target sights/scope/tang for perc longrifle

[mountainman70]

Hello everyone,I am finishing up a slim,40 cal percussion rifle and am needing info on target sights.I am not interested in shooting  open sight only matches,just for my own amazment.I havent cut a rear dovetail yet,front sight is blade on brass base,could change.
The deal is my ol 61yo eyes have trouble with open sights,and I am wondering if a tang arrangement,or a long tube scope would be of help.I love shooting what I build,just get annoyed at the eyesight issue.I would as soon not cut the barrel for a rear sight,but this is not written in stone.
Whatta y'all have to say?Thanks,Dave

[smokinbuck]

Dave,
Save the dovetail. I've had a bunch of eye problems also and have gone to various peep sights. You can mount them on the tang or on the barrel. Front sights can be conventional blades, post and bead or aperture. Post and bead work best for me. You'll be amazed at what you can see.  There are also a number of matches that can be shot with peeps. Check out Track of The Wolf, they have a pretty good selection at reasonable prices for starters. I think you'll find tube sights or scopes both more expensive and more limited in their use.
Mark

[galudwig]

I use a P.I. Spence peep sight that I bought from Log Cabin Shop years ago on my .40 cal. Vincent.  I don't see them listed in the catalog anymore, but I have seen them in the store and also in their display case at Friendship last week.  I currently use a .404 height Lyman 17A globe front sight with interchangeable discs.  I go from narrow to wide posts as well as post & bead as needed.  I also use one of the Merit discs with the adjustable aperture for most of my shooting.

I've done real well with this set-up at my home club matches and with A.M.S matches and aggregates at Friendship.  I can shoot 25 & 50 yard targets with the same load without ever touching the sights.  I hold dead on at 25 and use a "flat-tire" 6 o'clock hold at 50.  I'm still having a time mastering the 100 yard targets though!    On a good day, I can get some good targets like the ones in the background of the second picture.





galudwig

[mountainman70]

Nice lookin Vincent.How about the Vernier folding sights-any experience with those?Thanks guys,Dave

[galudwig]

I've never tried one of those.  I would think that the length of the tang on the average MZ would be too short to get the proper placement.  One might work well on something with a longer tang like you might find on a southern style rifle though.

galudwig   

[smokinbuck]

I haven't used a vernier tang sight either but do have a Redfield tang sight on a TC stocked table rifle. I have a Green Mountain .40 on this rifle with the Redfield and recently shot a 49XX and a 50XXX from the table. The long range shooters use the vernier sights and do real well with them.
Mark

[Kermit]

I've got an itch to try one of these Red River Schuetzen sights, maybe on (shudder) an underhammer.

http://www.buffaloarms.com/Red_River_Sights_it-164091.aspx?CAT=4073

[Bob Roller]

Most if not all the 500 to 1000 yard muzzle loaders have a front sight wit a level built into them.
I made one from a Lyman 17A and also made the folding tang sight for the long ranger rifle I made
for myself.These rifles,if they are working right are a lot of fun if you don't mind throwing over 500
grains of lead away every time you pull the trigger.
Does anyone know anything about the lead situation now.I haven't bought any for over 40 years?

Bob Roller

[Bob Roller]

I met P.I.Spence in 1957.He was a retired machinist living in Marietta,Ohio.
He was 95 years old when I met him and had out lived 5 wives.He was alert
mentally and still had his machine shop and he also made special purpose machines
for himself and others.He dad a foundry in back of the shop as I recall. He also gave
me a big sheet of spring steel that was a wide as the back seat in my car which was
a Packard 2 door sedan.
He made locks,triggers sights and other things for muzzle loaders.

Bob Roller

[smokinbuck]

Bob,
Never knew P.I. but had a rifle he and Cecil Brlt. I sold it back to the family a few years ago. Just thought it should go home.
Mark

[Dale Halterman]

Guys, I'm having trouble with a peep sight I just put on the tang of one of my rifles. When I look through the peep, I can see the entire front sight including the tube and part of the top of the barrel. I tried a smaller aperture, but to see anything at all, I then had to move my head forward so far that I got the same sight picture as before. Is  this the way it is supposed to be?

Dale H