1917 Artillary Rear Sight Adjustment
 

1917 Artillary Rear Sight Adjustment

CAN ANYONE EXPLAIN HOW TO FINE ADJUST THE REAR SIGHT.

I picked up my !917 Artillary monday morning, cleaned it and took it to the range with a aftermarket stock that fit the old holster perfict (It might match the gun if I left it out in the yard for about 5 yr. The gun shot great 70 rounds fired with only one jam and that was without the stock so it might have been (LIMP WRIST).
It hit the target high at 25 yd about 3" at 100 yd maybe 8" or more.
On the rear sight there is an adjustment screw which looks like a security head screw with 2 holes. I purchased the tool below. Is their any Directions on how to use it?
It will be a few days before I get it so I think I will spray that screw with Penetrating Oil several times to get ready as the gun had some rust on it.

Ed Reimbold

Your 1917 LP08 may or may not have adjustment screws fore and/or aft. Mate the twin holes in the screws (if any) with the prongs on the adjustment tool, and twist it gently. Personally, I prefer to use a paper clip.

Alternatively, you can vandalize a flat head screw driver, so that 2 prongs are left over. The rear sight screw usually is pretty loose, the ones on the front can be stuck enough to break this little tool quite quicly.

There is some usfull information in this forum.

Luger Accessories.: Sight adjusting tool for the Artillery.

http://forum.lugerforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=126

Alf.

Ed, As been said above, the tool show is ONLY for find tune screws that turn easily. Rather than break the pins on an expensive original tool, I like Vlim's suggestion for ones that are stuck. TH

The screw will only turn 1/2 turn and I don't want to break it off.
See Picture below (Is the top plate 2 pc. and the turning the screw seperates the 2 pc. If the two pc. are rusted together or even dried gumed up oil I think I might ruin the screw before I seperated them. I think that as you turn the screw clockwise the 2 pc. should seperate. But I am not shure how the fine sight adjustment works.
Any help will be much appreciated
Ed

Hi,

If you look closely at the rear sight, you will see that there are 3 thin lines on either side of the rear sight and one single thin line on either side of the screw adjustable part. The screw is used to set the height of the rear sight, the lines are used as guidelines.

On my 1917 LP08 the adjustable part is set to align with the center of the 3 lines.

Sorry for the bum scan quality, but I think it gets the message across anyway :)

Gerben, I hope this helps. Regards, Norm

Norme, it does. Great shot ;)

Thanks,
Now I know how it should work, but it turns only 1/2 turn and the adjustibal part will not move, it is frozen.
Any ideas on how to free it up?

All,
Thanks for the help!
I got it working by turning the adjustment screw as far as I could each way and applying heat with a lighter. After about 4 cycles of this I could adjust it throughout the entire range.
Thanks to the Forum, now all of my Lugers are operating properly even the Stainless Steel one.
Thanks,

Ed -

Congratulations on finding a novel way to free it up.

One more solution that I have used successfully is to simply put a few drops of "Liquid Wrench" on the screw and let it sit for a few hours. This will loosen up any old lubricant gum and/or rust and allow you to turn the screw.

I had a can of Liquid Wrench years ago and when it ran out I started using WD-40. I think it is time for me to buy another can of Liquid Wrench, as I remember it smelled more powerfull than WD-40.

Use care with WD-40. It is a water displacement chemical, not really a lubricant. It can be helpful breaking rust free, but be sure to lubricate properly with a penetrating oil after you use it.

Marc

Rear Sight Adjustment Tool
 

The screw is a Drilled Spanner head (slang) (Snake-eye) also called Security screws or Tamper resistant screws. They have been used on Elevators for many years. I use them on my gun box lock I got them at McMaster Carr along with a bit. See Pic#2
When I got my Artillery I checked with them but they had no Metric drivers or Spanner screws so I paid $40 for the little brass tool.
After I got my sight adjustment screw working I realized that the screw is the exact same size as a 4-40 Spanner Head screw. (0.094" c/c holes) McMaster Carr bit price $1.75 or $8.25 for the whole scredriver See Pic#1.
As I see it I can justify paying $38.25 more and waiting a week because the round pins in the brass one are less likely to deform the edges of the holes in the screw and the pins are exactly the same depth as the holes in the screw so the brass flat of the driver rests on top of the screw. (less potential for damage) Also because I played $40 for the tool I was careful not to force it. Most important is that My $1300 Artillary is not damaged and the sight is now adjustable.
If your screw is not stuck the modern tool is OK (It is lower cost) but it sure does not look as neat as the wooden handle one I saw with a price of $500.00 or my little $40.00 brass one. Pic#3