brass rear sight

[lew wetzel]

has any of you fellas ever seen a rear sight made of brass.i have some square bar stock and thought it would look good on my new rifle....any opinions or ideas???

[Lucky R A]

   Lew, I have seen a brass blade in a steel base on an attributed John Shuler rifle. Others argue that the gun was actually made by Andrew Verner.   The brass had darkened with age and it was hard to tell that it was actually brass until you closely examined it.   

[lew wetzel]

i got bored last night at work so i made a brass rear sight.i still need to do a little filing,did most of it on the mill.what do you guys think?



this is the site i installed first,but havent locked it in place till i site her in so i fiqured i would see what the brass one looked like..

[P.Bigham]

 Lew nice sight. I just finished one much plainer for a early Viginia Rifle. I just wonder how it will work since the front sight is also brass.  PB

[don getz]

Lew.....you're weird.....better cut the shine before you shoot it, or hope for a cloudy day............Don

[Mike R]

As long as you blacken it, it ought to work OK. I would think glare on a bright sight would inhibit sighting through it?

[rich pierce]

Creative.  I'd make the base a little thinner so it lays flatter on the barrel.  And that one narrow decorative slot across the front extension might create a sharp edge to catch clothing, hands, etc.  I'd lose the sharp edge.  I'd lose all sharp edges.

As others stated, maybe you chose brass because it's different, but you'll need to tarnish it to be able to see the front sight in the notch.

Also, another topic is that most sights nowadays are about twice as tall as on originals.  We got used to big old tall open sights on our .22 rifles or Winchester 94's and never got over it, I guess.

[lew wetzel]

rich,its still in its rough form,still got alot of sanding and polishing to do before i fit it.its just sitting there.
thanks for the compliment don!!!
i might just blacken the very back part where the notch gets cut in...

[Long John]

Lew,

What is your objective?  Is it historical authenticity or the urge to experiment?  What one thinks of your effort depends on your objective.

From your earlier posts I gathered that you were in search of historical authenticity.  Most trekkers are.  If that is the case then you should keep a few things in mind.  In colonial times in North America every scrap of brass came from Europe; it was much more expensive than iron.  A shiney rear sight is impossible to hit with; a hunter's rifle was his most valuable tool on which his life and livelihood depended.  It is doubtful that a serious hunter would fool with a shiney rear sight.  If you are trying to make a "working rifle" and use the notion of a no-frills working gun as a justification for less-than-perfect inletting then a fancy rear sight is somewhat incongruous.

If your objective is to experiment with gunmaking - nice.  

Best Regards,

John Cholin

[lew wetzel]

john,just playing around and experimenting alittle.when i started this rifle i wanted something to drag around the woods and not worry to much about.
it turned out so nice that now i am getting cold feet.
i work 3rd shift and if no machines are down i have alot of free time.i like making things and thinking outside the box.i dont trek with any group or club.i trek at my parents property and with a few guys.
alot of times i do stuff just to see if i can .....lol 

[Levy]

Lew, A few years ago we recovered the remains of a large bore rifle (.62 cal., 38 inches in length and swamped) in the Apalachicola River along with some Type G trade gun barrels and locks.  The rifle barrel, which included the forward part of the lock mechanism ,had three rear sight placements.  The one being used at the time of loss was the farthest from the breech.  The remains of a wiping stick were still in the bore (seven grooves, RH twist).  The fillers for the old sight placements were brass and the sight being used was made out of the same type of thin brass.  It appeared to have been made by folding it in the middle and then folding it again into a T-shape and installed.  A sighting notch was then made in the top.  Brass sights were also found on the Type G trade guns installed very close to the breech.

James Levy   

[Brian]

Well Lew, regardless of why you made it, or whether or not it's PC, I think you did a good job of it.  The fact that you made it is what counts.  If you don't like it out of brass then you can make another one out of iron.  Nice job.  Wish I had a mill.  Fun to mess around and make stuff like that.

[James Rogers]

The Carolina guns had brass rear sights.

[lew wetzel]

thanks guys,i think i will finish filing and polishing the sight up,blacken the rear face where the notch gets cut in and try her out!!!i also made another out of steel last night that is thinner than the purchased one i got. 

[Eric Kettenburg]

Lion and lamb rifle has a brass rear sight.  So do a few other early pieces.  I don't think it was so much 'rare' as maybe 'not common.'  They've always worked equally well in comparison w/ an iron rear sight, for me, provided the back (towards your eye) of the sight was tarnished a bit.

[HistoricalArmsMaker]

When you make another one, don't forget to drill a hole on the back side of the blade before you cut out the shape. That will give you the hollow you need behind the blade to help with seeing thru the site. The guys are right about glare though. Wipe some blackpowder residue on it to get it going faster on the tarnish!
Susie