sighting

[gunner2292]

I was wondering how exactly you used that smoothbore northwest trade gun like the ones from TOTW for deer hunting, when they dont have a rear sight? Do most people put on rear sights or do you just kind of guess?

 

[Len Graves]

There are probably a hundred ways of sighting a trade (one sight ) gun. The way i do it is this this. I use the barrel tang screw as a kind of windage reference. If possible have the slot fore and aft as much as possible. Eg. I know on my Tulle I hold the front sight just over the left side of the tang screw to hit center at 50 yds.
For elevation I have to determined how much of the front sight I can see over the hump of the breech.
Depending on the range I may have to see all the sight and cover the target, or I may only have to see just the tip and hold that at six o clock. I hope I havn't confused you. I am sure others have different methods which might work better for you. I do think the only real way is to experiment with your gun, they all shoot a little different for everyone. Good luck. have fun. Len Graves

 

[Bountyhunter]

Shoot, shoot, shoot it and get the feel for it.

 

[tg]

You must place your cheek on the gun the same way and place every shot as your eye and placement or it is the rear sight, you can also judge how much barrel shows and repeat that everytime, it comes rather quickly I have found, it helps when you build the gun as you can shape things to fit so to speak, I have put rear sights on smoothboes trade guns and it was done in the past, some do and some don't. I would advise trying to get it to work without one first, often the barrel may need adjusted(bent) this is covered in several past threads.

 

[JackAubrey]

I don't have a fowler but I do have a Brown Bess.Remember your eye is the rear sight.Consistency is the word.I borrowed the idea of an anchor point from archery.I marked where the corner of my mouth touched the stock and drilled a tiny hole ,put in some glue and tapped in a brass tack.Every time my Bess comes to shoulder I put that brass tack at the corner of my mouth.This gives me a somewhat consistent sight picture.And yes,practice,practice,practice.Best regards,J.A.

 

[Britsmoothy]

Do you get any trouble from that tack under recoil JA ?

Britsmoothy.

 

[mazo kid]

I know some guys use the tang screw that goes up from the trigger guard thru the tang as a rear sight. Some matches won't let you use anything above the plane of the barrel, but for hunting that would be an option

 

[jdstrang]

You must place your cheek on the gun the same way and place every shot as your eye and placement or it is the rear sight, you can also judge how much barrel shows and repeat that every time, it comes rather quickly I have found ...

TG has it exactly right. I call my Armi Sport 1842 musket my "Zen" gun -- "Let the Force guide you, Luke."

Position your feet comfortably. Close your eyes. Shoulder your musket and assume the most comfortable aiming position. Then open your eyes and see where it's pointing. Adjust your feet for windage.

Then, load and repeat the above. When your feet are right and your comfortable point is on target, touch it off and see where the ball goes. Repeat several times. Then adjust your hold to bring the ball where it needs to be.

For me, at 25 yards it's a 12 o'clock hold on the black. At 50 yards it's about 10 o'clock on the black. Your results almost certainly will be different, but if you practice consistency, you will be amazed at how accurate a smoothbore can be out to 50 yards or more.

 

[Many Klatch]

You can install some "rear sights" on your trade gun that will help. One way is to change out the tang screw for one with a bigger head. I pull the tang screw and go to the hardware store and find a lag bolt or hex headed machine screw with the same thread as the existing tang screw. When I get home I chuck the screw into my electric drill and with a file turn the hex head into a large round head. Then I cut a slot with a hacksaw and install the new screw. You now have a big rear reference sight that is easy to see. I find that I can change my left to right hold just by slightly turning the tang screw. As long as the top of the screw is below the plane of the barrel, you won't get any problems at a shoot about having a rear sight.

I have one of those big tang screws in all of my smoothbores and I have a notch cut in the center of the breech as well.

Many Klatch