Cylinder & Slide provides the service
of sending your pistol out for special finishing after
customization strictly as a convenience for our customers.
Cylinder & Slide has no control over the quality or
durability of any special finish that is not applied by Cylinder
& Slide. Cylinder & Slide only offers rebluing as an in
house finish. Therefore, any other special finish that is
requested must be sent to a specialty shop for application.
Cylinder & Slide will not warranty any special finish
applied other than bluing. Should you have a problem with a
special finish, we will be happy to furnish you with a copy of
the invoice that we received from the shop that applied the
finish so that you can show proof of when and for whom the
finish was applied.
POLICY ON NIGHT SIGHTS
Cylinder & Slide provides the service
of installing sights with the Tritium glow tubes or sending out
a specific set of sights for the installation of the Tritium
glow tubes. Cylinder & Slide will not warranty any tritium
glow tube as to their brightness, longevity, or durability.
Should you have a problem with a Tritium glow tube, you must
return the sight to the manufacturer for warranty. We will be
happy to supply you with a copy of the invoice that we received
from the shop that installed the Tritium glow tube so that you
can show proof of when and for whom the Tritium glow tube was
installed.
POLICY ON ZEROING FIXED
SIGHTS MANUFACTURED
BY
NOVAK, HEINIE, C&S
The installation of these sights, include
the installation of an oversize dovetail front sight. The
installation of an oversize dovetail front sight allows the
front sight to be cut to the height needed to zero specific
ammunition at a specific distance. Cylinder & Slide will
zero the fixed sights that we install at 15 yds. to the best of
our ability with the ammunition that we have. However, Cylinder
& Slide cannot guarantee that the handgun will shoot exactly
to your point of aim. There are too many variables involved with
fixed sights to be able to guarantee our point of aim will match
your point of aim. A handgun’s point of aim and point of
impact is affected by grip pressure, bullet weight and velocity,
ambient light, and the biggest variable, how each of us sees the
sights and aligns them. A fixed sight handgun, that shoots
within 2” of point of aim at 15 yds. is considered to be
zeroed for practical use. If you require that your fixed sights
shoot “dead on” you will need to zero them yourself. We can
furnish you with a dovetail front sight that has been left tall.
This tall front sight will shoot low. You can shorten the front
sight to bring the point of impact up to match your point of aim
and ammunition. You can also drift the dovetail front sight or
dovetail rear sight to correct the windage. If you want to zero
your fixed sight handgun please specify that you want the front
sight left tall. Be advised that the dovetail front sight that
is installed on a Browning Hi Power or a 1911 is normally pinned
in place to make sure that it does not drift left or right. Be
sure to advise us if you do not want the sight pinned in place.
POLICY ON THE ZEROING OF
FIXED SIGHT SETS
WITH
PREPROGRAMMED FRONT SIGHT HEIGHTS
Fixed sight sets manufactured by companies
such as Trijicon, Heinie, Wilson, MMC, IWI, and Novak that are
furnished with a precut front sight cannot have the elevation
changed. The sight sets that are most often ordered are the
sight sets with the Tritium glow tubes pre-installed. The
manufacturer has determined the front sight height that most
normally zeros a specific type of pistol with the average type
of carry ammunition. This means that your pistol may or may not
shoot to point of aim for elevation. There is no way to change
the height of the front sight when a Tritium tube has been
preinstalled. Even if the set of sights you order does not have
Tritium tubes installed we cannot make the front sight taller to
lower the point of impact unless we install one of our oversize
front sights and cut it to the proper height. Cylinder &
Slide can only zero these types of sight sets for windage.
