Iron sight HFT tip

[bill57]

That’s a tremendous score, mate - well done.
As you were very active on the circuit, you may know - do any of the major HFT competitions have open sight side shoots? I’ve never seen one on FT circuits (not since the Grand Prix shoots in the 80’s/90’s)

We hold open sight competitions up here. Standard HFT setup, but we keep the maximum range to about 35 yards mostly. No diopters, irons ony, no PCP's, no prone shots. Score 1 for a plate, 2 for a kneeling kill and 3 for a standing kill. We don't get huge turnouts but those that do are very enthusiastic, as you can imagine.

[TonyL]

Have you tried a Williams with click adjustments?

I think he will have done, Geez, as our Craig has sometimes shared images of Williams peep-shod Weihrauchs with us previously.

[TonyL]

The atmospheric photographs are thankfully devoid of midges, mate
I’ve been playing with a couple of peep sights but have found mixed results. What’s needed is a solid, no frills peep with basic adjustments, a bit like a BUIS on the military setups.

I feel a visit to Shaun and Ivan coming on...

Hope you've got over the midge assault okay, Craigy.

I'm sure that with your ingenuity and Shaun & Ivan's wizardry you'll be able to come up with a sturdy and most usable peep if desired. Will keep my eyes peeled for any developments.

[TonyL]

We hold open sight competitions up here. Standard HFT setup, but we keep the maximum range to about 35 yards mostly. No diopters, irons ony, no PCP's, no prone shots. Score 1 for a plate, 2 for a kneeling kill and 3 for a standing kill. We don't get huge turnouts but those that do are very enthusiastic, as you can imagine.

Sounds excellent and most accommodating, Bill.. Does anyone use fibre optics to assist in poor lighting? Or would they work against you, with the foresight obliterating / "over-powering" the kill zone too much (unless elevation suitably tweaked)? Are they allowed?

[Craig-P]

We hold open sight competitions up here. Standard HFT setup, but we keep the maximum range to about 35 yards mostly. No diopters, irons ony, no PCP's, no prone shots. Score 1 for a plate, 2 for a kneeling kill and 3 for a standing kill. We don't get huge turnouts but those that do are very enthusiastic, as you can imagine.

That sounds tremendous and is exactly what I’d love to compete at. I just wish I was nearer.
There’s a few accommodating clubs around here, perhaps if I could drum up enough interest it might be worth having a word.

[Craig-P]

Have you tried a Williams with click adjustments?

I’ve got a few Williams models here but the majority require the foresight to be shimmed, sadly. Additionally, although well constructed, when compared to the older PH units on my Webley MK3 and powder burners, they feel a bit flimsy.
I’m thinking of dropping one of them on a HW99 and extending the foresight post suitably to obtain correct zero.

[bill57]

Sounds excellent and most accommodating, Bill.. Does anyone use fibre optics to assist in poor lighting? Or would they work against you, with the foresight obliterating / "over-powering" the kill zone too much (unless elevation suitably tweaked)? Are they allowed?

We are accomodating Tony. If somebody turns up with a PCP or a diopter, we happily let them shoot, but not in the main category. I think in the past we've had a "technical" category for those wimps. We don't encourage it, though, because we all know where it will lead. Steyr and Anschutz with Olympic standard diopter setups.

Fibre optic irons are permitted, a few guys have gone down that route - understandably, as for a lot of us our eyesight is well past it's best. It's the shooters' choice whether to stand or kneel - no guts, no glory.

[Scott.]

Given that I only have one eye and it is pretty much focused on the sightline,, the one issue I found that I didn't know what was being hidden by the foresight as I was aiming so hold over was a PITA
so on my old HW77k (.22, hence the hold over) I fitted a custom front sight element made from an old CD case and a fiber optic rod so that I could see all around my aimpoint.

It was extremely effective and although this (blurry) picture was from the proof of concept cd case version
The second iteration was made with laser cut discs from the bay with a 2mm hole dead centre to fit the fiber optic rod.


Im pretty sure this is a BSA rear sight, although my new HW77 has full Weihrauch factory option fiber optic sights


And my view


This is the 2mm fiber optic rod I used (I think I paid a fiver for it)

[Scott.]

