Which tang sight with irons?

[johnl]

Gents


Which tang sight would you use to augment your iron sights? I have a #1 Sporter 26" standard half with full buckhorn and front blade. Like to have something that I can fold forward when not in use when I'm using the barrel sights? Anyone use MVA marble (rear combination) tang with Shiloh's front blade or do I need their front combination sight too?

Thanks.

[Del]

That depends on what you are using the sight for. To me, the main reason for using a rear tang sight is to provide for much more precise distance settings but they are much slower to use if we are talking about hunting situations. Buckhorn sights should be good to maybe out to 150 yards or so for hunting I would say. If you are shooting further, you may have time to range the distance then set the setting on the staff but this may or may not be the situation that you find yourself in for hunting.

If you are shooting paper or gongs or silhouettes, a good tang sight would be great for this and which one would depend on the distance you are shooting. Soule sights allow for windage adjustments where the basic rear tang "hunting" sights are normally fixed for windage.

If it were me and I was using it to strictly hunt, I would learn to shoot the buckhorn sights and limit my distance. Stalking up would be better than taking a long shot especially if you don't have a lot of time to set up the shot.

What were you thinking of shooting using the tang sight? One issue to remember is that tang sights sit on the pistol grip and with larger caliber rifles the recoil can jam the mount into the web of your hand or bark your thumb miserably.

[johnl]

That depends on what you are using the sight for. To me, the main reason for using a rear tang sight is to provide for much more precise distance settings but they are much slower to use if we are talking about hunting situations. Buckhorn sights should be good to maybe out to 150 yards or so for hunting I would say. If you are shooting further, you may have time to range the distance then set the setting on the staff but this may or may not be the situation that you find yourself in for hunting.

If you are shooting paper or gongs or silhouettes, a good tang sight would be great for this and which one would depend on the distance you are shooting. Soule sights allow for windage adjustments where the basic rear tang "hunting" sights are normally fixed for windage.

If it were me and I was using it to strictly hunt, I would learn to shoot the buckhorn sights and limit my distance. Stalking up would be better than taking a long shot especially if you don't have a lot of time to set up the shot.

What were you thinking of shooting using the tang sight? One issue to remember is that tang sights sit on the pistol grip and with larger caliber rifles the recoil can jam the mount into the web of your hand or bark your thumb miserably.

Rifle is 45-70, will use irons for 100 yards as you mention and a tang for the occasional 200 yard gongs. Not too worried about windage. Anyone use a rear tang and blade front sight combo?

[BFD]

With the proper tang sight, you can SAFELY use your barrel sights for close shots and have the tang sight preset for longer shots as needed. If it is a vernier tang (WITHOUT and elevator screw), you can adjust as needed if you want to try something other than what your tang sight is preset for. But the key is the sight and how it fits to the comb of the rifle.

The Marbles style of sight can work well, but will it fold back flat in front of the comb of the stock?

[Marathonman]

One of my hunting Sharps has the original style sporting tang sight with no eye cup. I have it set for 4 inches high at 100 yards and hunt with it without ever changing the sight settings. I've killed antelope out to 300 yards with this setup. All my distances are estimated and verified with field practice.

[Clarence]

I used an MVA #133 (no windage, no elevation stew) in Africa with perfect satisfaction. Sighted as Marathonman, except I did raise the rear sight to kill a blesbok at ~195 yds.

Clarence

[Clarence]

I used an MVA #133 (no windage, no elevation stew) in Africa with perfect satisfaction. Sighted as Marathonman, except I did raise the rear sight to kill a blesbok at ~195 yds.

Clarence

[desert deuce]

Depends on your visual acuity, the cover you are hunting in and the load you are using.

Anything under 150 yards with 20/20 corrected with visible front sight the standard folding sharps ladder sight is good. That combination sure killed a lot of American Bison.

Admittedly I am not near as good a shot as some with open sights so I would probably keep game shots under 100 yards with any original black powder cartridge loading unless I did some serious practicing under hunting conditions at the longer ranges, first !

[borderdogs]

I have several Shiloh's with tang sights and as mentioned above they have there uses. For me I rely on the barrel sights more than the tangs and I like a tang sight that isn't too tall so when folded down doens't damage the comb of the rifle or bite me in the recoil.

Most of my shooting is under 200 yards for the most part barrel sights are ok even with the old eyes I have. Personally I do like the Lyman and Marbles sights especially on lever rifles. On one rifle I have I take out the eye cup and use it like ghost rings and it is very fast.,
Rob

[SFogler]

I went through this exact drill after I found a 50-90 with target sights and wanted to use it for a buffalo hunt. I did not have time to fiddle with it for long as the hunt date was coming up very soon. I wanted to shoot through the buckhorn out to 100 yds then fold up a short, sturdy hunting tang for 150 yds. I ordered two MVA "hunting" tangs, neither of which folded down flat enough forward for me to see the buckhorn over the eyepiece. I sent those back. I ended up keeping the long range vernier sight it came with on it. I folded it forward some and sighted through the gap in the staffs to use the buckhorn. If I stood it up I had it set for 150 yds. It worked - got the buffalo. Now I am going to try the custom copy of the original Sharps Sporter tang (the one without the eyepiece like the original Marathonman mentioned) that Jim is making for me at Distant Thunder sights. If it works, great - if not I'll keep it on my bull barrel buffalo rifle for authenticity and just use it for fun.

http://www.distantthunderbpcr.com/ I think the final product will look even more authentic.