Rear Sight is Fuzzy

[canadianml1]

Any suggestions as to how to sharpen up the rear sight image would be appreciated. I tried the "old masking tape with pin hole trick" with some success but the amount of light it passes is minimal. I have seen a stick-on lens gizmo advertised and wonder how well it works. Anyone try such a device? Any comments appreciated. Thanks

[Mooseblaster]

I experiment with cheap reading glasses.  I use 1.25 or 1.50,  it shifts your focus back to the sights and leaves the target a bit fuzzy.  A pinhole aperture will increase your depth of field of focus, but does reduce the amount of light that gets through- no different than a camera.  It may work in bright light but not in low light.  You can also experiment with the size of the pinhole, similar to a Hadley cup on an 1874 Sharps.   

[Mike Brooks]

I have recently been using a wide silver blade front a a  square notch rear with a wide notch.  Remember to focus on the front sight, the target and rear will always be a little out of focus if you are not young.

[Daryl]

These help when normal V or U rear sights & blades get too fuzzy.















These also work well for some people.

[Tilefish]

Like Mooseblaster said try reading glasses. I use the 1.00 they really dont give alot of magnification but they make the rear and front sight crystal clear. The target does get a little fuzzy but works for me.

[sdilts]

I tried the Eyepal stick on discs. They do work as advertised. Cleared both sights and the target right up. You have to follow the directions and clean your glasses real well before you stick them on. I lost one when I got lazy and did not clean my glasses like I should have. I called the gentleman at Eyepal to buy another and he just sent me a replacement at no charge. You can't beat that kind of customer service.

[walks with gun]

   I too use the 1.00 power reading glasses, it helps.    I thought for awhile of switching to a musket and sticking target with a bayonet first.

[MuskratMike]

Didn't we just cover this topic? Anyway the information in the above posts are spot on. As usual the 'ol Muskrat has a slightly different solution. I have a ghost ring on my tang. This is not my rear sight as I have a traditional front and rear sight. This optical solution tricks your eye into focusing better on the sight with aged eyes like mine. Just noticed this is a 'starting member" so welcome and I look forward to seeing more of you. I am posting a photo of what it looks like on my .54 caliber hunting rifle, hope this is of some help and again welcome to the fold.

[L. Akers]

  Two years ago I had cataract surgery on both eyes and went from being nearsighted my whole life to being farsighted.  I could not see my sights at all.  I bought an adjustable iris (Merit brand) to stick on my shooting glasses and now I can see my sights as sharp as when I was 20 years old.   

[Daniel Coats]

I had cataract surgery in both eyes 12 years ago and by accident ended up with monovision. Sometimes this done on purpose with one eye set for distance and the other for close up. It took a while to adjust but I see better at any distance and will never need glasses for daily activity except shooting. For that I much prefer a peep sight rather than any type of corrective lense fer my shootin eye. Even reading glasses require an adjustment period after I take them off for back to normal activities.

[Hungry Horse]

Daryl has it right. Make your eye do what it naturally wants to do, and that is self center what you’re looking at. Light in the wrong place at this time of our life, and condition of our eyes, is not your friend. Rear sight placement is also crucial. A small piece of magnetic material from a refrigerator magnet will allow you to select the right spot for the rear sight ( it likely to be quite a bit forward of your current rear sight location). The patridge style sight common to the WWII M1 Garand was designed for a twenty five year old to make snap shots in combat, not for a seventy year old trying to hit a target at a rifle range.

  Hungry Horse

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

Recently, I have come to like rear sights that first, are at my focal length, usually right at or in front of the entry pipe on a longrifle, and secondly, have a square or rectangular notch.  I find these easier to hold the front sight level with the rear that way.  My front sights are of pure silver, a little over 1/16" thick, rectangular in section looking at the back end of it, with a short 45 deg. bevel on the tip to catch light.
These things depend 100 % on ones own eyes.  So what works for me may be a blur to someone else.  Experiment.

[canadianml1]

Thanks for all the great responses. Lots to think about.

Grant

[577SXS]

I had to give up on rear sights a couple of years ago. Gone to peep sights and wish I'd done it much sooner. Here are two of the flintlocks I've put peeps on. I know they don't have the 1700s look but they work. I pull aperture out most of the time when hunting. The other advantage to a peep is you see more of your target.

[thecapgunkid]

Another aging, cataract victim here.  The only thing I've ever been able to do for my rear sight is to move it down the barrel while the muzzle was at rest and I was aiming.  When I got it in focus I marked the barrel.  Only then did I work on the front sight, and, like Mike Brooks wrote, my front sight got thicker and the notch varying to accommodate it.

If you don't get the cataracts fixed, it won't matter what you do.

[recurve]

old eyes like peeps (and not just around Easter )

[Jerry]

The Merit Sight Disk with adjustable aperture has worked great for me over the years. On a target percussion rifle I also used a globe front sight with interchangeable inserts. Jerry