Front Sights

[LeverGunner]

I've been a fancier of old guns, particularly leverguns for over 20 years. Most leverguns have a bead front sight on them, and most of the 22 rifles I've owned have had some sort of blade front sight. I know a lot of older leverguns had blade front sights, but I've had very few that did.

I think I shoot a blade front sight better than any type of sights I've tried. I'm considering converting several leverguns to have that type of front sight blade. I figure if I get an appropriate height bead sight, I could just remove the bead, and then have the sight blued and I'd be in business.

One of the guns I had that would really shoot was a Remington 41 Targetmaster. Someone had taken the front sight and filed it to a fine point. The rear sight was, as best as I can tell it, called a butterfly rear. It was something similar to a semi-buckhorn, but not really. I don't know if it was something modified years ago or came on some of those model rifles. I have also considered making something like this, so to have a very fine aiming point.

Anyone have thoughts on the matter?

[Scott Tschirhart]

I like a brass bead and a Skinner rear sight. It’s very familiar to my eye and I use the bead for elevation at different distances.

Typically, I use the tip of the bead at 25 yards and use more of the bead as the distance increases. I put the bead right on what I want to hit at 100 yards and it seems to work well with pistol caliber leverguns. Same with my .22 levergun.

[JimT]

I have aperture rear sights on my leverguns and use a bead front sight with them all. Works with my old eyes better than a post/blade front sight for me. Try a few different combinations and see what works best for you.

[Malamute]

Ive filed a couple bead fronts into fine blades. Im not a fan of beads, blades seem to agree with my eye or brain or whatever. Ive put the old school Sourdough front sights on several. Various sight makers made them over the years, Burris may be the most recent. They are a basic square blade with inclined rear face with brass inset into it. Redfield and others made them, I think the older ones are better. I broke a burris once, it looked cast, and broke when the brass drift punch slipped off the base and hit the blade.

The old style Winchester rifle sights were nice, a medium fine blade, some with all steel construction, some with silver blade inset in the base. Uberti makes them now. Winchester forsook the blade sights years ago to go to beads on ramps.

One sad part of the cheapening/cost cutting over time, the use of the elevation steps as range adjustment has gone by the wayside, its easier to make/buy fewer heights of front sights. I just ordered a couple uberti rifle sights to try, the intent being to use a good old Winchester or Browning/Winchester rear sight starting on the lowest elevator step, zero with file on the front sight, and have the elevator steps function like in the earlier days. On pistol caliber, I think 50 yards for the lowest, on 30-30 I'll use 100 yards as the lowest range. The original step elevators came in several different types for different cartridges, the steps equating to 50 yard increments of range, according to Madis in his Winchester book. It may not be perfect as to exact range, but should be closer than guesstimating holdover at all ranges.

Ive gone to using super bright orange findernail polish on front pistol and rifle sights. Salon Perfect brand Neon Pop Traffic Cone seems to be the brightest so far. A heavy white undercoat, then thin orange coat. I compared it to a fiber optic front sight dad had one one of his pistols after he passed, The orange nail polish was noticeably brighter in dusky light outside. I removed the fiber optic and put the factory sight back on his pistol and painted it. It can wear or chip over time, but a wipe off with acetone (nail polish remover), then re-coat and your back in business. Im still working on the first bottle after 6 or 8 years. The orange sight shows in the evening long after iron front sights become totally unusable. It definitely extends my skunk patrol time in the evening without needing a light yet.

[LeverGunner]

I appreciate the replies here. I've been researching the sights mentioned here.

I'll probably end up getting a Skinner partridge front.

[AJMD429]

.
One of my favorite pistol sights is one I actually made using a roll-pin. I filed down the top of the Patridge sight on an AMT clone of a Ruger Target Pistol to make it concave and match the pin, which I'd drilled out the center of to make it larger, and smoother inside the hole. The rear sight I'd replaced with an aperture sight (I believe a Williams FP set up for a Contender), so the front sight needed just a tiny bit of extra elevation anyway.

If the two apertures are aligned concentrically, the target visible through the front sight WILL be hit easily, out to 40 yards or so. If one needs to shoot rapidly, one can just use the front as a 'post' and will be pretty darned close.

Here are some 'Photobucket' photos of the setup - I quit paying Photobucket when their service was so bad. No idea if it ever improved....

Front roll-pin sight >>> http://www.levergunscommunity.org/viewt ... 90#p847679

[Bill in Oregon]

I have had the Beech combination front on a couple of rolling blocks and liked the combination of pinhead-in-globe or open blade. I'd choose just the globe option if limited to one.
https://montanavintagearms.com/product/ ... ont-sight/

[marlinman93]

I love the old German Silver blade front sights and all my old leverguns have them. I shoot sight black on them sometimes if I'm doing serious accurate shooting and maybe the blades don't show up as well as I need.
I also have purchased some plain blade front sights with a nice flat squared off blade. I prefer something around .040" thick, and if thicker I file them thinner by removing metal off each side until they meet my needs. With a buckhorn rear that has a square notch these give a better sight picture, but I've also used them with a tang sight and small aperture with good success.

