My Colt takes a lot of elevation to get to 50 yard zero. Need a new sight?

Hello folks,
I decided to set up one of my Colt 1911's for both the 25 yard and 50 yard bullseye targets using the adjustable sights on the pistol (Kensight Rear and what appears to be a copy of the USAMU hardball front sight. I use a 200grain LSWC with 4.8grains of VV N-310. At 25 yards, my rear sight is up 46 clicks from the bottom. At 50 yards, the rear sight is up 58 clicks. I use the 6 o'clock hold on the black. Do I need a different height front sight, or is this amount of elevation normal? I suppose there is a standard height for the front sights, but I know not what it is. I prefer an UltraDot  
Thanks!

With irons I'm only used to a few clocks differences four to six clicks or at least on that ballpark. Not to be rude but have you benched the gun at 25 and then at 50 to see how far apart they are in clicks based off of shooting it from a rest? It almost sounds like my starting days with a revolver. Couldn't follow through enough in the beginning. Relaxing the grip as the shot breaks. As I got better my click differences got smaller. Shots would get off high and I'd swear they were good. It was because I was zeroed for the drop I was causing. Just a thought.

That's a stout load. My guess is you're not using much grip and body to resist the recoil. In other words you're just holding your arm out and letting them fly. The whip from the recoil will be more apparent at 50 yds. Work on firmer grip and firmer body (whole body). Hotter loads are unforgiving for us part-time shooters. Requires much more effort to be consistent.
Jon

Amanda, the height of the front sight is dependent on the position of the barrel in the slide your load and your sight picture.  No that is not  "normal" elevation clicks on your rear sight.  That is waiting for the elevation screw to go flying in recoil, never to be seen again.

As Jon said, that is a REALLY stout load you're shooting.  I would suggest backing off at least a few tenths of a grain and see what that gets you as well.

What is the height of your front sight?  I'm going to guess it's up in the .300 range from your description.  You could probably shorten that by .050 at least and get back down into a comfortable range of elevation on your rear sight.

Keep us informed!

Well, it might help if I didn't try to type while cleaning my K-22. The VV N-310 load is actually 3.8 grains, with a 200 grain Oregon Trail hardcast LSWC. I shot the targets off the sandbags using a tight grip. At 25 yards, 8 rounds is a ragged hole in the 10-ring. At 50 yards, I had 4 in the 10 ring, a couple in the 9 ring and two in the 7 ring. In a Ransom rest, the Kart barrelled Colt holds the 10-ring at 50 yards. I guess I never used this pistol for anything but a carry gun, sighted in for 25 yards center-mass. Now that I decided to use it as a bullseye pistol, it seems like the rear elevation is much higher than it should be to get a 50 yard zero. When my Dobe wakes up in the morning. I'll go get my caliper out from under her paws and measure the front sight. Thanks for the help

if you have this syle of front sight:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Colt-1911A1-Army-National-Match-Front-Sight-parkerized-385-MOE-New-Original/252816904907?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D41375%26meid%3Db96a7461b7c54a3b93254bd981dfaebe%26pid%3D100033%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D8%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D132217090352

then those were very tall.. usually over .370 and were intended to be used with old Bomar style rear sight that was Not cut low into the slide..   if you rear sight is melded into the slide then cutting down the sight is the way to go.. as KC noted .050 is a good starting  amount to lower it

This might be useful https://dawsonprecision.com/sight-calculator/

This appears to be easier to use.  http://www.brownells.com/GunTech/Sight_Height_Calculator/detail.htm?lid=13186   Don

My front sight is .220" tall. I'll check out the links. Thanks!

The charts will get you close.  I'm guessing you need to remove approximately .020-.025 off the front sight.  When using those charts remember to put some elevation on your rear sight.  Don't want to zero your front with no elevation on your rear.  I would suggest somewhere between 10-15 clicks from bottom as a starting point to measure the front sight.

Thanks KC, I'll give it a try. I would like to get the number of elevation clicks in the 25-click range.

I made a post here. Then erased it. Now I will try again. Tim:H11 nailed a problem in the original post. 12 clicks up from the 25 yd to the 50 yd using a 6:00 hold is just too much. I can not think of any of my 1911's that would take more then 4. I have been thinking about this and wonder if the rear sight has some sort of micro adjustments. This would explain the large number of clicks and how many clicks are needed just to zero at 25. I wonder how many more clicks does it take to back the sight out completely? Of course you could solve half the problem just by switching to center hold.

Amanda4461 wrote:Hello folks,
I decided to set up one of my Colt 1911's for both the 25 yard and 50 yard bullseye targets using the adjustable sights on the pistol (Kensight Rear and what appears to be a copy of the USAMU hardball front sight. I use a 200grain LSWC with 4.8grains of VV N-310. At 25 yards, my rear sight is up 46 clicks from the bottom. At 50 yards, the rear sight is up 58 clicks. I use the 6 o'clock hold on the black. Do I need a different height front sight, or is this amount of elevation normal? I suppose there is a standard height for the front sights, but I know not what it is. I prefer an UltraDot  
Thanks!

It sounds like the pistol was built as a ball gun. That means it was made to shoot 230 grain FMJ. They would print higher than the 200 grain bullet that you are using. That said if it bothers you, change the front sight to an appropriate height.

Mike,
In the sense that I used 230 grain JHP XTP +P when I spec'd out this pistol for a carry gun, you are correct that it was originally spec'd out as a ball gun. I'll take a file to this one and see if I can get it the way I like it using 185gr Noslers. Thanks for the info!

the factory loaded 185 Noslers? the 915 fps ones?