Someone reintroduced a link to the photos I posted of my Hawken rifle, and as I viewed them, I realized I had not given my update on the sights. As you recall, the rear sight, though a copy of a Hawken original, was rather 'radical'. Also remember that my front sight was unusually high. Well, i tested the rifle and frankly, I ddn't like the results. I could not get consistent results at 100 and 200 yds so I changed first the rear one, then filed down the front to give me the point of impact I wanted. The photos below are of the new rear sight, the filed down front sight, and a facsimile of a group I shot at 100 meters.
When I first made the new rear sight, it had a very tiny "V" notch, and I had to file most of the front sight away to get the balls on the target at 200 meters. Let me say, I've never started sighting in a new rifle at 200 meters before. Interesting. All the time I was shooting and filing, I was also changing patch material and lube, and weight of powder. By the time the afternoon was through, I was shooting my .613" balls (from a .610 Lyman mold), a .020" denim patch with spit for lube, and 125 grains of FFg GOEX, and consistently hitting the ten inch white bull from the bench. So just for laughs, I swung over to a 9" square steel plate, and fired the rest of the balls I had on the table (6) without a miss. I was pretty happy.
So next time out, I tried the rifle at 100 meters, and naturally was shooting really high over the target. With the tiny notch in the flat top of the rear sight, I was unable to find a comfortable picture at 100 meters. So I ran a hacksaw blade down the notch a good ways, and tried again. Now I could bring the balls down onto the target, but with such a thin cut, I had a lot of trouble seeing the target. I'm primarily concerned with hunting moose with this rifle, so I needed a sight that I was able to acquire my target quickly, and still give me the accuracy I wanted, both at 100 and 200 meters. So, back in the shop, I ran a drill bit through the bottom of the slice, then with needle files, opened up the sight to what you see in the photos. So for 100 meters (110 yds) I see the entire front sight and a tiny sliver of barrel as I depicted in the report in the last image above. As in all my shooting, I place the tip of the front sight precisely where I want the ball to hit - centre of target. On the target I've drawn the six circles indicating the shots as they appeared on the torn up target - ranging from ~ 12 o'clock up to 1 o'clock. The patch material for this target was Daryl's Railroad mattress ticking that I measure at .020", pure neatsfoot oil for lube (patches soaked to dripping) and 127 grains of FFg GOEX because that's how the measure I made turned out. The real target has an 8" black pull, and I'm going to try adding a 2" white dot to make acquiring the center a little easier.
At two hundred meters, I still have a small enough 'notch' to make accurate shooting possible. I'll want to try it again to be sure before I hit the woods.
So, the Hawken sight has evolved according to the needs of my sad old eyes, but I'm pleased with it now.
