Windage adjustable front globe sight?

[ShortStake]

Gents and Madams,

Seems there is always a constant and ongoing debate concerning which rear tang sight is the greatest.  Some get credit for being the greatest thing since sliced cheese.  Others are lambasted for being to complicated, lacking in repeatability or crude in manufacture.  Still others suffer from not being made in the land of milk and honey.  Personal budgets are most likely the bottom line...............at least the initial purchase.  

What about the windage adjustable, hooded and bubble level equipped front sight with interchangeable inserts?  Perusing the various manufacturers websites and Cabela's Shooting Catalog certainly will give a number of options.  Both in price and quality.

Obviously the inherent torque supplied to the rifle upon firing and transferred to the sight picture/target could very well be easily corrected with an adjustable front sight.  Leaving more windage available for the rear sight during windy conditions.

In the various readings available the subject of adjustable front sights is  skipped over and left alone, to say the least.  Dialog is mostly relegated to front sight inserts and sight pictures obtainable with the various choices.
 
Is anyone using an adjustable front sight?  Are they to fragile to use?  Does the use of same overly complicate rear tang sight settings?

[Sharpsman]

I use a Parts Unknown adjustable front sight with spirit level and yeah...."it's better than sliced cheese"! Not fragile whatsoever and very useful IMO! You can set your rear tang to mechanical zero and use the front adjustment to obtain your NWZ (no wind zero) and this way your windage adjustments will always come off of the rear tang mechanical zero without having to worry about bumping the front sight over to obtain the same thing as I have stated! And if you're going to shoot longrange you will need the spirit level to keep from canting!

Good luck!

[Coydog C.]

Windcutter,

Obviously the inherent torque supplied to the rifle upon firing and transferred to the sight picture/target could very well be easily corrected with an adjustable front sight. Leaving more windage available for the rear sight during windy conditions.

Huh? You’ve lost me there.

    IMHO, all front sights should be drift zeroed in their dovetails, so I don’t think a windgauge offers any advantage obtaining a mechanical zero.

    I suppose if you wanted to have different windage zeros for different bullets it would work out. But, since we taking sighters at most matches before going for score and therefore compensating for any of those irregularities, what’s the point?

   IF you’re referring to bullet drift caused by the right hand twist rifling, it would be real hard to separate those corrections from any wind present anyway, and most 3:00 winds would easily overcome the drift.  Some guys have had their rear tangs set on a very slight angle to help compensate for it.  As the distance gets greater, the angled sight staff adds more left.

   I like having a mechanical zero so my spotter and I are on the same sheet of music when it comes to sharing windage settings during a match.

   I’ve got windgauge fronts (MVAs) on my 2.4” and my 2.6” because those are my LR rifles and I expect to have to use maximum windage at some time. The silhouette rifle I’m having built now will not have one. If I 22 MOA won’t do at 500 meters, it’s time to go home anyway! :lol:

   I’ve been to LR and buff matches when shooters have run out of windage on a regular Soule type sight. The regular sights are even worse because they offer even less windage. For example, the MVA Sharps style sights only have + or - 14 MOA. With a widgauge front sight, I’ve never had to hold 1 Buff left, like I’ve heard some guys have to do. The MVA Buff Soule has something like + or -44 MOA, so you probably could get away without having a widgauge up front. IMHO, it is an ugly rear sight though, looks like your rifle has training wheels on it with those two long knobs sticking out from the sides.  :lol:

  When there is a lot of wind present I can put 10-15 pts up front and fine tune with my Soule rear. This allows me to keep my cheek on the stock better. I know for a fact that I’ve had to use over 22 MOA a couple times so for me at least they’ve paid off.

The biggest liabilities and chief complaints about windgauge fronts are;

1.   Some have a tendency to move while shooting. This can be fixed with a simple locking nut, or putting nail polish on the threads to make adjusting it more difficult. I've just peend my rails so it's a lot harder to adjust. I also make it a habit to check my front sight before getting into position.
2.   Guys sometimes adjust them the wrong way. This has happened to me a couple times. The only solution is practice, and checking twice.
3.   They raise your front sight height some, so you’ll have higher staff settings.


I left what is my most important reason for having a windgauge front till last. They look cool!

Chuck

 :lol:

[ShortStake]

CD,

"Huh? You’ve lost me there."

Must be in the way we individually read things.  Cause you went right on to further explain what I had actually said?

Not being into aesthetics, could very well be the reason why my Lyman 17A front sight is drifted off to the right.  A result of the last time it was shot.  To compensate for the strong Nueeva Meecheco wind blowing in from three o'clock.  In fact the Lyman has an extra hole drilled into the base, threaded for an 8-40 screw that keeps it from traveling.  This all being done to make that inexpensive (non MVA) Lee Shaver rear tang sight closer to the center markings, to allow for more windage adjustments.

Sometimes the feeling of "poorness" drifts over my body resulting from the use of a Pedersoli rifle, equipped with non "High Dollar" front and rear sights.  Reminds me of when the rich kid drove the brand new '56 Ford Crown Victoria and my old '31 Model A drew as much attention and performed the same functions, way-back-when, in the Sandhills of Nebraska.

[Coydog C.]

WC,

    I re-read what you wrote, then I re-read what I wrote, and became confused. Then I realized that we probably are saying the same thing, only differently.  :lol:

   At one time I had the greatest idea for a poor man’s wingauge sight. All you’d have to do is come up with some inserts with built in windage. They could come in 5, 10, and 15 MOA, with the apertures set off center in those increments. Then you could reverse them to get the opposite windage. It would work “OK” and would be much better than holding one buff left.

  You could probably do the same with your Lyman. Just make the 5, 10, 15 MOA marks on your barrel and then a scribe line on your Lyman. Slide the Lyman over to the corect MOA, and lock it with the set screw.

  I guess it really depends on how much you’re going to use them. If you’re going to shoot a lot of LR or Buff matches, sooner or later you’ll wish you had a windgauge. If it’s only a once and a while thing, or you live where there isn’t a whole lot of wind, you’ll probably never need one.

The Parts Unknown Windgauge is really very reasonable, and is pretty well made. If I remember correctly a friend of mine bought one last year at the Quigley Match for about $165. That's actually cheaper than some of the top dollar non-windgauge sights.

To me at least, its money well spent. I learned a long time ago, it's better to get a cheaper rifle with good sights than the other way around.  :lol:

Chuck