Tang peep sight for longrifle.

[oldwood]

Any one know where I can get a tang peep sight for a long rifle ?

 

[Grimord]

Try Skinner sights to see if they have what you want. You could also check out a Pence tang sight.

 

[Tom A Hawk]

 

[Omahkapi'si]

Not a tang but just put this Skinner on my Frontier. Skinner has lots of options.

 

[Spikebuck]

Muzzleloader Builder Supply carries the Johnson Peep Sight, which has more "traditional" characteristics. I have mounted this on several rifles and they work great. NOT ADJUSTABLE though. They do have a standard aperture threading so I used the Williams Twilight apertures. On the one Hawken flintlock fullstock I built, I did mount a thin dovetail to it. Because it's on a Hawken with a hooked breech, I had to have it a tad forward of where I would usually put it to clear for lifting the barrel out.

If it wouldn't have been for the hooked breech I would have mounted further back...as you can see it could be moved back much more. It did work really well at the location it was though.

 

[Rifleman1776]

The Johnson is a good choice. It can be modified and given slight ability to be adjusted. But, once the rifle is zeroed any fixed sight is good. The rest is up to the shooter.

 

[ADK Bigfoot]

I have installed a Johnson on my .32 flint squirrel gun. Once sighted in, it is a great sight. Takes a little bending and tapping to get it sighted in.

ADK Bigfoot

 

[bldtrailer]

you can make one

or you can buy for Lowell Haarer
to try one on the cheap use an old dog lic

 

[Spikebuck]

The only thing that scares me with the designs that only use the tang screw to secure them is that they could be bumped. If something is going to happen, it's going to happen to me and about the time I had the buck of a lifetime in front of me I'd find out my rear sight had been bumped off.

 

[mikeinpa]

Muzzleloader Builder Supply carries the Johnson Peep Sight, which has more "traditional" characteristics. I have mounted this on several rifles and they work great. NOT ADJUSTABLE though. They do have a standard aperture threading so I used the Williams Twilight apertures. On the one Hawken flintlock fullstock I built, I did mount a thin dovetail to it. Because it's on a Hawken with a hooked breech, I had to have it a tad forward of where I would usually put it to clear for lifting the barrel out.

If it wouldn't have been for the hooked breech I would have mounted further back...as you can see it could be moved back much more. It did work really well at the location it was though.

How did you put the dovetail on it?

Mike

 

[Spikebuck]

How did you put the dovetail on it?

You can make a dovetail out of thin steel stock you can buy at a hardware store, or you might even already have something laying around. I had to thin it down as in my area they didn't have stock thin enough. It kinda looks thicker in the picture than it was. Especially over a breech area it should be as thin as possible. Depends on how much steel in the wall thickness you have to work with and still leave enough to handle the pressures. Anyway, then you can either solder it to the sight base or you could use a couple of very small flat head screws, like 4-40 or smaller, to come up through the bottom of the dovetail (countersunk, of course) and into matching threaded holes you made in the sight base. That's what I did then, but if I were to do it again, I'd limit the footprint of the dovetail to perhaps only 3/8" to minimize the size of the metal removal in that area and solder it onto the sight base.

You can go to the below link, which is the album of pictures of that build, and look at page 6 until you see the sight installation pictures. Again, I'd do it differently today, but that's the way I did it then. It worked perfectly fine and was plenty safe, but I think soldering the dovetail on would be easier and allow for a much smaller dovetail footprint cut into the barrel.

If you double click on any picture in the album, it will show just that picture and comments I may have made on it, then you can move through the pictures one-by-one with the arrows.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/100435142@N08/albums/72157639906287386

 

[mikeinpa]

You can make a dovetail out of thin steel stock you can buy at a hardware store, or you might even already have something laying around. I had to thin it down as in my area they didn't have stock thin enough. It kinda looks thicker in the picture than it was. Especially over a breech area it should be as thin as possible. Depends on how much steel in the wall thickness you have to work with and still leave enough to handle the pressures. Anyway, then you can either solder it to the sight base or you could use a couple of very small flat head screws, like 4-40 or smaller, to come up through the bottom of the dovetail (countersunk, of course) and into matching threaded holes you made in the sight base. That's what I did then, but if I were to do it again, I'd limit the footprint of the dovetail to perhaps only 3/8" to minimize the size of the metal removal in that area and solder it onto the sight base.

You can go to the below link, which is the album of pictures of that build, and look at page 6 until you see the sight installation pictures. Again, I'd do it differently today, but that's the way I did it then. It worked perfectly fine and was plenty safe, but I think soldering the dovetail on would be easier and allow for a much smaller dovetail footprint cut into the barrel.

If you double click on any picture in the album, it will show just that picture and comments I may have made on it, then you can move through the pictures one-by-one with the arrows.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/100435142@N08/albums/72157639906287386

Thanks, that is really helpful. I already have a dovetail cut in for an existing sight. It's a swamped .36 cal barrel so there is plenty of metal left. I think I'll drill and tap the 4-40s since I'm a better machinist than a solderer. Again thanks for your time and help.

Mike

 

[cwsonvet]

View attachment 58351

Where did you purchase the sight pictured?

 

[Tom A Hawk]

Where did you purchase the sight pictured?

I made it. Now that hunting season has passed I'll be finishing up an improved version.

 

[cwsonvet]

I made it. Now that hunting season has passed I'll be finishing up an improved version.

Excellent work!

 

[russellshaffer]

Thanks, guys. I have been trying to figure out something for my matchlock. Now I don't have to re-invent anything.

 

[stikshooter]

View attachment 58351

Received one of his sights today , I can see the sight and the squirrel on my 54 Woods Runner ,all I can say is WOW I can see again !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Probably illegal for hunting cause it's the closest thing to Leupold on a muzzle loader, just ordered a bigger freezer and a big thank you to the guy who makes/sells them (fast shipping too ) Squirrels are migrating , saw the postal delivery truck stop /Ed