Front To Rear Sight Distance

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musketman

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What is the recommended distance between the front and rear sight for any given barrel length?

A 42 inch barrel should have a ? inch gap between the front and rear sight...

I would suspect the front sight be set 1/2 to 1 inch from the muzzle, where does this place the rear sight? (and don't say "on top of the barrel between you and the muzzle")
 
There may be a "standard" distance, but I've always installed the front sight and stuck the rear sight on a piece of refrigerator magnet and stuck it to the barrel. I then adjust until I get a picture that is clear to me. I've noticed it seems to be creeping towards the front of the barrel the older I get.... :results:
 
I've gotten old enough that I put my rear sight in the front dovetail and the front sight is on an extension in front of the barrel :crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
 
What is the recommended distance between the front and rear sight for any given barrel length?

A 42 inch barrel should have a ? inch gap between the front and rear sight...

I would suspect the front sight be set 1/2 to 1 inch from the muzzle, where does this place the rear sight? (and don't say "on top of the barrel between you and the muzzle")


DAMN! I was gonna say that, now I have nuthin' ta say! I put my rear sight behind the front one, is that right?

Oh, don't fret, I put my sight at about 8 inches from the breech. That works for me, but I've seen rear sights much further up than that, probably by a good four inches, that wouldn't work for me.
 
Lookin at pictures of old guns you see sights put on all over the place but most rear sights fall between the ramrod entry pipe and about 6" from the breech. Usually the balance point is avoided so the sight doesn't dig into your hand while carrying the gun. a long distance between front and rear is best for accuracy, but you need a good (young) eye for that to work. Us older guys like the rear sight further forward so we can see it more clearly. some of my guns have two notches for the rear sight; One where I liked it 15 years ago and one about 4" to 6" forward of that for my changing eyesight. When building a gun put on the front sight and then use tape or a magnet to try out different places for the rear sight. Go outside when doing this and sight on a target you use to get a better "feel" for where it should be.
This is all for open sights. If you are using a rear peep sight it will have to be back close to your eye to work right. Size of the aperature is the key to where to install it. lots of these end up way back on the tang. again hold it on with tape or something to try it out first.
 
About any place your eyes focus best at. Just remember where your rifle balances at, you don't want the rear sight to be digging into your hand when you carry the gun. That four or five inches of barrel is off limits for sights as far as I'm concerned. If your focal point falls in this area, move the sight just past where the front of your hand would naturaly grip the rifle when carrying it. BJH
 
Years ago, (nuff said) rear sight was about 8 inches from breech end, most recent build was at 11.5 inches. Next one, that would just be a factor of SWAG.
 
"This is all for open sights. If you are using a rear peep sight it will have to be back close to your eye to work right. Size of the aperature is the key to where to install it. lots of these end up way back on the tang. again hold it on with tape or something to try it out first. "[/quote]

Have you seen the closed buckhorn rear sight sold at TOW? Well, I am now sold on them, I simply cannot believe what a difference it made in the sight picture. The sight goes into the regular dovetail for a conventional rear sight.

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/categories...tNum=RS-CA-PEEP

As for the nit pickers, I could care a rat's hinny less if it is accepted for primitive shoots or not. My eyes are at the stage where if I am to enjoy shooting ML, I have to be able to see where I am shooting, the closed buckhorn is a real gift for old dodders such as I. Also, as an aside, they are traditional, someone had a picture of a ML in a museum in Iowa that had a closed buckhorn on it.
 
A rats hiney TANSTALLF? Tsk. Tsk. Shame on you! You should stay PC even if it means you can't hit anything at any distance any more. :crackup:

I am aware of Tracks buckhorn peep and have been thinking about it.
I won't even mention some of the blasphemis little items I have considered fitting to a swamped barrel just so I can make an ethical shot on an animal.
I sure won't mention the new 1/4" peep site by Truglo, the one with the fiber optic inserts and of how tacky that blue sight will look against a browned barrel. Oh the shame.
I will beg everyones forgiveness during Novembers rut. :sorry:
 
I'm missing something about the benefit of placing that "peep" rear sight-notch (semi-micro-buckhorn?) where the old sight had been. I can see where moving it back to function like a ghost ring would help, but when farther forward doesn't it just cover up the target more? Or, are you using it like a peep and centering the target in it and placing the front sight under the target, ignoring the rear entirely like a true peep?

Never tried a peep that wasn't more than a couple inches from my eye.
 
The rear sight on my favorite rifle is right on the balance point, right where it has to be, to sight anything..I just have to tough it out on the handling. I do not want a gun that carrys well, and the sights are blurry.
 
