Avanti Diopter Sights

[papa]

Wondering if any of you might be able to share your insight. We just got a Daisy 599 to start teaching the kids how to shoot. It comes with the Avanti diopter sight set. Setting it up out of the box I noticed the rear sight elevation was dialed up tight to the top. I figured it was from the manufacturing process so I dialed it down to the center mark, what I assumed was zero elevation for a 10m set up. Looks like I was wrong. I was hitting the base of a Gehmann 10m rifle pellet trap at 5m. I kept dialing the elevation up until it was maxed out and was hitting just below the 10. I backed up to 10m and was hitting just north of the 10. I also notice that windage is affected when the elevation is changed. Is this consistent with anyone else's experience? Ultimately I can drop them in the 9/10 after lowering the elevation about 19 clicks which puts the useful elevation adjustment in the top 1/8th of the rear sight ( at 10m).

I'll admit I don't have much experience with 10m sight systems but it seems that the useful range is so small. Are the front and rear sights supposed to be the same height when in neutral adjustment? Clearly the front is static, why isn't the rear elevation at zero in the middle of the adjustment range so you can be near the target center at 10m?

Couple of notes on the rifle; Seems overall pretty good quality for the price range. The barrel on the one we just got says hammer forged on it, but it does not say BSA. The bluing on the barrel is not the " deep rich" that I've read people talk about. On inspection there is a bit of droop to it. I took the action out of the stock and turned it upside down on the kitchen counter. Pressing down square on the receiver end, the front sight base raises off the counter a bit. I didn't measure it but it was notable. I don't think this has anything to do with the sighting situation though. ( Probably doesn't help a bunch ) The receiver says made in England on it, not sure if that means the entire gun, or just the receiver. The anodizing is very nice on it. Trigger is quite nice for the price range, haven't felt the need to mess around with it. Stock fit and finish is good, very acceptable again, for the price. The literature says beech, but the box said maple. I wouldn't know either if it bit me. The adjustment components for the stock are adequate, pretty solid when tightened up. Bring your own Allen head set though, metric. Pellet loading is nice, just drop it right way around in the trough and push the bolt forward. Easy for kids. Probe fill system, not used to it but not bad. Seems to fill very slowly. I haven't kept very close account but it seems about 80 shots to the red zone on the gauge. So far, in my experience, not a real tack driver. I'm hoping it will break in a bit, I've only put about 300 rounds through it. Not a cheap feeling gun by any means.

In any event, thanks for any input you all might have regarding the sights. If anyone has any questions on this Daisy 599 let me know and I'll do my best to answer.