Posted on 11/26/2016 11:59:11 AM PST by w1n1
The current sustained popularity of the guns of the Old West convinced Lyman to reintroduce some of the fine accessories they used to manufacture in the 1800s. That's a general statement, but it also leads us right into this short conversation about their #2 Tang Sight, which is made especially for the 1873 lever action as manufactured by Uberti.
Lyman patented their #1 Tang Sight in 1879. The #2 followed either very shortly after if not at the same time. The only difference between those two types of sights is that the #1 had the combination apertures, with the fold-down small aperture, and the #2 came with removable discs, a feature that came to be favored by target shooters. Read the rest of the story here.
If you cannot have an optical sight, an aperture sight is next best.
Grew up shooting a tang sight model 61 Winchester and an 03 Springfield with a peep sight.
Peep sights are just the thing for old eyes like mine that have lost their ability to focus. Just like a small aperture on a camera they increase the field of focus.
I guess what’s old is new again...
Both the #1 and #2 were made until the 1980’s (and still distributed into the late 1990’s as I bought them wholesale directly from Lyman.) The disc sets were getting hard to find, but you could still go into an old gun store in the late 2000’s and still find them gathering dust in their old hang tag package.
Loved shooting those Ubertis.
Same principle as pinhole glasses — the most vital (and only) thing I remember from my boy scout days, being pretty much blind without glasses. The smaller the opening the more incoming light is focused on a specific point on the back of the eye, resulting in a sharper picture.
Mr. niteowl77
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I have given up on “V” sights but a small peep is doable ... Glass if I am reaching out past 75 yds (that is this year, my buddy got Lasic and he claims he can use the “V” sights again)
Your mention of the "V" sight reminded me of the one application where I still can use them: I had grown weary of trying to use my traditional Remington 870 Police "rifle" sights, and took the advice of someone who recommended trying a barrel with the factory "low profile" rifle sights by XS Sight Systems. The rear is a shallow, handgun "express-style" "V" right in front of the receiver, a setup which would be virtually unusable for me on rifles now. Oddly enough, it turned out to be faster and easier for me to use than any other shotgun setup I have ever tried. I use the rear as a "suggestion" more than anything else, and it works for me. Old age is full of surprises... occasionally one of them is good!
I hear you on using a scope for the longer stuff. Even for close work on small targets, I have gone to glass, though not of real high magnification. On any gun that can easily host them, I also like a good reflex optic of limited size - like an Aimpoint Micro - something which doesn't completely cure all my vision-related issues (my astigmatism is bad enough that I get the "grape cluster" effect) but does reduce my eyestrain. When we put an UltraDot 30mm on niteowl77's Ruger MkIII Target some years ago, it made informal indoor target work a lot less frustrating.
Back when I was dabbling in the old hardware - Sharps and rolling blocks - the tang sight was a natural, but my guess is that I'd be using a long-tube scope these days.
Mr. niteowl77
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