Mirage distort sight picture

[NDduckhunter]

I have an issue with seeing my sights do to a mirage on both of my SMR’s. I’ve noticed it on my fowlers too but not a big deal as they are point shooting guns. Is this because they are finished bright’ish or is it because the sights are very low. Or perhaps is it because I’m old, lol?

[smokinbuck]

I leave most of my comp guns barrels bright. To avoid what you are seeing I put a strip of painters tape on the top flat. It diverts any distortion to the sides and the sights remain clear. Like a racing stripe.

[alacran]

North Dakota is pretty wide open, so I would say mirage would be a problem with low sights.  Low sights may work in a dense tree canopy, but will be near impossible to see in open country. Old age doesn't help.

[NDduckhunter]

I use a lot of original black powder cartridge rifles with low sights and have never had this issue but the barrels are blue or brown. That’s why I was wondering if the bright finish was the culprit.

[taterbug]

i dont notice it as much on round barrels, but on octagonal barrels with a top flat it seems its always there after a couple shots, especially in the sun.  About 4-5 shots at the range on a cloudy day.  the further the distance the worse it seems, but that could be my imagination, and my eyes. 

Not tried to evaluate between blued, browned, or bright barrels with a top flat.  I Dont shoot enough these days...

[Kurt]

I'm old, too, and I think the issue has to do with equally old eye muscles. Some days, I see two barrels! I recommend eye drops to help. Also, if you're like me, trim your eyebrows.

[smylee grouch]

It seems I notice it more in some locations more than others. Shooting ranges with bare ground as compared to grass covered.

[NDduckhunter]

I may blue the barrel dark on one of my SMR’s to test if color helps, makes it worse, or if it stays the same. I definitely don’t notice it as much in the shade

[NDduckhunter]

Well, I blued my barrel much darker and it did seem to help a but definitely still had distortion.  Guess I need taller sights or do all my shooting in the woods lol.

[Leatherbark]

I used a Kibler SMR in .45 caliber for several years shooting in NMLRA type competitions where you had to shoot 20 shots.  Using it in the silhouette match really brought out the mirage and Mr. Trump would say "Bigly".  After the 4-shot relay I would hold a wet rag on the barrel in various places to help it cool.  That was my only problem with that SMR. Accuracy was great.  The little thin barrel with the big 45 caliber hole was better for plinking, hunting or informal novelty matches.  But it is all relative.  A thicker barrel takes longer to make mirage and longer to get rid of it.  A skinny barrel makes mirage quick and stops it quicker than a thick barrel.

I have since read that masking the barrel off and painting the top flat with heat resistant flat black paint like the type used for engine headers is supposed to work pretty good against mirage.

Bob

[NDduckhunter]

I think the low temps I shoot in ND exacerbate the issue. There’s a mirage before I ever fire a shot.

[Scota4570]

If I shoot enough to warm up the barrel I get mirage.  That is only with very low HC sights.  I replace all HC sights with higher ones that do not have a mirage problem.  1/4" high is plenty tall for the front sight.  The  low HC sights  look great but do not get me through a 10-shot aggregate.

[alacran]

I made a Fusil Fin back in '03, it had a 44 -inch Getz octagon to round barrel in .62 caliber. I left the barrel in the white. I was complaining about mirage on gong shoot in New Mexico. One of my friends asked to see just how bad the mirage was. By that time, we had shot about 10 shots. It was very warm in the low nineties. We were at about 8000 feet in elevation and the Sun was intense. He shouldered my fusil, and to my surprise he told me that the mirage wasn't as bad as it was with his similarly barreled .62 with a browned barrel. I shouldered his fowler, and it was almost impossible to see his front sight due to the mirage. Yes, the mirage was worse on the browned barrel which seemed counter intuitive.
We came to the conclusion that the browned barrel absorbs more radiant heat from the Sun and the barrel left in the white reflects a fair amount of that radiance.
In most paper shoots you have 30 minutes to shoot five shots so taking more time between shots may keep mirage down some. I have like Leatherback said cool the front sight with a damp rag. But when I have to do that, I do it after every shot.