Traditions Deerhunter Percussion .50 Sights

[PaulF70]

Bought one of these for my son (12) as his first deer rifle. I bought it kind of on a whim, to be honest, as I couldn't believe the price and the reviews are fantastic.

I got it ready for its first range trip tomorrow and noticed that the open sights are not "click-adjustable" as I'd assumed - the windage & elevation screws are simply tighteners, meaning you loosen it and the sight floats on that plane! So you adjust "by hand" then tighten it again.

I've been shooting guns of various types for 35 years and have never seen sights so cheap.

I didn't put a scope on this rifle because I want to keep it light for him and because you should not need a scope to shoot a deer at patched round ball ranges (100Y max).

Any pointers on getting this thing sighted in in a reasonable time? I've shot quality open sights, peep sights, and scopes of all types but not something like this.

 

[Woody Morgan]

The sights work just fine. They're Williams Firesights and I have them on unmentionables. Great for older eyes.
My first BP was a Deerhunter and they're good shooters. Even folk that won't admit it have one.

wm

 

[PaulF70]

If you're five inches left at 50 yards, how far do you move the rear sight right?

 

[Woody Morgan]

Beats me. Move it and shoot again. Repeat as necessary.

wm

 

[French Colonial]

If you're five inches left at 50 yards, how far do you move the rear sight right?

What this again?
Distance between the sights A
Times Distance to move impact B
Divided by distance in inches to target (50 yards 1800 inches) C

AXB/C= adjustment

Any basic calculator can do this
Tell me what your distance between the sights are and I will do it for you.

AND there are lots of sights that use this method of loosening a screw and tightening the opposing, once its set its pretty fool proof.

 

[Sparkitoff]

I marked a thin flat piece of metal by scratching lines and highlighting the lines with a marker. Use calipers and made a line for 1/2, 1/4 and 1/8. Make a center line on the barrel in front of the rear sight. I hold the “ruler” I made do the correspond to the line on the barrel. When I move the rear sight I can see what direction and how much. It’s not precise, but I can visually see how much movement I made on the sight and relate that to movement of impact.

 

[Okie Hog]

I've been shooting guns of various types for 35 years and have never seen sights so cheap.

Move the sight. tighten the set screw and repeat as needed.

Those Traditions rear sights are total trash. Ditto for the rear sights on TC muzzleloaders.

 

[deermanok]

I have those same Williams sights on my deerhunter rifle. I started off by moving the sight up the ramp to about midway. I set the windage to about center of the sight. After 3 shots, I was hitting high and dead center. I moved the rear sight back down a little at a time till I got it hitting where I wanted.

 

[PaulF70]

Well, as it turns out I was able to get the rifle zeroed quickly. And it shoots! And the boy loved it!

This was my first time shooting a percussion rifle. My personal MZ rifle is an inline. I made one mistake today: I cleaned between shots with one wet patch, rung-out as best I could, but I did not use a dry patch afterwards.

That is why, I believe, I experienced a misfire after a dozen rounds.

Won't make that mistake again.

The boy is used to apertures from 4H air rifle shooting and I'll probably put one of those on this gun.

 

[Gooddaytoya!]

The sights work just fine. They're Williams Firesights and I have them on unmentionables. Great for older eyes.
My first BP was a Deerhunter and they're good shooters. Even folk that won't admit it have one.

wm

How much powder does that short barrel need to get sufficient energy to kill a deer at 100 yards? Very curious.

 

[PaulF70]

IDK but I figure that 60 grains of 2F produces enough energy with a .50 round ball to get the job done, and that a 24" barrel can definitely make use of 60 grains. And the boy is going to be able to handle that kick - he was indeed.

A 100Y gun is just what I figure it is. That's about what the trajectory allows, and accuracy too considering the open sights.

From the unscientific evidence provided by watching the blasts of dirt behind the 50Y target, it's an effective load.