432uc sight adjustment

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captianworkbench

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Hello everyone. I finally got my 432uc to the range yesterday and really had a good range session with it. I had very good, consistent results and I like the gun very much overall. The only thing I need to improve upon is that the gun prints to the left a bit so I need to adjust the sights a little. Now, I have drifted sights before, so I am not a noob by any means, but I wanted to ask about this particular gun before I went and did something dumb. I see that this rear sight has a set screw in the center. Do I just loosen that, move the sight, and re-tighten the set screw? Any idea as to what size allen key that set screw takes?
 
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I've heard that the rear sights are a pretty tight fit, so after loosening the screw, you may still have to tap it with a nylon or brass punch.
A sight adjustment tool is even better if it is tight or you aren't real accurate with a punch.
Placing some masking tape on the frame will help prevent marring if the punch should contact it.

I don't know what size the screw is, but it is tiny.

Enjoy your 432UC, it's a pretty neat gun.
 
Mine shoots a little left too. Good luck trying to drift that rear sight. Mine wouldn’t even budge after loosening the screw and whacking the hell out of the sight. I just live with it and favor right.
 
Yep', mine goes way left to! About 3-4 inches at about 10 yards, which I do not like.

I reload and have tried different loadings and I do get movement in elevations but the gun still prints very left.

Same results with factory ammo, Hornady Critical Defense, DoubleTap, and Federal.

It irritates me so much, I tossed it in the safe and put this 432 UC on pause for now.

I guess I'll have to try drifting the rear sites one day, but whacking a $700 j-frame with a hammer is something I don't want to do and letting my local gunsmith do it for a $100 minimum fee irks me to.

I own more than a dozen S&W revolvers, five of them j-frames, none of which print this far off at 10 yards.

Is this a common thing for these guns or just some of them?

The marketing of this gun said it was regulated to Speer gold dot ammo, but that ammo is unavailable.

And yes, my XS night site was dead on arrival, but S&W made it good in short order.
 
If you just put it back in your safe, why not call S&W and complain. I'm sure they have had many previous complaints of the "Leftitis" with this model. Let them do the adjustments.
 
Mine has been great from the start so I feel bad for those who have had a bad experience with them. I don't agree with just living with it given the cost of these guns. By all means contact S&W and send it in for adjustment. Those sights are a great improvement over standard J frame sights so take advantage of them.
 
For those shooting to the left, are the barrels canted to the right?
 
Shoots Left

Yes, my new 432 also shoots left. Also, I don't find the cylinder release and cylinder to move smoothly. I'm used to revolvers where those operate like glass. But, my new one out of the box requires 2 hands to get the cylinder out. On its own, it does not leave the frame. Is that your experience? Is that an issue or is that just the way they are constructed?
 
I just got the newest 432 UC in 32 h&r mag with the titanium cylinder. I was so excited. I’m not a big revolver guy, but picked up a J frame 38 special and had Wilson combat lighter springs installed and it shot insanely good. Ordered some falcon holsters to try and they were reasonably comfortable. Most semi autos are unbearably uncomfortable since I sit in an office all day. Anyways, I saw the appeal of a J frame and the first time I shot it 7yd it was dead nuts accurate. Obviously taking my time to shoot. I decided this was a platform I wanted to invest in and purchased the 432. I shot a box of 20rd and they’re all left and scattered. Being a softer shooting round I don’t know how I shot it so poorly. It’s less broken in I guess, so I wasn’t able to stage the trigger much. This was at only 5yd too. I’m extremely upset. I’m debating on if I should have my gunsmith mess with the sights and practice shooting it some more, I could send it back to S&W, or I could sell it and accept a loss. Then find another used J-frame in 32 to carry. I’d be losing out on the upgraded sights and all though. Really at a loss.
 

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If the rear sight appears canted or visibly moved to one side I would send it back to Smith. I have only spent that kind of money one other time and I am happy with what I bought.
Smith will pick up the freight etc. and you will have your gun back in about two weeks.
 
Yeah, wouldn’t hurt to have them look it over and QC again. I was so excited when the UC versions were announced and then saw a number of people on YouTube claiming the quality control was bad. I was skeptical and eventually got over it. Now I am concerned. Very odd so many others are reporting the same thing.
 
H Richard said:
If you just put it back in your safe, why not call S&W and complain. I'm sure they have had many previous complaints of the "Leftitis" with this model. Let them do the adjustments.
Click to expand...
Exactly
 
Update: I took the revolver to my gunsmith and he did some math on how far the sight needed to go. He said it was off centered before he touched it, but the adjustment was so great, he moved the rear sight all the way to the edge as far as he could without it hanging off. I test fired it again today. At 7yd, it's printing roughly in the same spot it was printing before at 5yd. There is no more room for adjustment so I will be filing a warranty and sending it back to S&W. I heard a lot of QC issues with S&W prior to purchasing this gun hoping they'd been resolved, but it seems like that's not the case. This might burn me out on the brand. We'll see how the customer service experience is.
 
An old gun that works beats a new one which doesn't. My fixed sight 1968 Model 33-1 was zeroed at 25 yards for factory ammo as it come from the box.
20250612_204455~2.jpg
On light alloy frames where you cannot turn the barrel without damaging the frame, I take a light cut off the front sight on the side towards which I want the impact to move. On a 1-7/8" gun reducing front sight width by 0.010" moves POI 3 inches at 25 yards. This also improves sight picture for older eyes and is much easier and safer than trying to cut on the fixed sight rear notch in the top strap.

Best done in a milling machine, but if you are good with hand tools, go slow and carefully, measuring as you go, it can be done with a file as on this Model 642.20250612_181708~2.jpg
 
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Are any you guys testing accuracy by shooting with both hands? Have any of you let someone else shoot it to see how it prints for them? All these posts about pulling way to the left seem like it could be something other than sight/barrel alignment. I've noticed the trigger pull on mine feels different compared to other j frames I've shot in the past. The trigger pull somehow feels longer until it breaks. I could see how that may cause a right handed shooter to yank it left.
 
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