Full bore diopter sights

jcbruno

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Edmonton Alberta
Just got a tikka master sporter in 308, I'd like some advise on where to find a diopter sight as well as front globe as I plan to use this rifle as a 300m free rifle.

Neil
 
How much do you want to spend?

Your cheapest option is to mount a 0 MOA Weaver scope rail and look for a used Centra, Phoenix or even Warner rear right. Front globes in 18, 22 or 30 mm widths are widely available new and used here and from the U.S. but you will likely have to have your muzzle turned down to fit a sight base (available from Brownells). You could also buy an extension tube and skip the front sight mount -- I recommend Uptagraft tubes.

Hopefully one or more of the fullbore shooters will chip in -- I'm a smallbore guy.

Jason
 
What you are looking for is apreture sights. Something with 1/4 minute adjustments and a good vernier scale. Your short Tikka barrel will cause a very short sight radius so 1/4 minute clicks are not going to be actual 1/4 minute. While you may not think that this is too much of a problem (you can make custom plot sheets with your 1 minute true values grids) It would drive a shooting coach crazy when they want you to put on 4 left but what you really need is 6 1/2 left.

To solve your short sight radius problem an extension tube or Bloop Tube is reqired just as Jason has mentioned above. You want a sight radius of 34-36 inches to make your 1/4 click sights make sense.
 
Using a 308 for a 300m free rifle doesn't sound like fun if you're shooting issf 300m match.

For the rear sight Jason has the best suggestion. For the front sight I'd suggest a 22mm centra. Find the mec/centra catalogue online and start shopping. I've found buying stuff from Germany cheaper and quicker than the US.

You will need to get band on the muzzle for the front sight.

Maynard's concern of a click not being 1/4 min is only valid if you are shooting TR.
 
Well !Peter!, I will admit to knowing a lot more about TR shooting than I do about shooting Free Rifle. My suggestion about 1/4 minute clicks is because it is easier than working with say 1/3, 1/5, or 1/7 of a minute clicks. Not that it can't be done, if you can wrap your head around the math during a match. How many clicks to move 3 3/4 minutes left with 1/5 click sights? The other resaon around the longer sight radius/bloop tube depends again on how young the shooters eyes are and how quickly they can focus between centering the rear sight, front sight and target.
 
Maynard, I agree with you for TR but for ISSF 300m, which a 300m free rifle is typically built for, is a slightly different game. http://www.accurateshooter.com/competition/300m-shooting-a-challenging-discipline/

I shoot ISSF 300m the same way I shoot ISSF 50m which is totally different to the way I shoot TR.

ISSF 300m and 50m is a 60 shot match with unlimited sighters shot as a string. So you can work out the wind correction for a given condition and then shoot that condition rather than read the wind and dial in the correction. Also as you only shoot at one distance you don't need to think in MOA, you can think in distance (ie this wind will put me in the 8 ring).

When shooting string you also see your groups forming on your target so you don't need plot sheets and in certain conditions maintaining plot sheets can hinder your performance as it increases your time between shots.

You can get by using 1/4 minute/click sights on ISSF 300m but for ISSF 50m it is too coarse. The 10 ring for 300m is 100mm dia (1.15MOA if I got the calcs right) and the X ring is 50mm dia (0.57MOA). While for 50m the 10 ring is 10.4mm (0.72MOA again if I got the calcs right) and the X ring is 5mm dia (0.34MOA). So if using a 1/4 minute/click sight, with 4 clicks you've gone almost completely across the 10 ring on the 300m target compared to the 6 clicks for the 300m ICFRA bull (bull dia 140mm or 1.6MOA)

For 50m, standard sights are around 1/8 minute/click while fine sights are around 1/12 minute/click.

So when I shoot TR I use 1/4 minute sights, think and work in MOA, and maintain a plot sheet. But when I shoot ISSF 300m or 50m I use 1/8 and 1/12 minute/click sights, think and work in distance, and don't maintain a plot sheet.

All my sights move in the same direction though! Not going to mix service and match directions :HR:
 
Being mainly a full bore shooter, small bore was just for practise so all my sights are CW up and right. For small bore I used a Warner that had modified knobs to take an extra spring and ball to give me eight clicks. Life was good until I started playing with scopes a few years ago, but now I'm AC/DC. Warner has a very nice vernier sight now that I designed most of the scales for. Our club has etargets now and if you are shooting single you can have it add new shoots to what is already there until you clear it. Awesome for 300m isu type shooting, not to mention it marks the shot in about one second.
 
Yes I know how to calibrate them but in most cases it is not needed. We ran the entire summer with only a basic calibration that took into account the fact that the centre of the target was not in the centre of the sensors. At 300m I have a two minute offset built in so the centre of the target does not get blown away leaving the F guys nothing to aim at. If they move to a manual target they simply come down two minutes.
 
I am also interested in these sights
I am in Ontario. Which specific retailers offer theses sights , any links to them?

Is there a specific brand of 1/4 click sights preferred ? I will be shooting longer ranges on m y new Savage Palma

The barrel is already turned for the front sight

It came with a scope but I want to go to the aperture sights.

Specific help with brands and local retailers is a great help

Thank you
 
The Warner sight is $710 plus about 100 for the base for the vernier model. The best front is the Riles which you can find on the web. When you are done you will be talking the same kind of money as a good target scope. There are no dealers for these sights but you can buy them direct. The Warner is easily the best made rear although there are a few copies of them out there.
 
http://www.warner-tool.com/sights.htm

Maybe try Range sports if he has any previously owned sights.
Legal Name: Paul Reibin Range Sports Unlimited
Operating Name: Range Sports Unlimited

Mailing Address
854 Pleasant St
KAMLOOPS, British Columbia
V2C 3B5
Location Address
854 Pleasant St
KAMLOOPS, British Columbia
V2C 3B5

Telephone: (250) 372-7030
Fax: (250) 372-3405

He has no computer or email.
 
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Fwiw we have a variety of used CISM 308 rifles in stock. All are excellent condition and include diopter sights. Various makes include Cooper, Sauer, Grunig & Elmiger, Steyr. In most cases this might be cheaper than gunsmithing and buying rifles and sights.
Contact markus@theshootingcentre.com for more details.
 
A CISM rifle would be good for 300m and if you only shoot short range the typical Anschutz type sight would work okay. Getting back on topic. You may even find one of these sights that would fit your Tikka which basicly is a CISM style rifle. A 300m course of fire will teach you that 308 is more gun than you need, 6BR and 6.5x47 are the popular cartridges for this game.
 
You can also add phoenix precision (Google phoenix precision sight) out of the US and centra lr sight out of Europe.

The centra isn't as heavily built as the warner or pheonix and there are some canadian suppliers but they would have to order it in.

Like Ian says, by the time you set up tr sights you have spent almost the same as a target scope.
 
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