Cant see front sight

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Carlsen Highway
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Cant see front sight

Post by Carlsen Highway »

I cant see the front sight clearly on my 20 inch barreled 92 carbine. I have been shooting this for years. Now I cant use it really. I can still see the front sight on a .303, with its 25 inch barrel and longer LOP.

I have tried a longer LOP. It nearly works but not quite, and feels uncomfortable.

This is not a range gun. It is a wilderness rifle and spends time doing hard work, lot of carrying, lots of backpacking, lots of rain, lots of crossing rivers. I am thinking of putting one of those little pistol reflex sights on it. Like a Bushnell Fastfire.

I would put one of those rails over where the rear sight is now, and mount it there. Any thoughts on this. Has anyone done this, forseeable problems etc?
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Re: Cant see front sight

Post by piller »

First, get your eyes checked. You might need glasses. Second, a reflex sight or some type of red dot has been available for rifles for years. I have a red dot on a .30-30 and it is just fine. I have trouble with red color because I see more colors than is normal, but mine will switch to green. For 100 yards or less, it is perfect. Over 100 yards it is a bit too big and starts to cover more of the target than my groups do.
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ywaltzucanrknrl
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Re: Cant see front sight

Post by ywaltzucanrknrl »

I have the same issue. My vision at distance is good, but my close up vision is deteriorating.

I've forward mounted scopes on some rifles, and it works well, but can take away other advantages of open sights, plus balance and handling. I don't have any red dot type sights on any gun, so can't talk about them.

What type of rear sight do you have? I've had good luck in the short term of getting better depth of field by using a peep or even a ghost ring. But, if you are like most, the problem with your eyes will only get worse as you age and sooner or later you may not be able to see the sights on even the longer barreled rifle.

One solution if you want to stay with iron sights is to get a rear sight that you can put a 0.25X or 0.5X lens in. When I shot AR's with iron sights, this worked very well, but not sure if you could find a rugged rear peep for a 92 that would accommodate a lens.

When I shoot targets, I use a pair of glasses that has a 0.25X lens in the right eye and it works well, but this will make the target somewhat blurry. So it's a trade off.

If you go to an eye doc, go to one who understands shooting. I tried progressives and bifocals and couldn't shoot with them, but I hear they work for some. I've been going to try a pair of Decot's with a 0.25X in the upper left side of my right lens, but it's expensive.

If you find a good solution, post it up and let us know, I'm sure you and I aren't the only ones who have this issue.
Paul105
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Re: Cant see front sight

Post by Paul105 »

Here's a rail mounting option:
.
https://pearsonstacrails.ecwid.com/Alum ... p248915041
.
no personal experience.

Good luck

Paul
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Old No7
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Re: Cant see front sight

Post by Old No7 »

For a quick, cheap, easy-to-do and VERY effective solution, use a hole punch or some tool to put a 1/16" sharp hole in a 1/2" x 1/2" piece of black electrical tape. Put that on your lens (will take some trial and error to place correctly) so you're looking through that aperture when you align the sights.

It works to sharpen up the sights really well! Lyman used to sell an inexpensive aperture that attached with a suction cup, and Merit used to see an expensive which had different sized apertures.

Seriously, you need to try this trick --it really works. (And the tape doesn't really get in the way when your head isn't tipped down on the stock -- but it's there when you need it.)

Old No7

Edited to add:
Lyman now sells this kit -- see this link on Amazon (click for link).
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Woodsloafer2
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Re: Cant see front sight

Post by Woodsloafer2 »

I have used pistol red dot sights on rifles quite a bit. They work great for me. They are faster than iron sights for me and everything is on the same focal plane. Trijicons either RMR or SRO are great. I really like the Holosun's too. Either 508 or 509 t (enclosed emitter) are great. i really like having the same sight on both pistols and rifles. I still use peeps and scopes but the red dots really work well.. EGW makes lots of mounts many of which use existing scope mounting holes. The mounts are very small and lite. I get the smallest dot size I can. 1 or two minute dots work the best for me.
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ollogger
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Re: Cant see front sight

Post by ollogger »

about a month ago i got a pistol with hi vis sights on it , front is green then rear is red, it made a huge improvement!! so now i will try a hi vis front sight on a 94 that has a receiver sight
last year at the eye doctor we were talking about shooting, she does alot of shooters & L.E. & she says
ever one that has this problem of not seeing the sights but can see the target is going to have to try
this works for me trick, if she could cure it, she would become very wealthy
Also will try a set on my Ruger Alaskan, if i can find them

ollogger
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