TargetTalk

An aperture sight question:

When using the aperture sight on a target rifle, how much of the front sight should one see?

Of course, the middle of a target front site is a circle. The target needs to be centered in this circle. Obviously, one needs to see the entirety of this circle to accomplish this feat. :)

However, should one also see the front sight tunnel? If so, are we to center the front sight tunnel in the peep first, and then center the target within the targeting circle?

I hope this question makes sense. I don't know the proper nomenclature. I am probably making this sound much more complicated than it is.

Thanks!

You should see the entire front sight plus a uniform line of white around the front sight. This constitutes your sight alignment. The size of the line of white kind of depends upon the shooter, but it is better to have it a little big rather than too small. And, yes, you should align the sights before centering on the target.

The front sight tunnel is not part of the sight picture.

Center the target's aiming mark in the front sight aperture, and center both in the rear sight's aperture.

Jose,
Are you saying that instead of 4 concentric circles (line of white outside the front globe (tunnel), the globe, area around aperture, and aperture), one should only be seeing 2 concentric circles (area around the aperture and aperture)?
Al

Hi,
As there is no strict thumbrule in shooting sports ,but it is advisable to follow some established basic scientific values attached to it. It is mostly recomended that the rear peep should more or less be 1.5 times the front globe,as our eyes and brain can easily justifiy symetrical images( the rear aperture ,front globe,the front aperture and the target makes a curious symetrical sequence ) and thus establishing a perfect balance in the concentricity of our sights. but the apparent size also depends on the light conditions(read: outdoors) and eye relief from the rear sight.
this is my opinion only and any deviation to this could refer to the first line of the message!
warm regards................................................................Joy

Al, the edge of the front sight tunnel is not in my sight picture. Not in my Anschutz smallbore rifle nor in my Winchester centerfire rifle.

All I see is the front sight's aperture, the target, and the rear sight's aperture. Those three reference points geometrically define a line from eye to center of target and anything else is clutter.

Jose,
Are you, per chance, using a tube sight? With one such as the Unertl tube, I can see accomplishing what you are describing. However, with a 18mm front sight and the rear sight in a normal position, I am unable to eliminate neither the line of white nor the edge of my front signt tunnel from my sight picture. Could you please describe how you eliminate the tunnel from your sight image.
Al

Al, it's probably due to the eye relief that I like to have.

My point is that seeing the outside of the front sight tunnel is not necessary for proper sight alignment.

Jose,
Thanks for the explaination. I was only able to achieve what you described by mounting my rear sight in front of the loading port. I must say that this is rather unconventional. But, if it works for you, so be it. At this point it appears that we will have to agree to disagree and I will return to the description in my initial reply to the thread initiator as the more conventional method of sighting. Peace.

Al

I am the person who started the thread.

I asked because on my rifle I can either place the rear sight far enough back that I can see the entire front sight tunnel with white around it, or far enough forward that I can see essentially only through the tunnel. Frankly I don't shoot consistently enough to fairly judge which is more accurate for me, thus the question.

Thank you for the thoughts so far. I really appreciate the discussion.

Al, my apologies to you and the forum.

I've been shooting an AR-15 service rifle exclusively since last fall and my memory failed me. I just came from getting behind my Anschutz and Model 70 and the sight picture is just as you describe.

Jose,
Apology accepted.

Al

Your "eye relief" - the distance from your sighting eye to the rear aperture - is typically 2 to 6 inches. Where your head falls on the stock determines where the rear sight goes. I have yet to look thru a target sight set and see only the front aperture. One normally sees the whole front sight. You CAN get extender rings (aka anti-glare tubes) that make the outside of the front sight bigger. I guess you could add a washer of some sort to do the same thing.