Period correct rear sight?

[montanas]

Is their a predominate style of rear sight for original Hawkins? My kit comes with two.

 

[dave951]

Is their a predominate style of rear sight for original Hawkins? My kit comes with two.

Shoot what works for you and be happy

 

[Frosty861]

To answer your question, Buckhorn rear sights were common on a Hawken Rifle.

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/877/1
Having said that, I agree with Dave. I am fortunate that I can shoot accurately with a Buckhorn. Many folks detest them. Shoot what works for you, it is your gun.

Frosty

 

[64Springer]

OK. I'm just going to ask.

What was the real reason for Buckhorn rear sights?

Purely aesthetic? To anchor your target within a window? What?

Thanks.

 

[Frosty861]

Different sight picture for different distances.

Frosty

 

[Grenadier1758]

OK. I'm just going to ask.

What was the real reason for Buckhorn rear sights?

Purely aesthetic? To anchor your target within a window? What?

Thanks.

Let's go back to 2007 for an explanation. Sixteen years and not much has changed.

The buckhorn will give you, at least, 3 different yardages. 1st in the bottom notch, 2nd in the middle and 3rd between the horns and if you shoot
that sight enough you'll learn where to put the front sight for any yardage in between and for short range quick shots, in the middle will put meat on the table. This was the original intent of the design, not many know how to use them anymore. In a Marble description for the sight they say for shooters who want to cover up
everything except what they are shooting at. Even they don't know anymore.

And yes, the buckhorns can act as a ghost ring to create a means to define the target within the sight.

 

[64Springer]

Thanks.

 

[Gamechaser]

I was wonder the same thing, if an adjustable rear buck horn would be a nose turner?

 

[kyron4]

I was wonder the same thing, if an adjustable rear buck horn would be a nose turner?

I was just wondering if any Hawken or late era percussion cap rifles came with elevation adj. rear sight like this:

 

[ETipp]

Different sight picture for different distances.

Frosty

Yep, I can see and shoot much better with buckhorn sights than other fixed blade type rear sights.

 

[ETipp]

Let's go back to 2007 for an explanation. Sixteen years and not much has changed.


And yes, the buckhorns can act as a ghost ring to create a means to define the target within the sight.

Indeed, and for me, they do just that. Buckhorn style sights do not tend to cover up near as much of the target as most other blade type sights.

 

[Grenadier1758]

It's interesting that just the other night, some members of the Gemmer Club were talking about the sights on some early Hawken rifles from the late 1830's and later. It was noted that many of the sights were different and may have been replacement sights for the rifles. At least several sights on these original rifles had the ghost ring buckhorn sights. the internal notch was a wide "V" with a flat area at the top of the "V". Some of these original rifles had been shot to determine the effect of these ghost ring sights. With the front sight buried in the "V", the rifle was sighted for short ranges, maybe 50 to 75 yards. The front sight level with the top of the "V", 100 to 125 yards. And when the front sight filled the gap between the horns of the rear sight, the rifle was sighted in at 200 yards.

In the historical record, there are many variations on the rear sights.