[AJMD429]

I have had the Beech combination front on a couple of rolling blocks and liked the combination of pinhead-in-globe or open blade. I'd choose just the globe option if limited to one.
https://montanavintagearms.com/product/ ... ont-sight/

Now THAT is a really cool front sight...!

[Bill in Oregon]

Doc, it dates to 1867:
"The gold washed Beach combination sight was patented on April 9, 1867 by E. B. Beach. Winchester and other gun manufactures put the beach sight on their guns."

[COSteve]

For general levergun shooting I like a small brass bead front sight. For my longer range plinking with my target tang rear sight, I like a Lyman Globe front sight with Lee Shaver globe inserts.

[Woodsloafer2]

I use both sourdough and bead front sights. On beads I file the top and sides flat. Works the best for me....

[gcs]

A peep and bead is intuitive, especially for hunting, put bead on target squeeze trigger, it doesn't get easier than that... That said, maybe a blade front will get better long range accuracy with a 6 oclock hold, Just guessing,

[LeverGunner]

I use both sourdough and bead front sights. On beads I file the top and sides flat. Works the best for me....

Interesting idea, thanks for sharing. I might give that a try. Do you have any pictures?

[Griff]

It depends on use. For more precise shooting, I prefer a globe front sight with changeable inserts depending on conditions. Matched with a tang peep sight, I can still hold pretty close. My favorite insert in this setup is a half post, which is my favorite open front sight, but inside the globe it lacks the shadows and bright spots that can ruin that precision than the combination promises. Next comes a cross insert. Using a couple of fine wires instead of a thicker post, this setup can really provide some precision. For overcast or dull days, I add a yellow insert for added contrast. For quicker shots with a carbine or Trapper, I also like this setup.

front sight.JPG

rear sight.JPG

[OldWin]

For me a rear peep, and most importantly, a squared front post. Either the early Winchester carbine block and pin arrangement, or anything that has a squared post. I dislike round beads of any type.

[AJMD429]

For general levergun shooting I like a small brass bead front sight. For my longer range plinking with my target tang rear sight, I like a Lyman Globe front sight with Lee Shaver globe inserts.

Me too.

16” leverguns get the Marbles Bullseye rear and a green Firesight (fiber - the orange is too bright for me) front. VERY fast and yet the inner ring yields accuracy with just a second extra time. These are for woods walking or home protection.

20” leverguns get the Williams FP rear, ghosted by removing the aperture, and a small gold bead front. Accurate but rugged and handy for hunting.

24” leverguns get an adjustable tang sight rear and a Lyman Globe front with Shaver inserts (usually crosshair or spike), which is most accurate and yet a bit more fragile than the hunting setups, so is my preferred target range setup.

[Grizz]

SBH sites.png

this is my 10" SBH 44 meat gun. I cut the blade off of the ramp and cut a dovetail into it with hack saw and files. The brass bead disappeared somewhere along the trail, but not a problem.

I told people who wanted to shoot it to ignore the rear sight, and the bead is the bullet. There was no learning curve, the bullets landed where the bead was when they departed. Worked the same for everybody once they quit trying to use the rear sight.

On longer shots I held at the hairline and got the spine, or the lungs, or the heart

I should borrow it back for some instant replay some day . . .

[Pisgah]

My favorite front sight. File to the shape you like and the height you need...

https://www.dixiegunworks.com/index/pag ... ct_id/1808

[marlinman93]

Doc, it dates to 1867:
"The gold washed Beach combination sight was patented on April 9, 1867 by E. B. Beach. Winchester and other gun manufactures put the beach sight on their guns."

The Beach combination sight was also copied by Lyman, and Marlin too. Both companies built versions almost identical to the Beach, and guessing they did so after Beach's patent ran out.

[LeverGunner]

I appreciate everyone's insight.

Thanks MarlinMan, I didn't know that Marlin had made a copy of the sight.

[blackhawk44]

Since XS no longer sells its white stripe ramped blade as a separate item (I have several and they have been great) the Skinner brass blades really pique my interest. My grandfather had a brass insert on a ramp on the Winchester '92 I inherited from him in 1970. It has always worked really well for me.

[LeverGunner]

I had the chance to fire a few of a friend's guns recently, and the sights on his Miroku Winchester 1873 were very nice. I didn't get the chance to measure it, but it was a bead front sight, but seemed to be finer than the 1/16" beads I'm used to. I liked the fineness of it and I was able to hit with it easily. Anyone know of an extra fine bead?