Do you suppose? (32 Special sights)

[earlmck]

Made a little jaunt to my favorite gravel pit today to celebrate another perfect day. Took along the old 32 Special (1909 Win.94) that I picked up at the gun show a few months ago. Somewhere I had read of this interesting idea where you load one round each at a series of different powder levels, this will give a vertical string but as you note where each goes a few should cluster together while the others string farther away. Those that cluster will then indicate the best load. Seemed worth trying, but I loaded two at each level going from 26.8 to 30.1 grains of RL7 with the 170 gr. Hornady. Forgot the sandbags (CRS disease) but made a pretty fair rest across the hood of the pickup using some saw chaps, pair of coveralls, and a rifle case.

So the target shows my results: ten rounds, 5 different loads, giving a 3" group at 100 yards. Cripes! I didn't think my old eyeballs could hold an open sight well enough any more to get a 3" group if the gun was absolutely perfect. This was with the "special to the 32 special" sight, affectionately known as the "hog-trough" sight (Hey, I didn't have a clue what that sight was until folks on this forum told me what it was). I thought I was having a hard time seeing things well enough to line up the front with that little divot in the rear...

Now here's the deal: this rifle seems to be remarkably non-critical as to load: looks like it'll shoot anything reasonable I put in there. But the group was located 8" to the right and 10" high from point-of-aim. It has been shot a lot: loosey-goosey action, rough bore, been re-blued, refinished to make look fairly decent but has definitely been rode hard and put away wet a few times.

Now, do you suppose this well-used rifle has spent 102 years shooting that far away from where it is aimed and nobody ever tapped a sight over or put on a higher front? How many critters got missed or wounded because of that? Yikes!

[Les Staley]

earlmck; That's the first time I've heard the expression "hog trough" sight... I heard my grandpa born 1882 refer to a "pig trough" sight.. and he left me his 1894 long rifle (octogan barrel) rifle in 32 special made in 1902. The muzzle is worn pretty bad, a bullet will drop into the muzzle clear to the brass of the cartidge.. but it will hold a 2" group at 100 yds with a peep sight if I do my part.. left it to my son, and he treasures it.. sounds like your rifle and you get along pretty good too.. congrats.... Les

[Old Savage]

Interesting questions. I have a friend who shoots his scope sighted .243 model 88 to a significantly different place that I do the same rifle. Then there is how your eyes line up those sights.

This rifle has a brass bead on the front. This was shot in bright sunlight from the rear. I found that I had to be very careful how I saw the sights. As you can see we have two different points with very accurate ammo/rifle combo going back and forth with how I looked at them. Just saying this may be part of the issue between different sets of eyes or has the wood metal fit changed between when it was sighted and now. Or was is banged around. KirkD and I seemed to have that issue with a 30-30 I sent to him. Very big difference there. Come to think of it I should try this again in a different light.

[ollogger]

most of the time on open sights i shoot high & left with a new purchace rifle, so i shift to centre
& put on a new front sight, my 32 ws has a notch sight & not having one i
filed a penny down till i got it lined up at 2 in high at 100 yd
IMO age light & hold of sights & gun all make a big diff. & i think
your build, in my case ive got big shoulders & a fat head
what say you ollogger

[Ben_Rumson]

The shape of our eyeballs can change according to how well one is hydrated... Also changes in blood pressure can make them change and affect the way one sees their sights from one time to the next...YMMV

[earlmck]

Good points on how the lighting affects open sights -- I've sure seen sun from one side or the other make a noticeable difference, especially in windage and that's one of the reasons I went to peep sights as a matter of preference clear back there when I was young enough to actually see those open sights pretty well. And I hadn't heard, or thought about how your eyeball can be affected by hydration or blood pressure. I did have a couple of Hamms while shooting, just to keep the target supply refreshed at the gravel pit, you know. So eyeballs should have been nicely hydrated, I'd think.

The light yesterday was very bright but with a little light overcast, and sun high but slightly to my back. Should have been pretty decent lighting conditions.

Remembering back to growing up, the rifles we used we never shot at a target to see where they shot. We kinda' knew the single-shot 22 was deadly, the repeater shot a little high and left, and the 30/30 hit a tad to the right. But we never tried to change anything. We never shot the 25/20 at all 'cause "it doesn't shoot too good" (model 92 that hadn't had 5 boxes of shells ever shot through it). Years later I found it shot quite a ways to the left and just tapped the front sight left until things lined up pretty good. I am remembering my family having an awful lot of faith in those old open sights just the way they came from the factory. I'll bet that was real common.