SIGHTS
Sights are made in many forms. Some suit one man best; others another. You
cannot decide which suits your individual case without trying each sort
for yourself.
When you find one form which suits you, it is a pity to risk spoiling your
shooting by changing to others; a beginner should never do so, as he will
get into an uncertain way of taking his sights, instead of always the
same, which is the only way to make reliable, consistent, shooting. Of
course, all your sights may be useless if you are going to shoot in a
competition, consequent on the authorities making some new rule as to "fit
for rough usage"; and then you will have to shoot with whatever will pass
the rules.
My patent sight has, so far, complied with every rule, and it can be used
for hammering nails without sustaining damage.
The main point is to have a front sight at once easily seen, and of which
you see each time the _same amount_; not sometimes more and at other
times less, else you cannot keep your elevation.
Also the "U" in the back sight should have bevelled edges, so as to give a
sharp edge, else it looks "woolly."
Again, if you are not able to see daylight each side of the front sight
when it is in the "U," you cannot be aware that you are not covering part
of the front sight on one side or the other, and, therefore, whether your
aim is in horizontal axis with your barrel.
The reason I prefer a "U"- to a "V"-shaped notch in the hind sight is
because in the "V" you do not see this daylight so well.
As soon as you can shoot well enough to know whether bad shots are the
fault of the sighting of the revolver or of your own holding, you can
sight the pistol properly for yourself; and in this way you can do the
sighting much more accurately, and with greater nicety, than by taking it
to a gunmaker and saying: "Alter the sights to shoot three inches higher
and two to the left at twenty yards, and open the 'U' a little," etc. To
do this, have front and hind sights made of horn, put in temporarily,
without any "U" in the hind sight, and both hind and front sights a little
higher than you think necessary. Then go to the range with your pistol and
several files of various sizes, including some that are round. Make a
slight "U" in the _measured_ centre of the top edge of the back sight.
Shoot a few shots at the range you want to sight for (taking care that you
do not go clean over the top of the butt, owing to being sighted too
high), and then keep working with the files, first at one sight and then
at the other, till you get them approximately right.
Do not cut the "U" down too close to the barrel, as it will then give you
a blurry aim, especially when the barrel gets hot. If you find you shoot
too high, unless you cut this "U" down take out the front sight and put in
another higher one, rather than file the "U" unduly low.
Remember when filing: Filing at the bottom of the "U" makes you shoot
_lower_; filing at the top of the front sight makes you shoot _higher_;
filing on the side of the "U" or the front sight makes you shoot _towards_
the side on which you have filed. Therefore, by filing a very little at a
time, where necessary, you can at last get your sighting perfect. Be sure
to file a very little at a time, or you will overdo it. As in sculpture,
you can easily take off, but cannot replace. If you have taken off too
much anywhere, you may be able to correct this by filing so as to alter
the direction. For instance, if you have been shooting too much to the
right, you can correct this by filing on the left of the front sight or
the left of the "U," whichever makes the more symmetrical job; but if, by
doing so, you make the front sight too small or too narrow or make the "U"
too wide, there is nothing to do but to put in a new front or hind sight
and begin shooting and filing again.
When you have got the sighting perfect, work carefully with your file
(taking great care not to spoil the edge of the "U" nearest to the eye
when aiming), and give a chamfered or bevelled edge to the other side of
the "U," so that it has a knife-edge. This is to make the "U" look clear
and yet allow the back sight to be strong. On this principle, you can let
the hind sight be strong and over a quarter of an inch thick, and yet have
a nice, clear "U." Do not have the "U" deeper than a semicircle. If this
"U" is too deep, it hampers your view of the object aimed at. In fact, it
should not be quite a real "U," but a semicircle. You can also file all
round the front sight, giving it a taper toward the muzzle, but keeping
unaltered the silhouette that you see when aiming, so that the outline
shall then stand clear to the eye.
A gunmaker's vise (padded, so as not to bruise the revolver) is a useful
thing, as it leaves both your hands free to use the files.
I cannot tell you how much you may undercut the front sight, assuming you
intend to use it in competition, as the rules alter so from year to year.
I have an undercut bead-sight which some years was allowed at Bisley as
"Military," and in other years not. The best plan, if you are in any doubt
as to its passing, is to send your revolver to be passed by the committee
before competing.
When you have finished, and have had a final shoot to see if this
finishing has not spoilt your elevation, etc., you can send your pistol to
the maker, and ask him to make your sights precisely like your model ones,
and to fix them permanently on the pistol _without screws, if for Bisley
use_, so as to comply with the rules. When you get the pistol with these
sights, if the work has been properly done, a very little more filing will
put the matter right.
Should you not be shooting at Bisley, or at any of those clubs which shoot
under Bisley rules, you can, of course, get a pistol with Smith & Wesson's
"Ira Paine" adjustable sights. Carry a miniature folding gilt screw-driver
and sight-case on your watch-chain, as I do, and you will then be able to
shoot in any light, at any range, or in any style of shooting, by merely
giving a slight turn to the adjusting screws to alter your elevation or
direction; or take out a sight from your little case of sights, if a sight
breaks or you want a different size or shape. Public opinion has not yet
been educated to the point of considering this "a practical military
sight," but this will come--in time.
EXTRACTS FROM SPECIFICATIONS OF WALTER WINANS'S REVOLVER FRONT SIGHT
"Great difficulty has hitherto been experienced in seeing the same amount
of front sight each time aim is taken, unless the base of the sight is
sufficiently undercut to form a 'bead-sight'; such undercutting being,
however, detrimental, as it weakens the 'sight' and renders it very liable
to injury, and is not permissible in Bisley revolver competitions. The
object of my invention is, therefore, to overcome this difficulty, and to
this end I make the 'sight' of metal, horn, wood, or other hard substance,
with a strong, wide base, preferably of the 'barleycorn' or triangular
section.
"The face of the upper part of the 'sight' facing the marksman (as much of
it as it is desirable to see in aiming) is made vertical, or inclined
slightly towards the marksman, so as to cause it to appear black, as if in
shadow. The visible part of the sight below the face inclines forward from
the marksman, and downward, so as to reflect the light and enable the face
of the sight to be at once distinguished by its difference of shade from
the lower part. It may be polished or plated to assist in reflecting the
light, while as a contrast, the vertical face is cross-filed, or
'roughed,' or may be hollowed out so as to be in shadow, and give it a
'dead' black appearance.
"In the drawing, I have shown what I consider the best means of carrying
this out. Fig. 1 is a side view, full size, of a portion of a revolver
barrel fitted with my improved 'front sight.'
"Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are sections of the barrel at A B, showing two forms
which the sight may assume in section, one having straight sides, the
other concave. I show in Figs. 4 and 4*, on a larger scale, for the sake
of clearness, a side and plan view of the sight shown in Fig. 1, and in
Fig. 5 a modification of this shape. Figs. 6 and 7 are end views, showing
two sectional forms of the sight, and corresponding in size with Figs. 4
and 5. In Figs. 1 and 4, it will be seen that _a_ is the vertical face of
the sight, which is designed to present a dark appearance to the marksman;
and _b_ is the polished, inclined surface, which takes a rounded form. In
the modification, Fig. 5, the face _a_ is slightly inclined towards the
marksman, and the bright or polished surface _b_ takes the form of a flat
incline."