copper for sights

[Dan Herda]

Move to correct category if nessesary.

I have read the use of copper for sights and have a few questions about that.

Was it used for the base only?

Was there a particular school or region or even time period that was most common to use copper?

And maybe an answear to part of this (?) , was it used because of the availablity in pots and kettles?

Thank you for any input,Dan

[lew wetzel]

dont know any of that.i made one and installed it because i am a machinist and had it available.looks real good in the sunlight.......i would bet they might have used them and if so it was because it was available and pretty soft to work with......

[Bill Brockway]

ridjrnr -

I have a Tennessee-made longrifle with a front sight that is partly copper.  The base is copper; the blade is coin silver or another silver colored metal.  The rear sight is all iron.  For some reason, I have always believed that this type front sight was not uncommon, although I would be hard-pressed to prove it.  The blade is not very tall, probably 3/32" above the top barrel flat; almost invisible when shooting.

This rifle has been my family since the 1830's.

Bill Brockway

[Mark Elliott]

I have also seen cooper front sight bases on southern guns.  I am told it was also used for barrel tenons on southern guns but I haven't seen that myself.   I think that there would usually be a silver front sight blade because it was considered good luck to have silver somewhere on the rifle and the front sight blade is a good place to put a bit of silver on an otherwise plain rifle.

Mark E.

[Chuck Burrows]

The rifles built by Jake and Sam Hawken up through at least the end of the 1840's used a copper base with silver blade for the front sight.

[Ghillie]

I had always been a beliver in a silver front sight blade.  I got into black powder cartridge rifles several years ago.  Many of those shooter who hunt extoled the attributes of a copper front blade.  After about 2 years of hearing this, I installed on on my '74 Sharps rifle.  I'll never use a silver blade again.  It stands out in any light and is easy to see.  You'll have to try it to believe it.

[David Rase]

I have done several rifles using a copper base and a sterling silver blade for the front sight.  Worked real well.
DMR

[willyr]

Bill Brockway! Glad to see you are still alive and kicking. When my Grandfather described the rifle his father brought with him when he moved to Mississippi from Virginia, he mentioned that the rifle was trimmed in brass but the nosepiece and butttrap were made of copper. He moved from near Petersburg, Virginia to Mississippi in 1854. The rifle was .38 caliber and was passed to my grandfather. He used the rifle until sometime in the 1920's when the mainspring broke. He traded it to a neighbor for a pocket watch.
Be Well,
Bill Ridout

[Benedict]

I had always been a beliver in a silver front sight blade.  I got into black powder cartridge rifles several years ago.  Many of those shooter who hunt extoled the attributes of a copper front blade.  After about 2 years of hearing this, I installed on on my '74 Sharps rifle.  I'll never use a silver blade again.  It stands out in any light and is easy to see.  You'll have to try it to believe it.

I like a brass blade because it seems to work OK in all different light.  Silver works great in the forests but in bright sun it is way too shiny.  Iron works just the other way.  I have found that brass is a good compromise.

Bruce

[Dan Herda]

Good to hear all the responses. I'm needing a couple sights and rather than paying 6 p/h for a 4$ pc I think I'll make a few. I guess I like the idea of brass or copper base sights in a barrel dovetail rather than steel.There for some reason, is a few more small pcs of copper than brass at the moment in the scrap box.


Dan

[lew wetzel]

here is a link to the pics i posted of my sights..........
http://americanlongrifles.org/forum/index.php?topic=1519.0