Peep Sight

[dmills]

I am not a serious reinactor nor am I striving to be absolutely period correct at this point. I am getting the T/C Hawkens and I do spend a lot of time at the range. Due to my eyes, I am having diffuculty focusing with open sights at any distance over 25 yards. Even at 25 yards the front sight is blurred. I do much better with peep sights.

In a effort to stay at least somewhat period correct this time period up to 1860, are you aware of any peep sights on the market that would be acceptable?

 

[dmills]

I am not a serious reinactor

Who am I kidding--I ain't no kind of reinactor at all. :rotf: Didn't mean to mislead anyone.

 

[Gary]

If you go to the Frazier Arms Museum in Louisville, KY, you'll see an ornate wheellock that has a open rear sight but a focusing device (much like an aperture sight) on the tang. Peepsights were used by Arab (or Turkish) riflemen and had several holes drilled in them for different elevations. Peepsights actually predate the muskets and may be found on crossbows.

 

[ResearchPress]

Even at 25 yards the front sight is blurred.

Distance to the target should not make any difference. You should always focus on your foresight and accept a slight blurring of the target.

David

 

[LRB]

Muzzle Loader Builders Supply offers one. They list it as the Johnson peep sight. Comes with two aperatures. My catalog lists it at $17.95. These are windage adjustable, but I am not sure about elevation unless it is meant to be bent to where you want it. I have made a couple similar to these of a simpler design, and added an elevation screw. Works great. I used the cupped head of a brass trade tack as the aperature, but my aperatures are soldered on, so you cannot change them like the Johnson. I just used a piece of 1/16" cold roll about 3/8" wide and bent it to an L shape and went from there. I went with a 3/32" aperature hole, and polished the inside of the brass cup for low light shooting. This is mounted on a repro 1861 Springfield that has an Ed Rayl barrel fitted to it. Looks like a captured Springfield, used as a sniper's rifle.

 

[Wehrmacht]

I have seen a number of Spanish muskets from 16th-17th century shipwrecks off Florida's coast with peep sights. The M-1 Garand I carried back in the 50's had one....wonder why we ever changed given a peep's superior qualities :bow:.

 

[twotoescharlie]

get a T/C peep sight designed for this particular rifle (midsouth shooters[url] supply.com[/url]) It is not overly large like the lyman or williams and mounts, no hassle.

TTC

 

[Landngroove]

Get the Thompson/Center peep sight made for this Hawken. T/C part # 7194. Call T/C, ask for the repair dept. They will install one for you. The tang needs to be drilled, for this sight. I have this sight on several of my T/C muzzleloaders, and I really like it. You can also screw in Williams aperatures, of different sizes on these peep sights, if you want a different aperture opening. T/C Arms, (603) 332-2333

 

[marmot]

Another option is put the 'peepsight' on your shooting glasses, such as a Merit sight, or a piece of black tape with a hole in it. Shooting glasses with frosted lens, or other 'peep' arrangements on eyewear go back to at least 1860, though I'm not sure how much earlier... This keeps you from having to alter the gun, and I find it helps me to maintain a more constant head postition (you are now lining up three points instead of just two in your sights) in addition to a better sight picture. Yes, I know that theoretically only the front sight needs to be sharp... but I also know that I jumped up one class almost immediately when I started using a glasses-mounted sight, and I didn't have to change anything on my gun... Whatever works best for you! A piece of tape with a hole in it is really cheap to try... :thumbsup:

M

 

[dmills]

I have considered the Merit sight and I thank you for the suggestion of the tape with hole in it. I will try that first before investing in the Merit.

I was at the Cabelas today and looked at and through the buckhorn sights on the Lyman GPR and I like that sight a lot. I did not have the focusing problem that I have experienced with the open sights that have the fiber optic inserts. Track of the Wolf carries several buckhorn style sights. Is it safe to assume that the "primitave buckhorn" (for example)would be PC?

 

[BS]

Have you seen this one from TOTW.

 

[Slamfire]

Some of the Williams inserts. an aperature is also available.

 

[LittleMoe430]

Does Muzzle Loader Builders Supply have a website?

 

[LRB]

www.muzzleloaderbuilderssupply.com. But it is under construction, so I don't know if you will find this sight. It is very period looking, but uses standard aperatures.

 

[dmills]

I decided not to get a tang peep sight or to otherwise get a sight that would require drilling new holes.

Here is my solution:

The screwholes match the original T/C sight holes and the rear blade can be replaced with any standard 3/8" dovetail. I am adding the buckhorn:

This set-up will give me the buckhorn sight that I liked on the GPR and at least looks more PC than the original T/C style rear sight.

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Anything is more PC than the T/C rear sight but moving the rear blade more rearward will make the focus issue even worse. You may want to mount that one backward so that it is farther from the eye. The ears of the buckhorn won't help any either, never could figure out why the buckhorn style became popular but I sure can see why it isn't any more. The horns just make the sight stand higher above the barrel, more likely to be knocked askew, rip your gun case or even your hand! They offer no benifit in aiming, you use only the notch for that.
If you are using one of those plastic front sights, that is the first thing I'd change. You can't get a sharp focus on them in good light, they are just too shiny, and VERY fragile.

 

[dmills]

I understand your points. I can either reverse the direction of the mount or even drill new holes in the mount to reposition.

As to the buckhorn, I did find that I could see and focus better when using the GPR at cabelas which has the buckhorn. Maybe it was my imagination or maybe not. I can always go back to the flat blade if I want. At least I am not going back to the stock T/C rear sight:

The original front sight remains on this rifle and it is the steel blade type, not the plastic or fiber optic style.

 

[roundball]

Here's another possibility if it'll work for you...I became aware of a blurry sight problem with 58, then 59, now 60 year old eyes, yet I don't wear glasses other than those little cheap half high reading glasses for using the PC, reading, etc.

I discovered I could use a full size pair of 1.25 or 1.50 dioptor reading glasses from the drugstore which made the sights sharper and gave me some full eye protection as well...might be worth a try

 

[CoyoteJoe]

As Roundball just said, a slightly different eyeglass prescription can make a world of difference. I'm 64 and have always prefered a peep rear sight since I got my first one on a .22 about fifty+ years ago. I'd not have a single open rear sight if it were not required for primitive match shooting.
The GPR has four inches more barrel and that may well be why you see the sights better, farther from the eye. Then too, some days I just naturally see my sights better than on other days.