Aligning sights with a piece of thread

[ndnchf]

The other day I received a new Lee Shaver Soule sight for my .44-77 #1 Remington sporting rifle.  Today I got the sights aligned and thought others may be interested in how I do it. There are other ways, perhaps some better. This is just what I find works for me and my aging eyes.

I use a piece of white thread and run it through the front sight aperture, down the barrel and through the tang sight aperture.  At the end of the  eye cup I tie it to a small O-ring as an anchor point.  At the front, I tie the other end to a rubber grommet to provide enough weight to keep the thread taught.  With that done, I can see the white thread in relation to the barrel to visually see if it is centered.  In my case all three sights needed adjustment. 
The front sight needed to come left just a tad, maybe .020"  A couple taps with a brass punch and it was good.  The tang sight was leaning left a little (almost all lean one way or another!), so it needed a shim under the base on the left side. I cut a piece of .010" thick brass and slipped it under the base.  That's all it took to get it centered.  With the front and rear sight centered, I then centered the barrel sight to the thread.

Its important to note that this is simply centering the sights on the barrel, it does NOT mean they are centered to the bore.  But they should be close enough to get started at the range.  I hope this is helpful 

[KenH]

I like that idea - you're using your old noggin for something other than a hat rack