Again, we cannot guarantee that our sight setting will be
perfectly zeroed for windage for your sight picture, hold, and
ammunition. You should be able to adjust the windage yourself by
drifting the rear sight to correct the windage.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE
INSTALLATION
OF
FIXED SIGHTS AND THE INSTALLATION
OF
TRITIUM GLOW TUBES
Cylinder & Slide recommends that you
select the fixed rear sight that you want and have us install
that rear sight along with one of our oversize fixed front
sights. These sights will not have the Tritium glow tubes
installed until we return your pistol and have you check the
sights for your zero. We also recommend that you have us leave
the front sight slightly taller than needed so that the pistol
shoots low. You can then shoot the pistol and establish your
elevation zero by placing a tiny piece of masking tape across
the front sight blade. You place the tape on the rear edge of
the front sight that you see through the rear sight notch. By
aligning the top edge of the tape with the top of the rear sight
you pretend that the top of edge of the tape represents the top
of the front sight. By moving the tape up or down the front
sight blade as needed to change the elevation impact of the
bullet you can establish the exact front sight height needed for
your sight picture and ammunition for a specific distance. Once
you have the tape placed for your zero, you can return the slide
of your auto pistol or just the stripped revolver frame to us by
UPS Ground so that we can cut the front sight to the proper
height. Then, if you want Tritium glow tubes installed, we can
then send the sights to the manufacturer of Tritium glow tubes
you select for installation of the tubes. This costs more that
buying the sights with the Tritium glow tube already installed,
but if you require a precise zero of your pistol or revolver
this is the only way you can do it.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON
ADJUSTING FIXED SIGHTS
Adjusting the windage of a set of fixed
sight requires that you move the rear sight left to move the
point of impact left and right to move the point of impact
right. We do not recommend that you attempt to move the dovetail
front sight to adjust windage. The C&S dovetail front sight
has a 1/16” roll pin installed in a hole that is drilled
through the blade and the slide. This roll pin insures that the
front sight will not drift out of the dovetail. There are two
reasons to install a dovetail front sight. One reason is to
allow the initial centering of the front sight for windage
zeroing. The second reason is to insure that the front sight
will not fly off of the pistol as the old style staked on or
silver soldered on front sights did.
Adjusting the rear sight for windage
requires that you loosen the small Allen set screw and then
drift the rear sight right or left. The rear sight must be
installed tightly in the dovetail to keep it from moving during
firing. The Allen setscrew is merely a back up to add more
tension to resist movement during firing. You must never tighten
the Allen set screw too much. You can actually jack the rear
sight up and bend the dovetail edges in the slide up and loosen
the tension that they create on the sight by over tightening the
Allen set screw. You should always place the long end of the arm
of the Allen wrench in the set screw and use the short arm as
the lever to turn the set screw. A small drop of thread locker
is recommended on the setscrew. Do not use the red thread
locker; use the type that is designed to be loosened without
heat.
Drifting the rear sight is accomplished by
using a brass drift and a 4 oz. ball peen hammer. The brass
drift should be made from a 3/8” piece of brass stock that is
about 4” long. You should also file the end of the drift into
a rectangle to cover as much of the rear sight through the
dovetail as possible. If you only touch the rear sight in a
small area on the upper edge you will dent the rear sight when
you try to drift it.
You must put the slide in a padded vise to
hold it properly when attempting the drift the rear sight. NEVER
ATTEMPT TO DRIFT THE REAR SIGHT BY LAYING THE PISTOL ON ITS SIDE
ON THE BENCH!!! You can damage the slide to frame fit or the
rear sight if you do this. Place the slide in the padded vise so
that the rear sight is just above the vise jaws. This will give
the slide the most support and allow the blow of the drift to be
fully transmitted to the rear sight. DO NOT PLACE THE SLIDE IN
THE VISE WITH THE PORTION OF THE SLIDE THAT HOLDS THE REAR SIGHT
HANGING OUT OF THE JAWS! This will allow the slide to spring
sideways when you try to drift the rear sight. This absorbs the
hammer blow and usually makes the drift glance off of the rear
sight damaging the rear sight or the slide.
I also recommend that you put a couple of
layers of masking tape on the end of the drift that you place
against the rear sight. This helps reduce the brass marking of
the rear sight. You will have to replace the tape every time you
use the drift.
A word of advice when you are zeroing your
handgun: You must shoot your handgun exactly as you normally
would. You cannot shoot your handgun off of a bench and then
expect it to shoot to the same point of aim when you stand and
shoot with a two hand hold or one hand hold. The reason for this
is the leverage you exert on the recoil of the handgun when
shooting off of the bench is more than the leverage you exert on
the handgun when you stand. The increased leverage you exert on
the handgun when shooting off of the bench is greater so the
barrel raises less before the bullet leaves the barrel than when
you stand to shoot. The handgun will always shoot higher when
standing than when shot off of the bench. This is based on the
premise that you don’t flinch or jerk the trigger when
shooting. The handgun will also shoot higher when using a one
hand hold than when using a two hand hold. The grip pressure
that you exert must be the same for each shot or you will
experience vertical stringing of your shots. The magnum handguns
are more likely to be effected by changing your grip pressure
than the lighter loaded calibers. You will find that the magnum
revolvers that have been ported are easier to shoot groups with
than the un-ported ones. The porting tends to reduce the
vertical stringing. This is due mostly to the fact that your
grip gets looser as your muscles tire because of the recoil. We
rest the side of our forearm of the supporting arm shooting with
a two hand hold when zeroing a handgun. This does not effect the
bullet impact and steadies the handgun so you can be as accurate
as you can when shooting standing.
William R. Laughridge
President, Cylinder & Slide Inc.