Sight material

[Cory Joe Stewart]

Hello all,

I am researching early transitional rifles, such as Christian Springs etc.  The books don't tell much about sight material.  For those of you who have seen more first hand were teh sights solid brass or did they have silver blades?

Coryjoe

[BJH]

I can't vouch for the Christian springs guns, but the majority of the origional guns I have handled had brass front sights. With only one having a silver front sight.  Pistols on the other hand, I have seen a bigger percentage having silver front sights. Use the front sight matierial that you can see the best, brass or silver, both were used.

[LRB]

  I have found silver best of all in low light, but to each his own.

[JTR]

The few original Christians Spring rifles that I've seen have a front sight made with a silver blade and a brass base.

In fact, just opposite of BJH, almost all the original rifles I've seen have a silver blade with a brass base,,,,, don't believe I've ever seen a totally brass front sight.

I guess it just goes to show that there are so many original rifles out there that he and I have never seen the same guns!

John

[Nate McKenzie]

Of five originals in my possession: Three are all one piece brass and two are brass base {1 soldered silver blade and one inserted silver blade}.

[JTR]

^^^^^
Nate, BJH,
One piece Brass front sights on rifles of the Christian Springs era /  transitional / 1770/1790ish rifles?

John

[Kermit]

Just so's I know, when you say "silver," are we talking "sterling" or "German (nickel)?"

[Cory Joe Stewart]

German Silver.

Coryjoe

[JTR]

But on original rifles would have been real silver/ coin silver.
John

[bgf]

But on original rifles would have been real silver/ coin silver.
John

And maybe 1/16 of an inch high at most in some cases -- sometimes seems like you need to feel for the blade rather than see it! 

Jack Brooks' June Muzzleblasts article has a Moll with folded silver sight and instructions for making one.  I think it would be hard to go wrong with silver blade, unless you were copying a specific original with a brass sight, but that is just my uneducated opinion.

[Glenn]

If I may add one point ... remember the glare factor when doing sights.  You might want to consider a material that has the lowest possible glare.  Brass that patinas well might be something to consider along these lines.

[LRB]

   Glare is bad in the open, but the silver is great in low light. Depends on ones own needs.

[B Shipman]

German silver wasn't even invented as far as I know until well into the 1800's. I've found that silver, whether sterling or coin, works better overall in all light conditions than any other traditional material.

[Jay Close]

Many years ago I had the opportunity to measure and photograph an original Christian Oerter rifle dated 1774. My photos are black and white so they won't help much, but my notes say the front sight was "cast silver" --- meaning, I think, that it did not appear to be made up of two pieces.  I hope this helps.

[B Shipman]

You can't see a black sight for $#@* when the sun's in your eyes and you can't see it in the woods when there's little light. Ergo the barrleycorn. And silver is better. THEY WERE NOT ENTIRELY STUPID BACK THEN.

[D. Taylor Sapergia]

I like to make my front sight blades from pure silver and around .080" thick.  The sight slopes down from back to front as a barleycorn sight does, but is highest right at the back.  I file a 45 degree slope to the back edge of the sight blade so that I see a square of bright silver through the rear sight notch.  I even undercut the back of the sight blade so that most of it remains in shadow and all but disappears when aiming.  On most of my rifles, I simply lay the silver square so that it is laying on top of the flat rear sight over the notch to get a 100 yard picture.  For a picture from 25 - 50 yards, the top of the silver square is level with the top of the rear sight, and in the notch.
For a base, I use copper, brass and steel, preferentially in that order.