No 4 mk 1 - notched rear sight?

Diligence

Diligence

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Hey guys,

I've recently dug an old beater No4 Mk 1 (sporterized) out of storage. It shot literally hundreds of deer and other game on the farm, but hasn't seen a round fired since the mid 1970's.....

It only has sentimental value as it's in very rough shape. I am curious about any info you can offer on the options for the rear flip up sight. Rather than the 300/600 aperture sight, it has a notched rear flip sight.

Was this a common swap out/in?

Also, what was the standard LOP for the No4 Mk 1?

Cheers,
D
 
Length of pull depends on length of butt long, normal, short or bantam stamped on heel of butt L, not stamped, S or B respectively.
 
Is the sight a simple L with two positions? This was a cheap wartime sight, and perfectly suited for hunting rifle. It should have two peeps on it, for two different ranges (like 300 and 600 yards). Has one of these been modified into a notch, by cutting off the top of the peep? If so, the sight was much better in the original configuration. Spend $20 to get the correct sight, or change the front sight to re zero for the remaining peep.
 
I have saw this post service mod several times. "Expert" who knows aperture sight is no good converts a pretty good hunting sight into a notch which is useless so close to the eye.
 
so I can't be sure if it was filed down or not. It's a pretty clean job. Can you explain why a notch would not be as good as the peep sight? My uncle clearly figured out how to use it, and put meat on the table. I'm a newbie when it comes to milsurps however, so educate me please.
 
Notched sight's are easier for older eye's to use. With enough practice you can use anything for sight's. As long as you do the same thing each time.
 
Bear in mind the Ross Mark III had a similar sight. I've used this style of sight for hunting (I also like peep sights), and it worked quite well. It did seem to allow for quicker target acquisition..
 
A large peep is much faster than an open rear sight, and much, much more accurate. That is why the military changed to peeps.

A rear peep does not have to be lined up. You just look through it and line up the front sight on the target.
 
Not meaning disrespect to anyone a "ghost ring " aperture like the No4 battle sight allows the fastest target acquisition of any iron sight. Trying to get a proper sight picture with an open sight so close to the eye is difficult.
The battle sight on the Ross MkIII is a semi open sight and acts as as an aperture. It may be significant that the Ross was the only military arm to use the semi open site.
 
zuke said:
Notched sight's are easier for older eye's to use. With enough practice you can use anything for sight's. As long as you do the same thing each time.
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I'm 67 and wear glasses and always had problems even in my youth with barrel mounted open sights and focus on the sights and the target. All my rifles without a scope have a peep sight and the main reason I liked the No.4 Enfield rifle.

My grandfather when I was young would tease me saying the only way I could hit a ground hog with his.22 was walk up on a sleeping ground hog and put the barrel in its ear. :bangHead:

On the No.4 Enfield I used for hunting mostly in the woods I used the 300-600 flip sight and if the 300 was sighted in at 50 yards you could flip it to 600 for longer open field shots. The front sight had to be changed for my reloads and the aperture is much smaller on the flip sight than the more standard battle sight.

When I go to the range I wear a pair of flip up sunglasses with a small hole drilled in the right lens. When looking through this hole in the sunglass lens it increases the depth of field and allows me to sight in more accurately and shoot my No.4 Enfields, M1 Garand, 30-30 Wnchester w/peep and AR15 rifles.

When you get to the "Golden Years" scopes and laser guided bullets become the norm because they do not make braille sights.
 
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zuke said:
I know about filing the rear sight's because I've done it for older gent's. Each shooter is different
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Those were the hard headed people who did not understand how to use a peep sight.

With a peep sight the sight radius is twice as long and your eye will automatically center in the aperture opening, and why the military used them because they are more accurate.

With a peep sight you only have to focus on the front sight and the target.

The smallest group I ever fired with iron sights was with a No.4 Enfield rifle with a Parker Hale 5C aperture sight. ;)
 
bigedp51 said:
Those were the hard headed people who did not understand how to use a peep sight.

With a peep sight the sight radius is twice as long and your eye will automatically center in the aperture opening, and why the military used them because they are more accurate.

With a peep sight you only have to focus on the front sight and the target.

The smallest group I ever fired with iron sights was with a No.4 Enfield rifle with a Parker Hale 5C aperture sight. ;)
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I've known a few older fellows (i.e. my age and up) who "couldn't" get the hang of peep sights because they learned to shoot with notched rear sights, or couldn't get used to optical sights because they'd learned on iron sights. I learned to shoot properly with peep sights and my experience of training recruits in the British Army (very few had ever shot any sort of gun previously) reinforces my belief that they are the better sort of iron sights.
 
zuke said:
Notched sight's are easier for older eye's to use. With enough practice you can use anything for sight's. As long as you do the same thing each time.
Click to expand...

Not always. As a kid I got to shoot occasionally. My eyesight was perfect until my late teens. I started using peep sights when I enlisted in the militia here at age eighteen so I was trained with the FN FAL and again when I joined the British Army. More than three decades later my myopia has gotten slightly worse and I have also developed slight astigmatism. Peep sight are still much easier for me to use than notched sights.
 
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