VAshooter usually makes a statement about front sights at Appleseeds that folks really need to understand and take to heart. It has to do with focusing on the front sight. Between that and some other posts here I got to researching sights (types and history). Here are some quotes and links if folks here find it interesting.
This is part of an article on sights. While this quote is in the section for blade sights (pistol sights and hunting rifle sights) the statement about only being able to focus on one plane at a time is stil true. The rear sight, front sight and target are at three different distances from your eye, but you can only focus on one of them at any time. With the aperature type sights (Tech Sights and USGI type sights) your eye/mind should automatically center the front sight post in the rear (aperature) sight so there is no need to try to focus on the rear sight. It is okay to "look" or focus on the target momentarily before changing your focus to the front sight post. You do need to make sure the target is "the target" and the change in focus from the target back to the front sight post "sharpens" up the front sight post for 2 or 3 seconds before your vision will begin to blur slightly (if you don't take that shot and have to take another breath, "look" at the target again as you exhale, then back to the front sight post again to take that shot).
"With typical blade iron sights, the shooter should center the front post in the notch of the rear sight and the tops of both sights should be level.[1] Since the eye is only capable of focusing on one plane, and the rear sight, front sight, and target are all in separate planes, only one of those three planes can be in focus. Which plane is in focus depends on the type of sight, and one of the challenges to a shooter is to keep the focus on the correct plane to allow for best sight alignment.
Even a tiny error in the angle of sight alignment results in a trajectory that diverges from the target on a trajectory directly relative to the distance from the target, causing the bullet to miss the target; for example with an Olympic 10 m air rifle shooter trying to hit the 10 ring, which is merely a 0.5 mm diameter dot on the target at 10 meters and with a 4.5 mm diameter pellet, an error of only 0.2 mm in sight alignment can mean a complete miss. At 1,000 meters, that same 0.2 mm misalignment would be magnified 1,500 times, giving an error of over 300 mm. (Calculations assume a 660 mm sight radius or sighting line) A long sighting line helps to reduce eventual angle errors and will, in case the sight has an incremental adjustment mechanism, adjust in smaller increments when compared to a further identical shorter sighting line."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_sight
Wouldn't it be neat if we got back to this some day? Weekly community get togethers to do some rifle shooting?
"Rifle shooting in the North American English colonies was a way of life both on the frontier, as it progressed westward, and in the farming settlements of the Atlantic seaboard, where the rifle was used for protection and hunting as well as for target shooting.
The flintlock Kentucky rifle, produced from about 1750 by American gunsmiths from Germany and Switzerland, provided great accuracy to 180 metres (200 yards), then a long range. Virtually every village and settlement had a shooting match on weekends and holidays, often attracting a hundred or more marksmen. A common target was a piece of board, blackened in the smoke of a fire or charred, on which an X was slashed with a knife, the intersection marking the centre."
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/541546/shooting/6628/Early-history
Maybe the British got some interest in long range rifle shooting following the Revolutionary War.
"The English military conducted research on various rifles from 1800, especially emphasizing long-range shooting at targets of more than 550 metres (600 yards)."
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/541546/shooting/6628/Early-history
Seems even with a lot of practice the Americans could still outshoot the folks from "across the pond".
"In 1873 an Irish rifle team bested England and Scotland in a match, and then challenged American shooters to a match at ranges of 700, 800, and 900 metres (765.5, 874.8, and 984.2 yards). The match was held on Long Island, New York, in 1874, and though the American team had not shot beyond the 550-metre range, it won."
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/541546/shooting/6628/Early-history
Oh yeah, the question that VAshooter asks? "When was the first time your really looked at your front sight?" It sounds kind of funny, unless you REALLY HAVE LOOKED at your front sight. You can do a lot of rifle shooting and take that front sight for granted. Your shooting will be kind of sloppy and the groups won't be the greatest thing ever seen on paper. VAshooter is telling you that the first time you really look at your front sight and you see the difference in your groups as compared to taking that front sight for granted, you will remember every little detail of that post. You'll remember any color/shading differences due to age or wear, you'll remember any gouges or knicks in the edges, whether that damage is on the right or left side of the post, how far down from the top that knick is, etc. From that day on, if someone asks you what your front sight looks like you'll be able to describe it exactly because the "picture" in your mind will be as clear as if you had your rifle in your hands and you were looking at the front sight post just prior to taking a shot.
Sorry for the long post, didn't start out to be that way. Don't underestimate the importance of having that focus on the front sight before your finger tightens up on the trigger.
Have a good one.
PS. should've included this with the original post.
My M1917 Enfield has shiney protective "wing/ears" on the front sight, worn right through the checkering, but I never notice that till I'm cleaning the rifle.
My 10/22's Tech Sights have pretty flimsy looking "wings/ears" on the front sight, but I never really notice till I'm cleaning the rifle.
My M1 has a good bit of the parkerizing worn off the front sight "wings/ears", but I never really notice till I'm cleaning the rifle.
What I do notice is the M1917's front sight post is shorter and narrower than the M1 and the 10/22's front sight post is both taller and narrower than the M1. What do you "see" when you "look" at your rifle's front sight post?
Great post!
Does anyone else have troubles centering the site because his jaw is so wide that his cheek weld gets in the way? I have, at a times, investigated letting my jaw sag to allow a little lateral motion in order to more easily center. That compromises the cheek weld. I've also investigated rotating my grip a couple of degrees because it seems to make things easier. Does anyone else, in his silent little sight world, deal with this? 8)
Bob
Bob, maybe not.
On my non-scoped rifles I like to put my firing hand thumb over the top of the stock. Then I put that first knuckle on the thumb tight against my cheek so that it fits right up against the back of my canine tooth on the right side of my upper jaw (kind of like shooting a bow). On the rifles with a scope where I've added a cheed riser I put the front corner of that cheek rise in the same spot against the back side of that canine tooth. This way it doesn't matter whether my jaw is open and displaced slightly to the left. Find a spot, practice till that spot and either your stock, your cheek riser or your thumb all meet and fit together naturally when you shoulder that rifle.
Consistency is very important (very, very, very) so find what works for you and keep doing it.
OD,
I ran across VAshooters question about looking at the front sight a while back. I took out my LTR & really looked at it while I dry fired about 10 times. The next day I shot a practice AQT that was about 20 pts higher than my previous best.
Guy
QuoteDoes anyone else have troubles centering the site because his jaw is so wide that his cheek weld gets in the way?
Bob Womack,
It is relatively common,
Perfectly acceptable to remove wood so it all fits naturally.
Sam