fire at 25 yards, with the front sight post centered. Say the group is 4 inches left. You might get it to center moving the post to the extreme left. That looks like crap. So, you want to move the sight. Drive the two pins out. Be aware that the front pin holds the muzzle brake detent pin/spring in place. I use leather padded jaws on a large bench vise to clamp around the gas block. Use metal spacers to take up the space between the gas block and the barrel on both sides of the gas block. I use a laser pointed at a 8 foot distance. See where the laser is compared to the open sights. Now you have a reference to how far you’re moving the front sight. I first align the front sight post to the laser. Test fire. Still off? Back to the padded vise, and laser tool. Using a large 16 inch crescent wrench adjusted to the front sight, it’s possible to twerk the front sight. Of course, you want to protect the finish of the front sight from the wrench jaws. It doesn’t take much of a move to make a big change. I follow this routine on a new build before I pin the sight. The laser tool isn’t always accurate, but it will allow you to make an accurate adjustment.
Canted front sights aren't nearly as annoying as not getting notifications for Robski's new videos. Now I have to go back and hit the stinkin' bell AGAIN.
My WASR 10/63 that I bought back in 2010 came with perfect sights in spite of the internet telling us that WASR’s were junk and always came with canted front sights. The internet is the one that is canted most of the time. Dang thing is more accurate than I am too.
I agree gapster. My WASR from 2021 is canted but accurate as hell. Don't get me wrong I'd love to make the sights perfect but I'm afraid I'm gonna screw it up and not be able to zero it perfectly. Pretty much like they say, if it ain't broke don't fix it lol
Agreed. Have a 1964 WASR I picked up in ‘11, sights are straight, zeroed it once and haven’t touched the sights in 13 years. Have close to 10k rounds through it and it’s aged like a fine wine.
Of course you have to use a hammer AK is crafted by elves, they live in the valley of Kazanlak in the ancient land of Bulgaria and they like using hammers and special files they got from the USSR dwarfs 😂. Love this channel man 👌 If you want learn the way of this elven weapon Robski is the guy!
Agreed. I stuffed my AK away months ago and forgot about it (sort of) because of that damned canted front sight. Now I know the fix because of Robski (even the rear sight leaf was canted from the factory and unuseable). His channel is a must-have.
Every gunsmith I've ever asked says the front sight post is what you adjust for zero... but I couldn't zero with a canted M76 muzzle brake! I found my rear sight leaf was wobbly so I bought a new one from Zastava (all AK rear sights are the same! Even for different calibers!) I told my builder to weld the pin holes on the muzzle and re-drill after I put correct witness marks on the barrel. It's good enough now but I think my M76 came from the factory with lopsided front trunnion and gas block. The whole gas system points to the left! I wish they had better jigs to make the rifles straight back then. Definitely going to pick this one up because it will help, 100% !!!
As for drilling larger holes for the front post you are better off to use an end mill to bore the hole properly. A drill bit has an angled tip that will cause it to slide off of the barrel and drill crooked hole. An end mill is flat and will mill off the barrel cleanly without being forced off center by an angled tip.
Just bought mine from you after watching this video. I had 2 gunsmiths who I paid to fix the canted fight and neither one could do it. So this is the set solution.
The pins on the front post are tapered. Remove them & insert from the other side often fixes the canted front sight. Very old school method. If that doesn't work... well I'd prefer a gunsmith to do the realigning & drilling new holes
Yes, when you are going to do drilling and etc, i would suggest gunsmith if someone isn't comfortable or doesn't have correct tools to do it...as I said, cordless drill isn't going to cut it here...
God bless you for this!! I have an unfired Yugo that has a canted front sight. I didn't want to take off the gas block and re-drill it. This is a great option....now I can get it ready for the first day at the range!
Thanks for this. About 20 years ago (when the AWB expired!) I bought a very nice '74 put together from Bulgarian parts, . I've always been very pleased with it -- except that the front sight was a bit canted; the post had to be taken a good 1/3" sideways to properly sight in. Now I can fix it.
I had a M70AB2 with a canted front sight 10 years ago, I fixed it by selling the dang rifle and buying another AK, bought a DDI Bulgarian underfolder with a machined receiver. Replaced the bakelite with russian laminate and it looks just like a type 3.
When i bought my Sam7 years ago the front post was horribly canted. Luckily i bought from Atlantic Firearms, they had me send it in and they straightened it for me. Even sent it back with a fresh yugo surplus mag for the trouble.
Re: canted AR sights. I have handled a few AR's in my day and have NEVER found one with straight FSB's. The rear sight is ALWAYS off the center mark when the gun is zeroed. I always attributed that to the tiny degree of slop between the barrel locating pin and the notch in the receiver.
