Open sight blade and notch sizing question.

[Bennypapa]

I shoot offhand black powder @ 25 and 50 yds
I use a set of homemade sights that have a flat rear sight with a square notch and a flat topped front post/blade. The notch at the rear is sized so that the front sight fills the notch when looking at the target.

I had a chance to shoot a friends rifle this past weekend and it has a small difference. The rear notch is wider than mine so that when shooting there is a gap on either side of the Front post.

When I made my sight my theory was that if the front blade was sized to fill the rear notch you would know if you were aligned because the sight picture would be all black. This is completely uneducated and untested versus a front blade that is thinner than the notch. It is just how I made it.

Does anyone have any opinions on this topic?
Is it better for the front sight to fill the rear sight notch or have a gap?


OR is it just a matter of what you get used to?

Thanks all,

Bennypapa

[GMFWoodchuck]

Originally Posted by Bennypapa

I shoot offhand black powder @ 25 and 50 yds
I use a set of homemade sights that have a flat rear sight with a square notch and a flat topped front post/blade. The notch at the rear is sized so that the front sight fills the notch when looking at the target.

I had a chance to shoot a friends rifle this past weekend and it has a small difference. The rear notch is wider than mine so that when shooting there is a gap on either side of the Front post.

When I made my sight my theory was that if the front blade was sized to fill the rear notch you would know if you were aligned because the sight picture would be all black. This is completely uneducated and untested versus a front blade that is thinner than the notch. It is just how I made it.

Does anyone have any opinions on this topic?
Is it better for the front sight to fill the rear sight notch or have a gap?


OR is it just a matter of what you get used to?

Thanks all,

Bennypapa

I know what you mean. I hated the sights on my black powder rem 700 ML so I changed it to a ghost ring type and I love it. That, I suppose, is a little bit of a different situation than what you have. My two cents is that you want a gap large enough to see what you are shooting at but small enough to center it correctly. (I like the ghost ring/peep I have because it's a little bit big but I still seem to center it at a good distance.) You didn't state whether or not your sight is permanant or not. If it isn't experiment and see what's good for you. I'm guessing that in a hunting situation you might want somewhat of a larger gap so you can see your target better. At a range I'm guessing almost no gap.

Hope I helped.