Front sights - what size insert?

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Telecomtodd
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Front sights - what size insert?

Post by Telecomtodd »

I uh, well, uhm, I stole my kid's brand new Anschutz 1913 with 7020 sights last night under the guise that I was going to sight it in for him. I did. What a rifle, what a trigger! I really wish I was his age again. He'll be shooting it this weekend, and probably 3-4x a week from this point on.

My dumb question - as any new sight would, it came with a small case holding a number of inserts for the front sight. Can anyone tell me what distance each one is used for? We simply don't know.
Pat McCoy
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Post by Pat McCoy »

Different front apertures are more for different light conditions than different distances.

General rule is that too big is better than too small.

Try 4.0 or 4.2 for offhand and kneeling, and he may like 3.8 better for prone. From there is is a matter of trying the next size up or down to see if it helps or hurts (but most kids want to go too small).
Telecomtodd
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Post by Telecomtodd »

I have a 4.0 in there now, and it seems like the aperature is very large to me. I'll try a 3.8 and see how that goes.
Hip's Ax
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Post by Hip's Ax »

Smallbore is not a kids only game. Plenty of adults shoot smallbore and that 1913 is about as good as it gets. Buy another rifle or borrow one from your club and get on that line with the rest of us!

The large apeture advice is sound. In prone 3.8 sounds about right to me with no bloop tube. I use a 9" bloop tube and run 4.4 in prone. A little bigger for kneeling and even bigger for offhand is what many shooters do. It looks way big at first but your brain will center the bull and the larger apeture will keep your eyes from getting tired in prone and I believe the general theory for the rest of the positions is as big an apeture as you need to keep the bull in the apeture for your entire "wobble zone".

If you think irons is fun wait till you try scope. ;)
"Where the heck did that 8 come from?!"
Telecomtodd
Posts: 221
Joined: Thu Feb 14, 2008 12:15 pm
Location: Saint Charles, MO

Post by Telecomtodd »

Well, I'll drop another $3,125 for a rifle of my own another day. That was the cost of the 1913 with the 7020 sights. I'll be working with him intensively, so I won't be far from it. I'll try the 3.8 sights and see how they look.

I also have a Savage Model 93 in .17 cal that I have customized a bit. It's surprisingly accurate, and it's scoped - 4x20.

I'm also considering picking up a Pardini .22 pistol or something like it. I looked at a S&W Mod 41 and a A22 the other day. I have some muscle/endocrine health problems, so holding a heavy pistol offhand one-handed will be a problem for me. The A22 was lighter, but my hand was too small and it did not feel right. Maybe with me being half Italian the Pardini will fit me better, LOL. I'm interested in rapid fire, but one thing at a time - need to get my boy off and running with the 1913.
Pat McCoy
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Post by Pat McCoy »

Try the 3.8 sight for prone, but that is too small for offhand (and probably kneeling).

Too small an aperture in the less stable positions will lead to inability to get the trigger to go off (the dreaded chicken finger) becasue you are trying too hard to center the bull.

I know it looks big, but 4.0 is the smallest you should use for kneeling and 4.2 for offhand.
Telecomtodd
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Post by Telecomtodd »

OK, spent some time at the range and realized there's a variable not mentioned in anyone's posts. We're shooting USA50 targets; different targets will provide different sight pictures. I spoke with my son's coach who suggested a 3.6 aperture for prone, and we wound up using a 3.4 for a while. We'll continue to play with it.
Pat McCoy
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Post by Pat McCoy »

The size of the aiming black is less than 8 hundredths of an inch different between the A36 (1.393) and the A50 (1.31). I doubt that is significant (however you will probably need a larger aperture if you ever have to shoot the old A17 target (1.483 black).

Find what you like while keeping in mind that too small an aperture will lead to eye strain and "fuzzing out" of the target, as well as hesitation in trigger release in the less stable positions.
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WarWagon
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Post by WarWagon »

Man, I'm going to have to try going to a bigger front aperture. With a tube and full length barrel, I've been using a 3.2 for prone, 3.4 for kneeling, and a 3.5-3.6 for standing the entire time.
1813benny
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front aperature size

Post by 1813benny »

This topic is purely subjective. What works for one person may or may not work for another. Visual acuity is huge in this situation, along with the amount of light available on different ranges.

What matters most is two (2) things.

First, you want to have as clear and crisp a sight picture as possible. Too large or too small will result in fuzzing or graying out of the target bull.

Second, the size has to be reasonable with respect to your ability to hold and execute a shot. As an example, a general, and I repeat general, rule of thumb is to use an offhand aperature than enables the target bull to remain inside of the front aperature during aiming. Later, as the shooter's hold improves, smaller aperatures can be used to refine the hold & shot execution process.

Obviously, for prone, you will use a smaller aperature than for standing. Remember, too large of an aperature can have a negative impact on the ablity of the shooter to center the bull. Conversely, too small of an aperature will result in a poor sight picture and the inability to correctly execute a shot without jerking the trigger during that "perfect" alignment.

One other item is the use of an extention tube, as previously noted. When you extend the front sight past the original sight radius, you will have to increase accordingly.
laxratnd
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hey

Post by laxratnd »

yeah i have a 9 inch tube and full length barrel also. Iam going to be getting a new adjustive front iris because mine only goes to 4.3 and i need bigger. I am also looking into getting a 22mm globe front sight to get some more light in there. The 18mm extended that far seems a little small for me. Trying to crisp my picture up some. I dont have a good clear picture on my smallbore so iam playing with some things.
Tony C.

Front sight insert

Post by Tony C. »

As some other poster have said, there are no hard and fast rule for everyone, generally speaking, younger eyes can get away with smaller inserts, older shooter like myself need bigger one to see better.

There are however a couple of rule of thumb, the front sight insert aperture should appears to be at least 1.5 times bigger than the bull ( aimming mark ). A common mistake for new shooter is using too small a size, this will result in some very good center shots but with a number of wild 9s and 8s scatter around.

The insert when look thru the rear sight, should appears to be crisp and sharp while the bull just slightly out of focus, once it set should be left alone, unless you are shooting out door with bright sun light shine on the target, then the insert size can be decrease by 0.1 or so.

Like another poster said, its better to be too big than too small, myself use the same front apeture size over the whole 3 position course. Also if you are shooting different ranges and targets from time to time , you should invest in a adjusable front apeture.

Tony
laxratnd
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hey

Post by laxratnd »

For me it seems like i am to dark in my globe and thats why i am not crisp. I could just try bigger appertures first to see if thats my problem and if that dosnt work i may be going with a 22mm front globe if i can find one. I think AHG makes one. I am also looking at the AHG sight-track.


stephen
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