oct to round rifle front sight.

[axelp]

When you have an octagon to round rifled barrel, sporting a rear sight, what is the best blade sight configuration to use on it?

K

[rich pierce]

A big challenge is that octagon to round barrels taper a lot so the front sight needs to be tall.  After that it’s up to you.  Could dovetail, solder, or inlet a front sight depending on barrel thickness and style.

[Davemuzz]

I re-did a flintlock pistol that has a 13" barrel. When I installed a new brass front sight it looked like I put on a 2x10. So, I filed down the rear sight to make it lower and filed the front sight down by the same amount. Looks much better IMHO.

So, if you have enough metal (height) in the rear sight, file it down and then you can file down the front accordingly.

 

[Long John]

Ken,

Being that I am an old fellow I need a nice WIDE front sight if I am to be able to hit with it.  So I make mine out of an old silver dollar coin that is folded over and soldered with tin/silver solder.  The sight ends up about 1/8th inch thick.  I make it with a rear face slanting back at a 45 degree angle so the surface reflects light towards the shooter - my guns are hunting guns and are often put to use in low-light conditions.  If the gun has a rear sight the top edge is sharp, dead-flat horizontal and the notch is square and wide enough so that it appears three times as wide as the front sight when the gun is shouldered.  This gives me a nice wide Patridge-pattern sight picture.

I have learned over many years that this is what I need to be able to hit.  So, I make my sights so I can hit.

Best Regards,

JMC
John Cholin