heat mirage on front sight...

[sfruhwirth]

Can anyone tell me how the overcome they heat mirage off the front sights of their shooters.. It only really happens on warm sunny days for me... but can be a real pain.

The shooter i have the most problem with is my Hatfield rock slapper. It does have a brass front blade, and i've read some who have had some issues with brass blades before.. What do ya'll think?

She's quite a shooter otherwise. :thanks:

 

[musketman]

I don't suspect that the brass is the suspect for the heat vapors, how many shots do you shoot before you notice the heat distortion?

There has been cases where a hooded front sight will eliminate the distorted image, but this will add weight to the gun...

Try this simple experiment at the range for me, take some aluminum foil and wrap the front half of the barrel and stock, have your front sight poke through the foil only and shoot a few rounds through the gun... (I know, it looks funny, but humor me)

Is there any heat rise distortion after doing this?

If not, your barrel (blued?) is conducting heat, the foil is reflecting heat away, like a light and dark shirt in the summer, the lighter one is cooler to wear...

If the foil works to reduce the image distortion, then I would suggest you conceder buffing the bluing a bit to remove the deep luster and give it some reflectiveness...

 

[Rebel]

Take a thin piece of cardboard and make you a hood. Just fold it over the sight and slide it into the edge of the stock channel between barrel and stock. Can do the same thing with the rear sight to eliminate glare.

 

[JOHN L. HINNANT]

Greetings Wez,

The old timers (and new timers too) used/use an add-on called a "shader".

A number of my shooting friends made their "shaders" from PVC pipe 2" - 4" long. A section of the pipe just smaller than the width of the barrel is removed from the full length of the pipe. This gap is slipped over the side flats of the barrel and held in place by the pressure of the pipe trying to collapse on itself.

My two shaders are made from 2 pieces of rolled aluminum sheet, 4 inches long and about 2-1/4 inches in diameter. It is best to paint to paint the iside and outside of the shaders with black paint to minimize reflective sun light.

Two shaders are used; one for each sight. Some rules allow a barrel length shader to be used. Shaders are definately a great help on a bright, sunny day.

Hope this information will be of help.

Best regards and good shooting,

John L. Hinnant

 

[Bob Riegl]

Haul yourself to your nearest JoAnn's or Wally world and go to the sewing department. You want to get "Elastic Braid" in black ---from 1/2" to 3/4". You can rig up something to hold this in place from your rear to front sight, under a little tension ( too keep it from thrumming in the breeze ) this is what I use for a "Mirage Band" when I shoot High Power rifle to dissipate the heat waves from the line of sight (LOS). I usually sew or rivet a small "key" ring to both ends of the elastic braid, and then manufacture small clips to keep the band in place. The black will not upset your vision and believe me this really works, and the heat of the barrel dissipates out from the sides and not in the LOS. It's cheap and dirty, without any other stuff hanging on the barrel. :imo: