Flintlock Scope?

[david50]

i think i just threw up a little. :barf: :td:

 

[Dphar]

don't let them get to you

Optics on guns goes all the way back to Sir Isaac Newton and his experiments with the idea way back then.
Did the average fella even ever see or hear about such a thing? Nope. But the idea was out there.

I think that getting mounts that would allow adjusting the point of impact defeated Newton's attempts to put telescopic sights on rifles. Making the optics was not a problem.
Finally sometime in the 1830s they became practical for use but were still very fragile and had poor, by modern standards, optics, field of view etc. They really took off in the 1870s and were fairly popular on Sharps rifles in the mid-late 1870s for use in the west at least.
They were not all that common on hunting rifles in the decades previous SFAIK.
It is very unlikely that there was any significant numbers on flintlocks but its impossible, given that Newton had some scopes mounted on rifles it seems, to say that it never occurred.


Dan

 

[Dphar]

Have never seen any original flintlock with an optical glass sight. The closest is a Kentucky/Pennsylvania style rifle illustrated in "The Book Of Rifles", p.27. This particular rifle is labeled, "A Kentucky Rifle, circa 1770. Made by J. Bender, location unknown". What is actually on this rifle is a tunnel type sight which appears to be about 9" to 11" long and is basically a sheet of thin iron (?) that's been bent over a wooden or metal rounded tube and attached to the sides of the barrel, though that technique isn't obvious. What resulted was a rounded top, long tunnel fitted over the rear sight, obviously to improve rear sight clarity. It also appears to have two or three holes in it, about where the rear sight should be, with the intent to sharpen the appearance of that sight.(?) This is basically my interpretation of an old, semi-focused photo. The question presents the theory that J. Bender either thought it a great idea or a later owner did...who knows? :idunno:

Its called a sight shade. Keeps glare off the open sights. There is a full length site shade on a heavy FL match rifle in Kindig's book.

Dan

 

[Robby]

Somewhere :idunno: I saved an article. In it, if I remember correctly, Benjamin Franklin asked Congress for money to purchase a number of brass rifle scopes. I could find nothing beyond that as to weather Congress ever allotted money for the purchase, or any description of the scopes themselves.
Robby

 

[Many Klatch]

A lot of the Chunk Gun shooters use full length "shaders" on their guns. Normal sights, but a piece of tin bent to cover the top of the gun from muzzle to tang. the tin cover is usually a snap fit to either the sides of the barrel or the sides of the stock. The purpose of the shader is to keep the light on the sights constant. That is about as sophisticated a sight as I have ever seen on a flintlock.

Many Klatch

 

[Zonie]

Assuming the information I posed up above is correct, it's no wonder that ole Ben didn't get his scopes from congress.

He died April 17, 1790 which is about 50 years before the first documented telescopic sight was made.

 

[Robby]

I don't know if your information is correct or not Zonie. The information about Franklin And the scopes, in the context of my reading about it, was not that people doubted the ordering of the scopes, they had documentation. It was weather what they were calling "scopes" were just tubes with some sort of cross hair in them, or weather they had lenses that offered magnification.
Robby

 

[inthex]

:rotf:

i think i just threw up a little. :barf: :td:

 

[bpbuilder]

There are vintage scopes specifically made for 1800s black powder guns, and they are very period accurate reproductions. They are fitted to the gun using the Dovetails on the barrel, and are very long and thin (About the length of the barrel). They also not only look period accurate, but are really slick. They use a single blade sight instead of a reticle. You basically tap them in and you're good to go, specifics are hard to find on which scopes fit which one. Also, I'll mention, flintlock and percussion black powder go hand in hand. You can find the two styles on the same gun 9/10.

 

[1dogdown]

Blasphemy

 

[nkbj]

Thumbs up for the pistol scopes. There are also two piece compression mounts that are of octagonal inside cross section. On a half stock the lower piece fits in between the barrel and the ram rod.
I've posted it before but in case a visual aid is needed, this here is my scary black rifle.
Still trying to find a reasonably priced hollow base mold for it... fat chance on that!
Got the flinter version too but it's fitted with an octagonal to round smoothbore barrel.

 

[bpbuilder]

Get a Malcom scope. Anything else will look too out of place.

 

[Bob McBride]

Lord have mercy...

 

[appalichian hunter]

Even a Malcom on a flinter in my opinion would be a bit of overkill why not just put a good peep sight on it.

 

[bigted]

this might just be the wrong group to ask about sight advancements.

Thinking your question MAY just be answered on another "forward thinking" group of peoples forum.

kinda likened to installing a pickup bed on an Eldarodo.

 

[kje54]

this might just be the wrong group to ask about sight advancements.

Thinking your question MAY just be answered on another "forward thinking" group of peoples forum.

kinda likened to installing a pickup bed on an Eldarodo.

It's been done...........

 

[Nameless Hunter]

It's been done...........

Wow...

 

[TFoley]

A scope on is flintlock is like putting GPS on a chariot.

 

[kje54]

A scope on is flintlock is like putting GPS on a chariot.

Well if you're in the desert.......... "Turn right at the next sand dune."

 

[coloradoclyde]

A scope on is flintlock is like putting GPS on a chariot.

More like GPS on a Ferris wheel or a Train.