Dummie's Guide to Front Sights

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grayrc

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I find myself in the position of having to buy/make/adapt a front sight for a sporterized No. 4 Enfield, and realize I have no clue about the lexicon of 'sights'. :runaway:

Hoping I can get an 'everything you ever wanted to know about front sights' primer here - in particular:

1) Dovetails -> are there 'standard size' dovetails (3/8") and how are they measured or described (narrowest/widest point, angle, width, etc...)

2) Sights -> are front sight posts 'heights' measured from the top of barrel, bottom of dovetail, ??? -> how much 'wiggle room' is there (i.e. assuming I can find one that fits the dovetail, do I need to worry about height?)

3) Does the barrel length make a difference? (i.e. for the rear sight gradation to be accurate, does the front sight post height need to be 'correct' based on sight radius?)

4) What are the 'characteristics' of the original No.4 front sight blade? (i.e. the one that Marstar sells one for $5.00 -> "LE4-049 SIGHT BLADE $5.00", as per this diagram: http://www.marstar.ca/images/lee4num.gif

Specifics for my case:
I believe my Lee has a 'standard' ramp on it (I've seen it on parker-hale sporters), and it also has the 'original' click-adjust flip-up aperture rear sight (graduated up to 1300 yards). The 'dovetail' on the front sight ramp is 3/8" at the top, ~15/16" on the bottom, and ~1/8" depth, 3/8" wide, and the top of the dovetail is 1/2" above the top of the barrel (i.e. the ramp is 1/2" high). My barrel length is 21" (i.e. the sight post would be sitting @ 20" along the barrel).

Thanks in advance for your help -
Gray.
 
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The standard dimension for N. American rifles is 3/8" @ 60 deg. (Hence the Sight Base files that Brownell's sells.)

The specified height of a front sight is measured from the bottom of the sight's dovetail to the top of the sight.

You won't find a modern, taller, replacement sight for the SMLE, as far as I know. I ended up making (a taller) one for my Nº4 from a piece of 3/8" key stock- a lot of work by hand! On my Jungle Carbine I was able to grind down the base and cut a standard 3/8 x 60 deg. slot for a regular sight. This might be dodgy on a Nº4 due to the sight clamp arrangement; you might end up cutting too deep, into the screw slot, although as I recall, there is enough metal at the back (receiver end) of the base to widen the slot to 3/8". (BTW, you will need a "slotted-end driver" to loosen the screw unless your rifle does not have the clamp arrangement. It's easy to make from an old screwdriver by cutting a slot in the end with a Dremel fitted with a cutting wheel.) If so, that might be the easiest way to install a modern sight, although it would permanently alter the rifle. An alternative would be to alter a modern sight to fit the existing Nº4 sight base. I think the L-E slot has a steeper angle than 60 deg.; if so, grinding back a Marbles or Williams sight to fit should work.

Brownell's has info on calculating front sight height at
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/sight.aspx

The original SMLE front sights were available in (I think) 9 heights. If you look carefully at yours you may see something like ".030" on the top of the base. When the armourer was sighing the rifle in, he just swapped sights from his parts bin until the rifle shot to the desired point of impact. As you have no doubt discovered, this is much higher @ 100 yds than modern shooters want, the reason being that a) the lowest sight setting was 200 or 300 yds. (Someone else may be able to clarify this, as well as the setting for the non-adjustable "ghost ring" sight with the ladder sight flipped down) and, b) precision shooting wasn't needed- aim for the opposing soldier's belt buckle and if you hit him 12" high, he's still kaput.

Hope this helps. No doubt other CGN'ers will have more info (or will correct me if I'm wrong!)

:) Stuart
 
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josquin said:
The original SMLE front sights were available in (I think) 9 heights. If you look carefully at yours you may see something like ".030" on the top of the base. When the armourer was sighing the rifle in, he just swapped sights from his parts bin until the rifle shot to the desired point of impact. As you have no doubt discovered, this is much higher @ 100 yds than modern shooters want, the reason being that a) the lowest sight setting was 200 or 300 yds. (Someone else may be able to clarify this, as well as the setting for the non-adjustable "ghost ring" sight with the ladder sight flipped down) and, b) precision shooting wasn't needed- aim for the opposing soldier's belt buckle and if you hit him 12" high, he's still kaput.

Hope this helps. No doubt other CGN'ers will have more info (or will correct me if I'm wrong!)

:) Stuart
Click to expand...

Old fashioned military aiming rules had nothing to do with aiming, but hitting. If the soldier aimed at his target, 99% of the shots would be high. If he pointed the rifle at the bottom of the visible target, only 1% would miss. Or so the logic of centre of mass goes. In the mathematical models of warfare, massed infantry fire had a specific set of engagement distances closer to the front than the machine guns. Closer than rifles, it was bayonets, grenades and shovels. And then the front lines dug in.

I have a book called Testing the Weapons of War which has the author firing and reporting dozens of military firearms against his particular set of rules and standards. He claims to have had a stunning revelation to learn that German notch and post sights could not be lowered enough in trench warfare to be dangerous to the Allies. When Hans tried aiming at a clump of dirt 24" below the thin exposed head of Tommy and expected to hit him, he was in for a rude surprise.
 
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It just so happens that I have a No.4 with an aftermarket front sight on it. The sight base is 1/2 inch high and the total height is 0.730 to the top of the sight. One that looks just like it is at
http://www.e-gunparts.com/DisplayAd.asp?chrProductSKU=559130A&chrSuperSKU=559130&MC=

now the dimensions on this sight are a little smaller but look around and you will find the correct base or you could even get this one and when you put the actual dovetail sight in it would have to be slightly higher. The beauty of the No.4 with the peep rear is that it can always be adjusted till it is perfect. With factory ammo I can hit exactly 2 inch's high at 100 yards with the big battle peep and when I go farther and flip up the extended range it is pretty well close to being bang on at 200 and 300 yards.
 
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