2 of my AR's came with pick rail no sites And I have tried 2 sets of iron sites and neither have been able to be zeroed but I have absolutely no problem with red dots on them but the other AR's I got there's no issue I don't understand sighting them in
back in the late 90's I had a century built AK the front sight was off so far you couldn't even sight it in I bought it for $200 luckily for me though my family owns a machine shop it was a bitch but I fixed it
@chicorodriguez3964 Century didn't build AKs back in the 90s. Their AKs were built overseas, usually Romania, and imported. WASRs came in with sporter stocks & single stack, 10rd magazines. Century would cut open the receiver to accept standard mags, install US parts, and sell them. But the rifles, were built overseas with canted sights.
It was pretty common to have canted sights in the military with rifles that had been rebuilt. Never saw one from the factory (FN or Colt) with canted sights. It was always an easy fix. Just loosen the barrel nut, rotate the barrel a smidgen, then tighten her back down. There's always a little play in the receiver to barrel fit, to play with.
@@donwyoming1936 well actually they did I'm sure they came over in the fourm of parts kits but they assembled them and did a shitty job for instance the Egyptian MISR-90 that's exactly what I'm talking about
I seriously appreciate this video! I have a reliable M70-AB2 that came with a canted front sight. Even so, I was able to get it zeroed to "acceptable combat accuracy" with little effort. Still, I wonder if that adjustable rear sight might not tighten my groups
Thanks Rob, I didnt know anyone made an adjustable leaf. I like the front sight post repair the best. Thank Goodness none of my AKs have that problem. Believe it or not, even my WASR 10 is just about dead nuts center on the front barrel. Thanks Again
My rear sight base is what’s canted. So much so using attero mounts the dust cover is a chore to put on I’ve been running AKs for 20yrs. I’m fine with canted and crooked BUT on the Draco that front sight hood blocks so much down range. Master mount, adjustable rear sight, and back to good. Alternative method is slight heat, a 2x4 and a sledgehammer Fixed a buddies wasr that way once 😂
Absolutely love the handguards! And I love the idea of the adjustable rear sight. BUT.... You make the install look SO easy! Just like you do with everything else 😄 but that rear sight was absolutely the #1 hardest thing on my AK to install the first time. I fought that thing for the longest time, and that treacherous leaf spring....I just don't see myself EVER wanting to attempt removal and replacement of that thing- ever. 😂😂
Thats right i send 2 zastavas back because it was Canted .Now i have a Cugir and its straight from Factory . I dont want too drill on a new rifle . But if its a used one sure .
The FSB on my NPAP-DF is straight as an arrow, but I had to apply method #2 to my WASR many years ago. It worked great. I used drill bit shanks as the new, over sized mounting pins and that worked great too. Use a drill press like RobSki said, it's too easy!
Same issue with a Mossberg 590A1 SPX. Have 2 barrels, front sights canted on both. Luckily it came with a windage-adjustable rear sight, but it is still frustrating.
I had a Colt 6920 that came from the factory with canted sights. I was so aggravating that I sent it back to have them fix it. Now I have a PA prisom optic on it and don't even use that sights.. lol but the sights are straight now if I ever need them.
I bought well over 100 Romanian G Series kits back in 2000. Every last one of them had canted sights. The front sight was always drifted way over to the side. Same on several of my imported Romanian rifles. I usually have a gunsmith realign the front sight. The only other AKs I've had with canted sights out of the box were Russian Saiga's.
I like the RPK style rear sight "fix" for the canted front sight, but that damn thing just looks too wide and something that will get stuck on your jacket etc. Would be great to have a rear sight with a simple and thinner profile adjustment set up. Like some FAL rear sights, two screws on both sides, tighten one side, loosen the other to adjust windage. Would be simple and not too cumbersome.
Once again, valuable information and excellent teaching from Mr. Rob Ski! I support the AKOU store when I can to give back what I've learned. Hoping to see more AK reviews in the future. Curious of your thoughts on the more recent Pioneer Arms forged series.
This is something I'm going to have to watch for, but happily my first AK's front sight (Zas M90) is as close to dead-on as I can ask. Next AK, whenever bank reserve allows, I'll have this info in mind.
My Romanian M10 Front sight gas block was canted pretty bad. I drove the front site pins out and straightened up best I could and drive pins back. I then got me an adjustable rear sight and between doing both I was able to zero and looks better 2. Love those adjustable rear sights
I use a drill press and the flat end of a #37 drill bit to relieve the spring tension. Then the sight just slides out. Same thing to replace the sight.
