There's a problem with my sight...

I went shooting on the weekend. It was for fun (as always) and also to test out the feel and effectiveness of the new grips I've installed on my Shadow 2 (CZ) as pictured. The grips replaced the factory ones and are designed to provide a more secure grip on the handgun allowing better recoil management and, therefore, better accuracy. Once home I went through the usual process of cleaning the gun, packing away my gear and making sure that it's ready to roll for next time. It's a ritual I have adhered to for a long time and really is best practice for proper gun maintenance. I also like to be able to throw my gear into a bag at very short notice and know it'll run efficiently and trouble free. I guess that's my prepper nature coming though.

Whilst cleaning the handgun though I was dismayed to notice it was, in fact, damaged. I was devastated considering that I'm not made of money and I knew right away it was going to cost some to rectify.

Below you can see an image I took of the front sight. The red-circled thing. The red bar you see is optic fibre that picks up light making the front sight easy to see in pretty much any conditions. When sighting it actually glows brightly. The black base holding the optic fibre is what's damaged. If you look carefully on the back of the sight you'll see a small raised burr sticking out. That's the damage. It sticks upwards towards the sky when in the gun is in the firing position.

I didn't see it at the range over the weekend, or didn't notice it I should say, and to be honest do not know where the gun picked up the damage. What I know though is that somewhere along the line I damaged it. I know it was me because I never let my guns out of my sight and they're either holstered on my hip or packed away. To say I'm fucking pissed is an understatement!

I'll be shooting the Victorian IPSC State Titles in February, the next important match so it'll be fixed by then but it'll cost some money and inconvenience. I ordered the part today which cost me $70AU + shipping and should be here within a few days. I'll fit it myself and then will have to check the guns' zero (aim) to make sure it's still true and correct. (i.e. shooting where I point it and grouping well.)

I was considering taking it to a gunsmith and getting the burr taken off as an interim-fix however it didn't seem right being a precision instrument and all. In case anyone is actually reading this and wondering why such a small defect could make a difference...Well, at close range it doesn't but once the range reaches out further the burr could affect my accuracy. When shooting the front sight is what the eye focuses on, not the back sights or even the actual target. At longer ranges that burr could actually conceal the target somewhat causing a miss.

I'm pretty annoyed with myself for damaging the gun and wish I knew exactly when it occurred however I don't so all I can do is try and be more careful. It's not the first time I've had damaged firearms but it always annoys me. This gun cost me $2000 to buy and shooting it costs a lot more in equipment and ammunition so incurring additional costs like this never sits well with me. Oh well, it was my fault so I'll have to cop it I guess. Another lesson learned, the hard way.