Why didn't the prototypes have sights?

[Co. Batguano]

It's always struck me as odd that the prototypical smoothbore cannons didn't have sights.  Does anyone know why they were made that way?  The advantages of sights on rifles had been known for a long time, yet well in to the 19th century they still made them without them.

[GGaskill]

Probably because they weren't accurate enough combined with the area nature of the targets.

Actually, the later ones did have sights although most were not located as would be typical for small arms.  The front sights tended to be on the rimbase instead of the muzzle and, consequently, the rear sights were on the rear of the breech to one side instead of the top.  In the photo of a Parrott rifle below, the front sight (with bent to the right top) is to the left of the cap square and the rear sight base is in the lower left corner of the image.



Below is a different picture of the front sight that shows its location better.

[Double D]

Remember military weapons of the era for the most part were not pinpoint weapons, they were area weapons. Even shoulder arm which had rudimentry sights weren't meant to aim at specific individual soldier but were aimed and fired in mass at an opposing enemy formation. 

The cannon could have it's barrel elevation and powder charge adjusted to reach a predetermined range.  Find a target, figure out the range to target elevate the barrel and add the proper charge, point the gun in the direction of the target and fire.  It would be pretty hard to mis a target as big as a regiment in mass or a fort or a 200 foot long ship with mast 200 feet tall if in range.

You might be surprised at how accurately you can shoot at a target with a gun without sights.  Try this link Aiming a Cannon without sights, South African style

[Artilleryman]

There were smoothbore sighting systems that did not use sights that were attached to the gun.  Later a front sight and rear sight mounts were attached.  The rear sight itself was removable.  In fact in some batteries a gunner would have a sight and would move from gun to gun sighting each piece.