I found that on rifles where the sights were slightly canted if I whacked it with a rubber mallet it was able to rotate a few degrees with the pins still installed. But for sights that are majorly canted then yes you do have to push those pins out and redrill them
Thanks! Would like too see your thoughts and tests on cheap iron sights on both platforms. ($20-150) ,How much would spend, and can you make cheap stuff work and be somewhat durable? Or just save up money.
If you choose to try to move your front sight base, a drill press and vise is mandatory. When I drilled my barrel trunion, I used an endmill bit to get the hole running straight through the barrel. You will need to be extremely careful as the small drill bit will want to follow the round barrel and can "egg out" the existing holes in the front sight base, and can break easily. Take your time and use very light pressure. If I were going to try to move the front sight base, I would try using small taper pins and the matching taper reamer. AR 15 front sight taper pins may work, not sure of diameter difference. The taper reamer would probably stay centered better in the existing hole.
I'm going to say that the center cutting end mill is essential, and get the drill press table up close, tighten everything up as good as possible too. Better to scout around and see if one of your buddies has access to a mill, even if it is a bench top model.
I was fixing a canted front sight once and after squaring the action in a fixture realized the barrel was slightly bent. This was not an AK but the same principles applied.
My WASR has a slightly canted front sight, it's zero'ed and punches 8 1/2 x 11 paper at 100 yds. I'm happy with it, even with the new scope from AKOU shop. Another shameless plug!😉😁
I have a crooked WASR that's so canted it is 3" left at 25y with the front sight making contact on the side of the sight base. The group is good enough that I didn't want to mess with the barrel at all so I just used an Attero Arms mount and Primary Arms 1x prism in place of the rear sight.
How many of you understand even with straight sight base you could still shoot off depending on many things like barrel crown, muzzle devices, supressors, and ammunition, and many other things like shooter capabilities as well....
Valmet, Galil, Krebs Custom. They work great if you have a way for the top cover to stay fixed in place. Krebs spot welds an "H" shaped piece around the spring retainer hole that can be hand fitted for a tight fit.
Thankfully my WASR-10 is straight. I do have a couple of other rifles where I had to run the windage way to one side to zero the windage. While accurate, those rear sights off to one side is still a bit annoying.
I have a question: I got a surplus WARSAW Pak..4x Side Mount scope [old style] I got at a gun show, but it did not have the locking lever & hardware that locks it down...Any help w/ getting parts would be great...Love your chan....God Bless.
How is that rail section attached to the top dust cover for that small Primary Arms prism scope. I would really like to have that setup on my PSA G3. Thanks for your great videos.
I bought a Lancaster back in I think 2008 and discovered the front sight was canted. I actually punched out the pin moved the sight to proper alignement and forced the pin back in. Problem solved. I bought a WASR back in 2014 and it was had perfect sight alignement out of the box. I didn't even have to zero the the sigts. Dead on out of the box.
You asked how else to resolve it. My post is still canted but I drilled and tapped the rear top of the dust cover and installed a Williams peep sight. Took rear sight and spring out and it is almost undetectable while looking through the peep at the post on target now.
I see there are aftermarket sights for AKs -Some tritium and fiber-optic sights. Worth it or factory irons more accurate? I am thinking about just throwing some paint on my front sight post for quicker acquisition.
Why don't manufacturers use a laser to center the front sights correctly on AKM's and AR platforms with a FSB? Especially for the AKM platform where it has to be pressed onto the barrel?
Robski @AKOU47-74, Could method 1 be used for an SKS? Just asking because we are not allowed AK's in Canada. Anything that can help the True North and not so Free would be appreciated.
Honestly, my zpap m70 is zeroed with the canted sight and I don’t want to have to mess with it since it works just fine so I’m gunna leave it haha. It looks goofy but it works.
I get the concept but would it be easier to just have an optic that sits higher and can still run iron sights. What optics offer that? Great video though
Regarding method #2: Instead of re-drilling the holes after rotating the front sight tower, and re-inserting the original pins, would it be better to use silver solder in place of the pins? I would think that the amount of adjustment (twisting the tower left or right) would not be enough to block the solder from flowing all the way through and creating a kinked solder "pin" to fix everything in place. Any thoughts?
Kevin, that's an interesting idea, I'm just not sure how this would work with the recoil then...because those holes aren't that big, but then Germans used solder on their irons for basically 8mm rifle...hmmmm, that would be worth trying.
@@AkOperatorsUnion Let me know if you have a chance to try it and get good results. Also, is it better to pull the front sight tower straight off and press it back on (in the right position), or just crank it over a bit? I'm thinking that pulling it off would help preserve the tight fit, whereas twisting it might produce more wear to the surface and 'encourage' it to shift again. If most of the original tightness can be preserved, the solder idea might work well.
The same people who make the law folder for the are at least used to make a rear sight leaf for the AK that used Glock rear sights and was drift adjustable!
