You may recall that I used my 6" octagon FA .475 at Mark's on a hog. At that time, I was using a square notch rear and the FA brass bead front sight on that gun. Several people test fired it set up that way, back at the "lodge", and I've referred to this sight configuration several times in "THE SIXGUNNER".
I have used the same sight set-up (mostly for hogs and javelina) on a 6" .454, and a 6" .50AE / .500WE. I zeroed these 3 guns to put the point of impact at the center of the bead at 25 yards, with the bead centered in the rear sight. Depending upon the gun and load, this put the bullet impact around the top of the bead at about 50 yds. and back around the center of the bead at somewhere around 75 yds.
This sounds like a very odd concept for an old target shooter to adapt to, but it worked very well for me. I found the square notch rear to be much more precise for me, than the "Express" V. As long as I had some daylight reflecting on that bead, it stood out well, and game fell over dead.
I consider that long low sloping angle of the standard FA ramp front sight to be just awful. I can't see it and won't use it. I also experimented with some custom made ivory bead front sights. They worked well, but weren't significantly better than the brass beads for me, and were a real bear to make. I abandoned the idea, because I just didn't think it was a practical, marketable idea.
Today, all of my iron sighted FA's wear an undercut patridge front sight of my design. The ramp portion is serrated, the undercut portion is not, which makes for a very black sharp sight picture in most light conditions. They work on both 83's and 97's, and I find them to be more precise than any other iron sights I've used. Quite a number are in use now around the country; send me a P.M. if you ever want more info.
Ken
