front sight for field shooting?

[silly goose]

I have only used iron/black sights on my muzzle loaders. I am not a competitor, but a hunter. I am in need of a front sight and was wondering if you guys could offer advice on blade width and if silver or brass may be more visible in the field? My current front sights are .080 wide and have proven very effective on whitetail. Next year I am hoping to spend much more time after squirrels and thought my current sights may be a bit crude for such small targets. I appreciate any input you may have, thank you.

[LH]

.080" is not too wide for me on a 42" barrel,  but if you need a thinner sight,  .060" looks a lot thinner than .080.  Again,  I'm talking about on a 42" barrel.  White brass would show up a lot better than iron but I've found that its mainly useful for deer hunting where the shots are primarily 20 minutes after sundown in the evenings or just at first light.  Squirrels would be seen in pretty good light most of the time,  so If you're satisfied with a brown or black iron sight for deer,  that should be fine for squirrels too. 

[JBlk]

I also use all of my muzzle loaders for hunting.I  find that a bead front sight is still the best and quickest for me.

[Daryl]

[WadePatton]

I'm sold on brass and the wide Vee as Daryl shows.  The brass, bead or blade needs to have a proper angle on the back to catch light for those early/late shots.  I can easily see my front sight in the woods beyond the point when i can discern an aiming point on a the whitetailed snort-n-bounders (SB's for short).

I may try silver (coin) next, but will be ready and willing to swap that out to brass if it proves any less useful. 

A smudge of soot can be used to darken bright surfaces in conditions with too much light.  I like charred wood for that purpose.

[Tony N]

I have silver coin on most, and like them fine. The few iron that I have, I'll use a bit of White Out or Orange Floresent marking paint to brighten them a bit.

~Tony

[Daryl]

Silver is brighter than brass and works well.  A back-slant, as in a 45 degree angle on a polished steel blade does a similar job.  On our longrifles with steel blades, there is a 45 degree angle on the rear point of the sight. This angle is only 1/8" long and shows a bright spot of light in the dark bush, or when placed on a dark target - animal or otherwise.

The slanted portion can easily be wiped with a felt pen (erasable black type) for a flat-black sight in bright conditions or on bright targets. A swipe with the thumb and it's bright again- same for the aerosol "Sight Black" products.

[silly goose]

Thanks for the help, fellas.

[hanshi]

I've normally put flat white paint or white out on my front sights.  My Tn rifle is brass mounted but has a silver front blade.  It really shows up bright and easy to see.  The back of the sight is straight perpendicular to the barrel but just shows up so well.  My concern has been the blade darkening from tarnish.

[WadePatton]

I've normally put flat white paint or white out on my front sights.  My Tn rifle is brass mounted but has a silver front blade.  It really shows up bright and easy to see.  The back of the sight is straight perpendicular to the barrel but just shows up so well.  My concern has been the blade darkening from tarnish.

Tarnish wipes off. 

[Daryl]

I'll second that about tarnish- rub it with a piece of denim- as in a patch - that will polish the surface. I do that with the silver vertical centre lines on my rear sight blades. They turn a bit dark- a rub with a patch brightens them.