Site placement on swamped barrel??

[Treebeard]

I am needing to install sights on a Colerain 44 inch .45 cal swamped barrel and was looking for tips on how far apart they would normally be. It's a B weight. I am thinking the front sight is about an inch or inch and half from muzzle. Rear sight from breech?

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

"Rear sight from the breech...?"  Find where the rifle balances in your hand.  Place the rear sight either behind your hand, or in front of it.  If your vision is like mine, place sight in front of your hand.  You rarely place the sight in the palm of your hand, as it will wear on you as you carry the rifle.

[Joe S.]

I had put a small magnet under the rear sight and slid it up the barrel till I had a clear sight picture with the front sight.Knowing it was going to be while building this thing I did not cut the sights in yet,gotta hurry this build up before that rear sight is parked right behind the front one,getting old is a bummer

[jerrywh]

 A lot of antique guns had the font sight about 3" back of the muzzle. It is less likely to get  hit there.

[smart dog]

Hi Treebeard,
Most folks concentrate more on where the rear sight goes but on a swamped barrel, particularly if it flares at the muzzle a lot, front sight placement can be an issue.  On a barrel with quite a bit of flare at the muzzle, if you place the front sight close to the muzzle, you may find that you have to file it down pretty low to zero it in at 100 yards or so.  That low front sight might be historically correct but it is a devil to see when the barrel gets hot and produces heat waves.  I learned over the years to place my front sight back away from the muzzle and down the taper toward the waist a bit.  That way I can have a high front blade at 100 yards, which is better for target shooting.  A high rear sight also helps in those situations.

dave

[Ed Wenger]

Ditto what Dave said....  It's very helpful to try and get the sights on the same plane if you don't want a really low front sight.  Since I (and most of us) have "old eyes", I've found that a rear sight around 12" from the breach is a good starting point.  That positions the sight forward of the balance point as Taylor talked about.  Measure the distance from the center line of the bore to the top of the sight.  Find the place for the front sight that correlates with this measurement, and you'll be in the ball park.  Most of the time, that placement is about where you mentioned.


            Ed

[Acer Saccharum]

If you have a certain rear sight location in mind, make a 'try sight' from electric tape, and put it on the barrel, throw the gun up to shoulder, see what the sight picture looks like. If you can't get a good sight picture, widen the notch. If you still can't get a good sight picture, make a new tape sight, and move the rear sight closer to the muzzle, and go through the process of widening the notch until you get a good sight picture.

Tom

[smylee grouch]

I have found that for my eyes that I have to do this sight estimation outdoors and not in my basement shop. I also like to find that balance point and place the rear sight about 1/2 inch forward of that to allow for future eye issues.

[Dennis Glazener]

I suggest that you do as Acer suggests and try the rear sight at different places on the barrel until you find the place it seems best for you. Like Smiley said, I have better luck doing this outside rather than in the shop. I would try this with the type of clothing you expect to be wearing when shooting this rifle i.e. heavy hunting coat if its to be used primarily for hunting.

I have found that my eyes need a wide notch in the rear sight, this allows me to have daylight on both sides of the front sight so I can see the front sight better. My eyes easily centers the front sight in the wide notch.

Oh, one other thing, I have problems seeing a brass front sight, even when its highly polished. I either change it out for a silver blade or put a dab of white paint on it.  (still can't see open sights worth a flip but at least I have the sights in the best place for my eyes)
Dennis

[Goo]

look at pictures of originals for reference

[Treebeard]

Thanks for all the replies-- they have given me a lot to consider. I also have the aging eye problem that was mentioned several times. I have shot a number of old Winchesters with the silver blades and find them much easier to pick up as Dennis mentioned so that  is going to be my front sight and has already been purchased. Thanks again for all the help.

[PPatch]

With my eyes the rear sight goes about three inches behind the front... 

What Taylor said, in front of the balance point, that is where mine go.

dave

[Treebeard]

PPatch-- maybe after this rifle is done I will go to a smoothbore with only a front sight to worry about.
A lot of people have a lot of fun with them and I have shot one a few times and enjoyed it.

[rick/pa]

While others have given good advice about sight placement, I'll pass along a little trick of mine to help in seeing the sight in dim light under the trees.  I like a silver blade, cut straight down facing me Patridge style, no rounded back of the sight.  After filing it to final height, I take a needle file and put a small 45 degree angle on the top edge of the blade.  No more than about .020 wide,   This acts like the old Redfield Sourdough sight and gives me a bright bar of light right at the top edge of the sight. It helps me pick out the top of the sight in dim light.

[elkhorne]

rick/pa,
Your sight idea sounds really neat. Could you possibly show a picture of it? That would be of great help. Thanks.
elkhorne

[WadePatton]

While others have given good advice about sight placement, I'll pass along a little trick of mine to help in seeing the sight in dim light under the trees.  I like a silver blade, cut straight down facing me Patridge style, no rounded back of the sight.  After filing it to final dimension, I take a needle file and put a small 45 degree angle on the top edge of the blade.  No more than about .020 wide,   This acts like the old Redfield Sourdough sight and gives me a bright bar of light right at the top edge of the sight. It helps me pick out the top of the sight in dim light.

This works so much better than I ever thought it would. I can see the blade as dark on light backgrounds but it "pops" with that bevel cut in the "darkness" of the woods. 

[rick/pa]

rick/pa,
Your sight idea sounds really neat. Could you possibly show a picture of it? That would be of great help. Thanks.
elkhorne

     Well lets see if I did this right.  Ignore the blob of glue, the sight came loose last hunting season and I did the quick fix.  Still haven't gotten around to doing it right and hunting season is coming up again. 





upload image

[smylee grouch]

Thanks for posting the sight pic Rick/pa, can you tell me how thick the blade is on that sight?

[rick/pa]

Thanks for posting the sight pic Rick/pa, can you tell me how thick the blade is on that sight?

Blade is .100.  I prefer to make my own blades since I like a thicker sight. Seventy yr old eyes ya know.

I built this rifle in 1977. My father died in the middle of the build and I kinda lost focus which explains the goofy sight blade along with some other flubs I made.  Its a Southern mountain, with a walnut stock I bought from Freddie Harrison at Friendship, Douglas .45 barrel, L&R English lock, iron banana patchbox.  Knowing a bit more now than I did then, there are several things I'd change but it's my favorite deer rifle so I'll just keep it the way it is.

[smylee grouch]

Yes, there are a lot of us dealing with 70 year old eyes. That larger front sight helps keep us in the game a few more years. If I use the wider than average site I can still shoot min. of deer and that helps keep a guy motivated.

[flehto]

Have used a few different weight swamped bbls....mainly 44" and 46" long and locating the rear sight forward of the hand held balance point always has the rear sight located over or slightly forward of the finial of the entry pipe.  The BC LR shown has a Rice "B" weight bbl X 46" lg.  When the hand is at the balance point,  the long entry pipe finial supplies a wear surface......intentionally done by the original makers?

My .45  flint LR has head hit 100s of squirrels using a .100 wide front sight blade and a rear notch that leaves quite a bit of  daylight on the sides of the blade.  A pure silver inlay is soldered into the blade and has a slight angle to "collect"  light in a dark woods.....Fred