Buffalo hunt and sight color

dm3280 · Post by **dm3280** » Tue May 11, 2004 4:58 pm

I have a buffalo hunt planned for later this year and need to see what others can suggest on the sight color. Is there a color I can paint my front sight that will help me see it against the buffalo or does it really not matter?
Thanks

nohorse · Post by **nohorse** » Tue May 11, 2004 6:03 pm

DM: I don't know what to tell ya to use as I have not yet had the thrill of shooting a bison. However, I have a good friend that enjoyed that pleasure in Wyoming a year or so ago. He was using a Baldwin front sight with the Baldwin apertures at the end of a 34" Sharps barrel. He told me when he returned that he couldn't see the sight becasue it blended in with the color of the critter. If I remember correctly he had to stalk in to about 100 yds or so before he could take his shot. As I am planning a hunt late this year or early 2005 I would also be very interested in hearing what color aperture and average shooting distances. This is a good topic - Thanks!!

Halfcock · Post by **Halfcock** » Tue May 11, 2004 7:43 pm

DM: I shot a buffalo early this spring and had the same problem. After giving it some thought, I might paint a post type front site insert with white out or some such thing. If you leave the front insert a dark color, you have a sight that blends with the critters hair no matter which insert you use.

Good topic to post, I hope to hear some more ideas.

Paul

bulldog · Post by **bulldog** » Tue May 11, 2004 9:23 pm

How about a silver blade up front. I think the buffalo hunters used one made of coin and to 'refresh' it, just scratch it a bit. Gold might be nice too!

taw1126 · Post by **taw1126** » Tue May 11, 2004 9:51 pm

In the Summer 2003 Black Powder Cartridge News (issue #42) John Hansen has a full 8 pages on buffalo hunting- everything from picking your outfitter to the color of your hat- and he dedicates about half a page to sights. His recommendation is the German silver blade previously mentioned or "painting" globe sight inserts with Liquid Paper.

The article is worth a read, and he really pushes for using a simple blade front sight with standard barrel-mounted, semi-buckhorn rear sights.

Ken Hartlein · Post by **Ken Hartlein** » Tue May 11, 2004 10:50 pm

There is a really good post on this forum somewhere about just this exact topic. The fellow that did it replaced his blade front with a blade he made from a piece of almost pure copper. He said even in very low light the copper kinda glows. According to what I remember you can pull the shiloh blade out and make one of copper and then force it back in. Leave it a little high then file it off to impact at the range you want it to, i.e. 100 yards or 200 or whatever. One of these days I'm going to try it. I've even thought about filing an insert from copper to fit the Lyman 17a globe.

Monty · Post by **Monty** » Wed May 12, 2004 2:23 am

I have just finished replacing the front sight on my rifle with a penny. I cut off about 1/3 of a penny and filed the burs off. The center part of the penny is the same thickness as the original front sight. (At least it was with the penny I used). I used a small hammer to tap it in place then filed the penny down until the rifle shot on target. I’ve only had the chance to try it out a couple of times in normal light but it looks good so far.
Monty

8iowa · Post by **8iowa** » Wed May 12, 2004 10:17 am

DM has brought up a very interesting question. Last December I hunted with my "Kentucky" rifle in the U.P. I soon discovered that in the dark woods I couldn't see the front sight. It was a lesson in the fact that hunting conditions are quite different from a day at the range.

I have another Kentucky under construction and I have ordered one of Marble's Contour front sights with a 1/16 inch fiber optic orange bead. No, this is not traditional, but at least I will be able to place my shots with a lot more confidence. After all, the purpose in hunting is a clean kill, not a wound that the animal takes away to suffer a lingering death.

This October, if the Colorado DOW blesses me in their lottery, I want to take my 1877 Axtell, which has a globe front sight with five dark inserts. Replacing it with a Marbles sight doesn't seem feasible. Thus, I too am pondering the question of how to make the front sight more visible.

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Wed May 12, 2004 10:46 am

Isn't ivory the prefered material for all conditions? I just had a friend bring back a Warthog tusk bottle opener for just such a use. Warthog is the preferred ivory - supposedly because it does not yellow. This will be used on a Lyman 5a post, and maybe something else as well.

But up to now, I use a Lee Shaver insert in my Lyman 17s that is cut as crosswires. Because they extend to the sides of the sight, you can always center your target using just the right or left half of the horizontal and just the top or bottom of the verticle wires. If you can't see all of the wires, nor where they cross, so long as you have one leg of both the horizontal and the vertical, you are in business.

Works for me anyway, and I've shot a lot of deer, and some elk and pronghorns with them.

Brent

rdnck · Post by **rdnck** » Wed May 12, 2004 10:46 am

Use the penny. It's the only way to go. I've been doing it for years. Shoot straight, rdnck.

Chairman
Caddo Lake Chapter
FES

Brent · Post by **Brent** » Wed May 12, 2004 10:51 am

[quote="rdnck"]Use the penny. It's the only way to go. I've been doing it for years. Shoot straight, rdnck.

Chairman
Caddo Lake Chapter
FES[/quote]

Where the heck do you get a REAL penny these days? All those I have are zinc in the middle....

Brent

Rich Siegel · Post by **Rich Siegel** » Wed May 12, 2004 6:35 pm

Try a florescent green. It stands out against anything, better then orange.
Paint it on the front sight and keep checking to make sure it doesn't rub off but with good paint, it won't.
Rich

Josh A. · Post by **Josh A.** » Wed May 12, 2004 6:37 pm

The copper penny is the only way to go. I have been hunting with them for a couple of years now. There is something about the frequency of the light reflected that is visible in most conditions.

Just watch your spare change for those old, pure copper pennies. The rest is easy.

Take care,

S

Josh A. · Post by **Josh A.** » Wed May 12, 2004 6:45 pm

Here is one of mine with a copper front sight.

http://www.amerinemechanical.com/hunting/Dscn0820.jpg

J

Travis · Post by **Travis** » Wed May 12, 2004 8:15 pm

The best luck that I have had is with a Baldwin with a spirit level. Pick the insert that has the smallest possible circle and the single horizontal crosswire. This allows you to focus on the part of the critter thay you want to hit and not the fine bead,full bead woes of a blade. A good apeture is the only choice to make a Sharps tick. If you have a blade you will tend to shoot high in the dark as you don't get the bead down where it needs to be. If you still have problems,paint the insert or get a quality telescope. Also the horizontal wire acts as a good height correction if you do like a lot of folks and set your sights at one range and learn how the gun shoots.
Shoot straight cause those suckers are big--mine was
Travis

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