We hold open sight competitions up here. Standard HFT setup, but we keep the maximum range to about 35 yards mostly. No diopters, irons ony, no PCP's, no prone shots. Score 1 for a plate, 2 for a kneeling kill and 3 for a standing kill. We don't get huge turnouts but those that do are very enthusiastic, as you can imagine.

Hi Bill, Pete Lowe, Gareth Hunt, Nick Pye and the rest of the "Open Sight Nutters" have overruled Andy Mac's grumpy objection to diopters to be more inclusive and attract as many new shooters to open sights as possible.
Also from what I remember Jonny McBam and James Hesson both shot open sight PCP's at a few shoots for fun, although they couldn't win anything and it was only for fun and bragging rights

[Craig-P]

Given that I only have one eye and it is pretty much focused on the sightline,, the one issue I found that I didn't know what was being hidden by the foresight as I was aiming so hold over was a PITA
so on my old HW77k (.22, hence the hold over) I fitted a custom front sight element made from an old CD case and a fiber optic rod so that I could see all around my aimpoint.

It was extremely effective and although this (blurry) picture was from the proof of concept cd case version
The second iteration was made with laser cut discs from the bay with a 2mm hole dead centre to fit the fiber optic rod.


Im pretty sure this is a BSA rear sight, although my new HW77 has full Weihrauch factory option fiber optic sights


And my view


This is the 2mm fiber optic rod I used (I think I paid a fiver for it)

Now that is a great idea and very well done. Thanks so much for sharing.
This is what I love about iron sights, there’s so much room for experimentation.

[bill57]

Hi Bill, Pete Lowe, Gareth Hunt, Nick Pye and the rest of the "Open Sight Nutters" have overruled Andy Mac's grumpy objection to diopters to be more inclusive and attract as many new shooters to open sights as possible.
Also from what I remember Jonny McBam and James Hesson both shot open sight PCP's at a few shoots for fun, although they couldn't win anything and it was only for fun and bragging rights

I'm sure you're right, Scott. I think this was what we called the "Technical" class, or something like it? Been too long to remember. True bragging rights only come wit irons though

One thing about your front sight conversion - commercial versions have the hood cut away, as the brightness depends on the amount of light falling on it. So yours might suffer on a dull day in the woods. Or maybe not.

[Scott.]

I'm sure you're right, Scott. I think this was what we called the "Technical" class, or something like it? Been too long to remember. True bragging rights only come wit irons though

One thing about your front sight conversion - commercial versions have the hood cut away, as the brightness depends on the amount of light falling on it. So yours might suffer on a dull day in the woods. Or maybe not.

That's a very good point Bill about the bragging rights and I should have remembered that .

The fiber optic rod extends from the disc all the way out to the front of the hood, it's only about 10mm or so but it's very effective at drawing the light in and it also means that I can still use the standard Weihrauch interchangeable elements in the front sight if I feel like a change.

[TonyL]

We are accomodating Tony. If somebody turns up with a PCP or a diopter, we happily let them shoot, but not in the main category. I think in the past we've had a "technical" category for those wimps. We don't encourage it, though, because we all know where it will lead. Steyr and Anschutz with Olympic standard diopter setups.

Fibre optic irons are permitted, a few guys have gone down that route - understandably, as for a lot of us our eyesight is well past it's best. It's the shooters' choice whether to stand or kneel - no guts, no glory.

Excellent; thank you.

[TonyL]

Excellent thinking there, Scott; well done. And, again, thank you for sharing.

When I've looked in the past, Brownell's had a large range of different diameter / size rods and inserts for fibre optics. I'm sure an Internet search would reveal even more suppliers, too. I wonder if any have experimented with different diameter rods to achieve finer aiming marks etc? I wonder how workable and effective a set-up may be where we just have the rod in the front sight and no fibre optics in the rear?

[Frog]

It was extremely effective and although this (blurry) picture was from the proof of concept cd case version
The second iteration was made with laser cut discs from the bay with a 2mm hole dead centre to fit the fiber optic rod.

This looks great! Please could you sign-post the laser cut disks with holes in?
Cheers