Hello.  I have a Springfield Milspec that I picked up new at the last gunshow I attended.  I finally had a chance to shoot it.  I was aiming at a 5" shoot-n-c target 25 yards away using a 6 o'clock hold.  My shots were going low.  I tried aiming for the top (would that be a 12 o'clock hold?) and hit the target.  A fellow shooter suggested I file the front sight down.  Is that a good idea?  What are my options?  I used a rest to make sure I wasn't dipping my hand down, so I think it was the pistol.

Thanks!

First of all, change nothing on the gun yet.

At 25 yards, you should be holding "center mass", right dead center.

Next, try different ammo. I have excellent luck with PMC brand .45acp ammo.

Also have different shooters try the gun. You may be pulling down on the trigger & not realize it.

Do NOT file the front sight. There's a slew of aftermarket replacement front sight blades that you can change over to. If you would prefer to make your gun look like some trailer park trash gun, then by all means file away.

You have a nice gun there, don't punk it up by filing off this or that.

Your story is exactly like mine. I got mine new at the end of March and have put 450 rds. of various brands through it. Mine shoots so low No amount of filing would correct it. I was thinking adjustable rear sight. Anyone favor a particular rear sight?

I guess we are talking about, what?, 4-6in. low at 25yd. here? First, as Bob says, let another shooter try it...could be your trigger technique, or your sight picture/alignment. Also, if you are using one of the lighter, faster 185gr. or even 165gr, loads, the sights are not designed with them in mind...pure 230gr. / 860fps is what they are about, and the lighter bullets will impact lower on the target.

You could file the top of the front sight or the top of the "ears" on the rear sight (think about it...it will cause you to have to bring the muzzle up to align the sights), but if you are not good at squaring a file blade, it will kinda look like crap. (and if you don't cut the rear square, which "ear" are you going to line up on?) Of course, if you are going to replace them soon anyway, what's to lose? Take a couple of strokes and shoot a couple of rounds...it won't take much. Begin with the front blade and go to the rear only if it becomes obvious you are going to have a nub on front before you get where you need to go.

My pick for an adjustable is still the BoMar sunk into the slide. The rear sight itself is only around $55-60 from Brownells, and a higher front blade probably $15, but by the time you have it installed by a real pro, it will cost you $200/250 or so.

Thanks for the replies.  I wasn't enamoured of the idea of filing on anything.  It sounded extreme.

I was using PMC and Federal FMJ 230 grain .45acp.  I did try a rest (block of wood with carpet on it) so I don't think I was dipping my hand down.  I thought the manual suggested using a 6 o'clock hold.

I guess I should just aim high.  I really don't want to put on an adjustable sight as I was hoping to have a military-looking 1911a1 -- I know, I'm being vain.  This isn't for CHL.

I'm glad I'm not alone. At first I thought I simply had a different load than what the sights were intended for. I've tried every non +p load I could find. I tried bullets from 165 to 225, and they all struck about the same.

Filing crossed my mind, but I didn't want to do that because of the three dot set up. I think I'm going to change my sights out. I want tritium anyway. I've found that if I line the rear sight up with the front of the slide, and ignore the front ramp, I'm dead on.

I may not be holding right, or squeezing the trigger right, but at least I'm consistent about it.

Can the front sight be driven out and replaced with a low profle sight, or does it need to go to a 'smith?

Quoted: Can the front sight be driven out and replaced with a low profle sight, or does it need to go to a 'smith?

If it's dovetailed in the slide, then yes. If it's staked, i.e. original military style, then I'd have a pro change them out.

Brownells sells a slew of front blade replacements.

One other thing to try is to black out the dots. Many guys will, conciously or not, line up the dots instead of the sight blades themselves...this almost always results in high shots due to the way the dots are placed...make certain you line up the edges of the blades.