Stump- You just look through that "peep" located where the normal rear open sight is. I use a center hold with the front sight. The correct term for this sight is "closed buckhorn", and I've made them exactly like that, by pinching the horns closed. I posted the Iowa museum rifle picture, and I also have one from the Arches National Monument (or whatever the correct name is) in St. Louis. But that one is a St. Louis Hawken, and the rear sight looks like a 1/4" flat washer. If I can find that photo, I'll post it. Doc Gary White (owns White Muzzleloaders, and had the old Green River Rifleworks) told me he shoots a closed buckhorn quite a bit, and has never been called on it. If so, you take a jeweler's saw and cut a tiny slot at the top, and its a "buckhorn" again. I make my own, and they are easy to use.
 
With a conventional rear sight, it is all a fuzzy blur, with the closed buckhorn, I now pay no attention at all to the rear sight. As with any other aperture sight, the eye automatically seeks the center of that opening, allowing one to concentrate upon the now clear front sight and target.

All my future rifle builds will incorporate the closed buckhorn, I want to have a good look when using the gun, not have the gun look good when using.

If one's old eyes ain't what they used to be and you get a chance, try out the closed buckhorn, you won't be disappointed.
 
Greetings Musketman,

I have spent literally 50 years measuring the details of every original ML rifle I could get permission to examine.

Location of sights, particular the front sight, have been particularly noted.

The average distance from the center of the front sight to the muzzle seems to be 1-3/4 inchs, with none being closer than 1-1/2 inch.

This figure is based on the measuring of over 350 original rifles.

I have often wondered if setting the front sight so far back from the muzzle was a built in "fudge factor" with the original gunsmith knowing that the soft iron barrel would at sometime need shortening and recrowning or coning.

I have seen many an amatuer or first time rifle builder spoil the overall appearance of an otherwise nice job by placing the front sight too close to the muzzle.

The placement of the rear sight varies greatly, but NMLRA RULES REQUIRE the rear of the rear sight be placed a minimum of 8 inchs from the end of the barrel breech. This means the end of the barrel proper and does not include any part of the breech (such as a patent breech).

I have examined original barrels that have had up to five rear sight dovetails. The first four were filled with a blank and dressed smooth to blend into the barrel.

Puzzled by this, My old mentor, the late Judge Resley of Ft. Stockton, Texas explained that movinig the rear sight forward was a way to compensate for eyes growing older.

This statement must have had some truth in it, because all of my newer rifles have the rear sight far down the barrel.

Hope this will help you.

Best regards, John L. Hinnant
 
John,
thank you for the information it's preatty
obvious you have done your research!!! :applause:
snake-eyes :peace: :thumbsup:
 
The correct term for this sight is "closed buckhorn"

Guess I'm confusing terminology. I was thinking "closed" and "full" buckhorn were descriptions of the same animal. It ain't like the full buckhorns I've seen before (which I never cared for).

sporting1.jpg


The T.O.T.W. rear sure is less offensive than most "modern" sight options. I can see the writin on the wall, and it's blurry. Soon I'll be to the point of favoring visibility over "correctness". Sucks to get old.
 
Greetings All,

I need to make a slight correction to that 3rd paragraph. It should have read, '"The average distance from the center of THE DOVE TAIL..........

And there is one other detail. The oldtimers generally cut their sight dovetails much more shallow than is normally done today; about 1/2 or 2/3's of the depth usually found on todays modern rifles.

My favorite front sight is the Thompson-Center Primitive Front Sight. It may not be PC, but PC has never been my long suit any way. The T-C Primitive sight is easier to see (for me) on paper/ steel target or on game.

A bit of reshaping with a file will give the sight a more correct appearance for those persons who feel this is necessary.

I like to mill off the bottom of the sight, reducing the thickness of the sight and the corresponding depth of the barrel dovetail.

Hope this information will be useful.

Best regards, John L. Hinnant
 
I have examined original barrels that have had up to five rear sight dovetails. The first four were filled with a blank and dressed smooth to blend into the barrel.

Puzzled by this, My old mentor, the late Judge Resley of Ft. Stockton, Texas explained that movinig the rear sight forward was a way to compensate for eyes growing older.

This would make it a sight for sore eyes... :crackup:
 
Stump if you just put that sight you show in the dovetails backwards you move it about 4" up the barrel without cutting dovetails. Might have to work on the buckhorn a little to get the slope right. If you happen to have one of the long hawkin sights you might even get 6 to 8" That helps the old eyes some too. That might put it in the wrong place for your balance point though. This is just another way to move sights up the barrel without having to cut new dovetails. But it only prolongs the time when something else will have to be done.
Fox :thumbsup:
 
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