Question On Adjustable Sights : History & Use

I was not really sure where to post this, so this seemed to be a likely forum category.

I just procured a TOW Jaeger leaf sight that I might use with a rifled straight octagon barrel in my very slow going matchlock project.

It would not really be period correct for what I have been building, but since the barrel is rifled and I would like it to be used for possible hunting situations I am still considering it's use. Aside from that, I don't think it would look that much out of place on my rifled matchlock.

I assume more original looking sights for a sporting matchlock with styling from the 1620-1640s would include a coned tube rear sight or a just a regular v notched rear sight with a blade or bead post front sight.

I had originally planned on using a tube sight made from a filed to shape brass sweeper nozzle and either screw mounted or fitting a dovetail base to it.

Then it got me to thinking these kind of sights mostly accompany smooth bores and when sighting with them it causes a pronounced tilting of the barrel to accommodate the trajectory of the projectile out of that smoothbore barrel.

Since my matchlock will be using a rifled barrel I might want something a little more precise with sighting pictures at about 50 and 100 yards.

I can't find too much on the history of adjustable sights, but I would think this would be the kind of subject that would reach back into to the days when crossbows were in their highest levels of development.

I do not really know when the Jaeger type of leaf sight first came into use but it seems to be one of the earlier examples of an adjustable firearm sight.

Does anyone know when adjustable sights where first used in early firearms?

In the interest of seeing information about sights prior to the 1700's, let's change the question to,

"Does anyone know when sights of any kind, were used on early firearms?"

I have read that rifling and adjustable peep sights
were used in the 1500's. The exact date excapes me.
I believe it was Maxamilian [sig] that had rifling
in some of his gones. Also changeable aptures....
where the rear sight was square to better fit the
different sights.

Quoting G. W. P. SWENSON in his book, Pictorial History of THE RIFLE , published by Drake Publishers Inc, 1972, N.Y., N.Y., on page 8 the author says,

"... in the last part of the 15th Century the rifle made its first appearance.

The earliest rifle in existence was once the property of the Emperor Maximillian I and can be dated between 1493-1508... It had a 24 bore (.577") and fired a charge of 115 grains as shown by the powder measure...."

Unfortunately for the purpose of this topic, no mention of the type of lock or sights was made.

Many of the tube sights I have seen have generally been a cone shape, although some people have argued that it was used to hold the slow match cord. If so why would it be tapered?

Someone on another forum described them as about 10cm long with the eye relief aperture at about 10mm and 5mm at the front end opening of the rear sight.

It would not really surprise me that Emperor Maximilian would have such weapons as those described in your responses.

The matchlock I am currently working on has a close resemblance in stock design to one owned by Louis XIII of France and that one is equipped with a tube sight and the muzzle end is belled so it is hard to make out any kind of front sight. It seems to be a very artfully crafted fine sporting arm, but not really the cutting edge of firearms technology of that day, although still in widespread use because of the matchlock's reliability and cost.

Many other matchlocks of more simple designs have just two posts that line up, which I supposed some of the posts could be adjustable rather than just simple filing to sight them to different ranges.

Given the time period I described my rifle to be in, the wheel lock was already on the scene and other types of firearms were being developed to take the place of matchlocks.

The Jaeger seems to have showed up many years later from the time period of my type of rifled matchlock. I like the idea of quick sighting and as far as I can tell the Jaeger seems to be one the first practical quick sighting rifles with an extra sighting leaf to manage more than one range.

Colonel Henry Beaufroy's book 'Scloppetaria Or Considerations on the Nature and Use of Rifled Barrel Guns' written under the pseudonym 'A Corporal of Riflemen' will tell you more about adjustable sights of the period up to 1808 than you can imagine.

Available in reprint form although I have not traced a free ebook version. Pretty well everything we know as modern adjustable sights were tried before the 19th century, not excluding telescopic sights.

No doubt that sights were used before 1800 but my references indicate the matchlock was pretty much obsolete around 1650.

Matchlocks developed around 1400-1450
Wheel-locks developed around 1510-1520
Snaphaunce developed around 1560-1580
Flintlocks developed around 1610-1630

I think if sights that would be historically suitable for a matchlock was wanted, we should be looking for something that was used before 1650.

As for rifled barrels, Old Max's gun would seem to indicate they were around before 1650 so although it is unlikely they would have been found on a matchlock, they might have been.

Cpl. Ashencheeks said:

Many of the tube sights I have seen have generally been a cone shape, although some people have argued that it was used to hold the slow match cord. If so why would it be tapered?

Click to expand...

Possibly to make it easy to push the match through the tube (larger end) while being snug enough to keep it in place (smaller end)? If it's a loose fit the weight of the rest of the cord would keep pulling it back through. That would be annoying enough to make one want to come up with a solution. Not sure, just speculating...

I think its just another display in a museum mistake.