On the Mil spec, work with the rear sight if at all possible.
A slightly taller one, maybe $7 at a gunshow, all the way up to some big money for a brand name adjustable unit.
If you can measure the height of the existing rear sight, you can more easily determine how much taller the new one needs to be.
Filing anything off the rear sight will cause you to shoot LOWER...as you bring up the back of the gun to make up for what was there.

Does anyone have a recomondation for a brand name adjustable unit? Preferably a drop in so the slide could go unmodified.

anothergene is correct about cutting down the rear blade...I guess my head was up my rectum when I posted that!

I have the same ones www.cdnninvestments.com sell, but don't see them listed for the SA or Colt...hmmm
Mine is over 10 years old, marketed by Pachmyer and look indentical to the ones that come on the Sig Trailside .22.
Besides that type, there are many more to look at.
Ikor, no offense, I just had to do something before "the chips started flyin'" and you are normally always right on. (I had to read it over).
I hope I am corrected quickly when I do my flubs.

Is there some formula for figuring out how high the rear sights would need to be?  Like, if the shots are 6" low at 25 yards, then the rear sight must be x millimeters tall...?

Those bomar look nice.  What could I expect a smith to charge to put some on?  Is this something any smith could do, or do I need to find a 1911 expert?

Thanks!

With one of my handguns, my first .45, I was consistently shooting several inches low at all ranges. At 50 yards I was gut-shooting the silhouette with a head hold.   I brought gun back to the store and complained, at which point the clerk took me and the gun back to the range and proceeded to fire a 5 shoot group with all shots touching at 15 yards.  He had me shoot a mag and pronounced that I was flinching.  It wasn't horrible, I wasn't scattering shots all over the map, but I was tensing up before every shot.

I said that that couldn't be it because I was shooting from a rest some of the time.

"So, if you can't lever the muzzle down, you can lever the rear UP with the same tensing motion.  That'll still throw your shots low."

I stood there with my mouth open for a minute, because that's actually pretty simple physics.  When you exert a force it's got to go somewhere.  By using a rest, all you are doing is shifting the most solid fulcrum of the lever forward to where the gun meets the rest, before the fulcrum was your hands.  So with the same force, it can't pull the muzzle down, so it shifts your hands slightly UP. low shots.

Before changing anything, get several boxes of ammo from the same lot, 230 grain CCO Blazers will work perfectly.  load 1 round in the magazine, load and shoot 1 round.  Concentrate on providing a firm, consistent grip throughout the firing cycle.  Concentrate on keeping your trigger stroke smooth and consistent, and ONLY in your trigger finger.  It is very easy to end up squeezing the rest of the fingers of your hand in sympathy with the trigger finger.  Concentrate on isolating that finger.

Dry Fire!  Get some snap caps and dry fire.  concentrate on a SMALL spot on the wall, perch that on top of the front post and concentrate on squeezing off a "shot" without disrupting that picture.  

Another thing that causes pulled shots is attempting to wrap your finger around the front of the trigger guard, that levers the muzzle down.  Wrap the non-shooting hand over the shooting hand and stack your thumbs, shooting thumb above the non-shooting.  

Also, concentrate on squeezing the grip ONLY from forward to rear. This will take any twisting action out of your grip and help control recoil.  Spend a lot of time just getting comfortable with the gun without shooting it.  Your Significant other will accuse you of playing with it, but you are just figuring it out.  

Once you think you've got that all figured out, head to the range and load 2 or three rounds in the mag ONLY.  With only a couple of rounds to shoot, recoil anticipation will be less of an issue.

I still practice these drills regularly to keep my technique clean.

Thank you very much for your reply.

I think you're right, it's probably me and not the gun.

I'm almost ready to get some crimson trace grips -- that would certainly show whether I was flinching.

Quoted:
Is there some formula for figuring out how high the rear sights would need to be?  Like, if the shots are 6" low at 25 yards, then the rear sight must be x millimeters tall...?

At 1911forum.com...then forum, then 1911 how to's and faq, then adjusting sight height...there is the formula
I do mine at the range, less chance of a math error.