Non-Matching Sights
- Thread starter Lichtfuss
- Start date
non matching sights
When you say "non matching sights", do you mean the serial numbers, or do you mean after market sights. And what model of rifle do you have?
Generally, there is some adjustment features built into military rifles, where the foresight is moveable for windage, and the rear sight can be moved for elevation.
A serial numbered non-matching sight on a SMLE is fairly common, as many of these rifles were repaired by a unit Armourer. Sometimes the new sight was stamped with the rifle's serial number, but many times it was not.
You also have to look at the useage of the rifle. A military rifle was not generally designed as a target rifle, so small groups on a target downrange were nice, but not really a necessity. The object was to hit a man sized target, not a small bulls-eye on a piece of paper.
The second thing is that the average soldier did not know how to fine tune his sights. He was given a command that indicated a target, a range to that target, and the number of rounds to fire at it. When the enemy was close to your trench, the idea was to get a lot of firepower out, and targets were large, numerous, and advancing, so the ranges were short in most cases.
In most cases, even though the serial number of the sight does not match the rifle, the sights can be adjusted so that the bullet will hit where it is aimed. Be aware that some rifles have minimum range settings, such as 300 yards for a battle sight setting, so anything under that has to be compensated for by the shooter.
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When you say "non matching sights", do you mean the serial numbers, or do you mean after market sights. And what model of rifle do you have?
Generally, there is some adjustment features built into military rifles, where the foresight is moveable for windage, and the rear sight can be moved for elevation.
A serial numbered non-matching sight on a SMLE is fairly common, as many of these rifles were repaired by a unit Armourer. Sometimes the new sight was stamped with the rifle's serial number, but many times it was not.
You also have to look at the useage of the rifle. A military rifle was not generally designed as a target rifle, so small groups on a target downrange were nice, but not really a necessity. The object was to hit a man sized target, not a small bulls-eye on a piece of paper.
The second thing is that the average soldier did not know how to fine tune his sights. He was given a command that indicated a target, a range to that target, and the number of rounds to fire at it. When the enemy was close to your trench, the idea was to get a lot of firepower out, and targets were large, numerous, and advancing, so the ranges were short in most cases.
In most cases, even though the serial number of the sight does not match the rifle, the sights can be adjusted so that the bullet will hit where it is aimed. Be aware that some rifles have minimum range settings, such as 300 yards for a battle sight setting, so anything under that has to be compensated for by the shooter.
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