Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Ever buy a used revolver, when the sight was far off?

I passed up a revolver at a gun show today. The rear sight was so far left, you could easily notice. It wasn't mint, nor was it a steal, but it was a good deal. Still, I walked. Unless it's a gun that can be warrantied, which this one could not, I can't imagine any good reason for a sight to be that far off?

Other than someone that couldn’t shoot a pistol in the first place and screwed with the sights to compensate for poor shooting…

Probably the shooter.

Very common to see S&Ws with the adjustable rear cranked all the way over. 9 times out of 10 it’s because the shooter has been jerking the trigger. Center the blade and use good form and they shoot just fine.

It could be compensating for a bent front sight or barrel that needs to be turned slightly

I have a Ruger .30 Carbine Blackhawk that I got used. I won a gun in a raffle, didn’t want whatever it was, and the lgs owner who knew me very well told me how much I could apply toward anything else in the shop. Anyway, this BH was kinda rough but I figured it was just a project gun, but, of course, I had to shoot it. Rear sight was cranked way over to the left because the barrel was screwed in way past 12 o’clock. Still, it was very accurate. And loud, very loud.

It’s usually just a sign that the previous owner was an idiot.

I'm with everyone else who's pointed to the previous owner.

Of course, it is mathematically possible that the gun played a part. A couple summers ago, JiminIdaho had a Ruger revolver that had a barrel that was pointing off to the side. But, statistically speaking, that's not the most probable explanation here. What likely happened--the prior owner is a poor shot, ran out of rear blade adjustment, was still missing targets, got frustrated, tripped it to the gun show.

Yup. If the gun were the problem, some part of it would be so crooked that it’d be pretty obvious upon a close look.

Maybe I’m being too cynical when thinking that a previous potential buyer with a small screwdriver could have made a surreptitious exaggerated “adjustment” so that the gun might still remain unsold at the end of the show and he could then make a lowball offer.

I loaned a slabside Ruger MK2 to a brother in law, he wanted to shoot it at an indoor pistol shoot to see if he wanted to buy one and compete weekly.

It came back to me dirty and the rear sight was moved all the way over. That was the last gun I ever loaned out.

That was my first thought. I’ve bought used revolvers with the rear sight way to high. Presumably because the previous owner had a flinch and was dipping the barrel at the shot but kept trying to correct it with the sights.

I love finding a Glock with the rear sight pushed one way or the other.

LOL

Yep. Non shooting previous owner.

about 6" off at 10 yards , fixed sight ... Taurus ..

Not on a revolver but on a used German made P226 I noticed that the pistol was shooting way off to the left . On the first trip to the range I took along some tools to move the rear sight and was amazed at how a very very small movement of the rear sight would move the group. Just a few tries and it was good to go and remains spot on today.

I’ve had 2 guns that were that far off or worse. Both of them NIB S&W’s. A 629 classic 5” and a 442 with no sights. I did send both back to S&W be fixed. On both they said they realigned the barrel.
The 442 is right on the money now. Before the fix It was like 5 or 6 inches off at like 15 yards.
The classic I don’t know about, as soon as I got it back I sold it to my buddy for what I had in it. I don’t think he’s shot more than 2 cylinders with it. Because while it was in the shop I bought a 629-4 5” classic from another buddy. It shoots great.

Often in those cases it's because the barrel shoulder is a little thick/long, which causes a ton of thread choke when you tighten the barrel to 12 0'clock. The bullets get undersized so badly when they go through the frame/forcing cone area that POI ends up way off in a random direction.

I have fixed a lot of guns by taking a few thou off the barrel shoulder. J-frames do it the worst, but if a k-frame is shooting off to one side or the other and the barrel is correctly clocked it probably has a bunch of thread choke. Easy to check with a plug gauge--your gauge will come to dead stop when it reaches the frame area.

Haven't found one that didn't immediately start shooting straight (not to mention way more accurately, esp with lead bullets) when the thread choke was taken out. Also they generally stop showing ammo preference and tend to shoot most ammo well and to similar POIs.

But to respond to the OP's question: I'd be even bid on an idiot previous owner OR a gun that had a bunch of thread choke from the factory, which probably never shot accurately (or straight), and so someone was trying to get rid of it.

Thread choke is easy to fix. I pull the barrels off most of the S&W's I buy. They usually have a bunch of choke at the frame.

If it's an auto...another story.

I don't meddle in buying and selling guns much, but very few used firearms I have purchased have shot close to point of aim for me as delivered. I don't see how some even hit the rear berm.

Yep, bought a few that way. Usually a 44 or 357 that some duffer tried to dial his flinch out of.