doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Upgrading my MS collection

I think his claim to “invent” these sights may lie either in their being spring loaded or flush fitting.

In any event the British gun trade credited him with the design as in this Army and Navy Stores 1909 Catalogue.

In Sport in the Alps (published 1896 thus predating Mannlicher -Schoenauer rifles) he says:-

“A little invention of mine by which the speedy and accurate adjustment of this peep-sight may be attained may be worth a word or two of description. It consists of a disc the size of a threepenny bit in the centre of which is the peephole. The disc is on a stem which moves on a hinge, and when not needed the whole sight disappears by lying flat in a recess cut in the metal of the stock behind the hammers. A spring released by a little knob the size of a No. 3 shot sends the sight into position ready for instantaneous use, while, when not needed, nothing but the tiny knob is visible. Messrs Holland and Holland have put this sight on some of my Expresses, but, of course, it can only be put on hammer rifles not having the “top snap” action.

The low position on the tang sight corresponds to the 200 blade and the high position does the same for the 300.

That sounds like it is used in conjunction with the barrel sights which makes great sense, especially if the shooter is a bit on the older side and over the hill as far as eyesight goes. I do much the same thing these days, though I will often put the aperture on my shooting glasses. Works great for me on lever guns and muzzleloaders in particular.

To be honest the rear sight is really difficult to line up with the peep. Can barely see it over the scope bases.

Interested to see who won this - congratulations!

I had a bid in at the same money, but obviously came second... third... Who knows?

Anyway, I dealt with that disappointment by going off and buying another one.

No case and not as posh overall, but c/w a 4x Dialytan scope in Viennese snapper mounts.

It also has the pop-up peep sight, but mine has been offset to the right in the dovetail. Any suggestions for re-centring it? A little Kroil and a light tap with a brass punch against a wooden block hasn't done the trick.

I wouldn't re-center it, unless the targets say it is needed. If so, the front base moves opposite direction of the bullet impact.

Thank you for your reply - and a very happy New Year to all.

You are right to say that I should let the target speak.

However, the aperture appears to work as a clarifier for the leaf sighs and front sight bead rather than as a sight in its own right.

The 200m leaf does not fold flat, so it is the position of the foresight that determines the point of impact, not the aperture, whose functions are thus to allow one to see both sights simultaneously and to align the eye rapidly with them.

With the aperture all the way over to the right, as it is, I don't get the benefit of the latter function, since, on mounting the rifle, I find myself looking at the right "ear" of the forward scope base, not through the "V" of the rear sight. No doubt my being left-handed contributes to this.

Moreover, the resulting need to look askance through the aperture to see the front sight bead in the rear sight "V" casts a shadow over my view of the sights.

This is why I have been looking to adjust the aperture before heading out to shoot the rifle.

Beautiful M/S !
They are just top notch rifles and carbines IMHO

Isn't that called a Diopter sight ?..intended to make the sight picture of the bbl and front sight much clearer to the shooter.

Pin-Hole' sight it is sometimes called as well when meant to do the same task. Some Bullseye pistol shooters used to have a simple disc shaped one clamped to their shooting glasses to help them better focus on the iron sights.

I have a scaled down version make believe M/S with one fitted to it. Another project gun..

Should you determine that you do indeed need to move the peep sight to the center, I have a few suggestions.

First, ditch the Kroil, and try a better penetrating oil. And give it ample time to work into the dovetail. A little heat from a soldering iron might help to break the bond of rust or corrosion too. When I was hired at a GM plant, I was excited to see that all they used for penetrating oil was Kroil, and I had heard wonderful things about it. When I got to use it, I was very disappointed, and found it often failed to soak more than a couple threads deep, even with prolonged soaks and bolts that were not severely corroded. Some folks swear by Kroil. Having used it a lot, I say they need to get out more.

Second, your "light tap with a brass punch" might just be a bit too light. That is a subjective thing, and it's better to tap too lightly than to deform the metal and make matters worse. And dovetail cuts, especially if they were file cut, may have a very slight taper. So they will sometimes be easier to move one direction than the other. You might want to try moving it further towards the right, just to get things freed up. Clean the dovetail if necessary, and then try to move it where it needs to go.

JulesW,
When fitting a "too tight" dove tail, first ensure it is too tight (normally would have been installed from right to left, so would be removed from left to right, if not turned backward. Check for taper). If it really is too tight, file the bottom of the male dovetail flat, it is much too easy to make a mistake trying to file the angled surfaces.
Mike