Rear sight blade?? Partridge, Pyramid, Rabbit ear?

[blkbrd]

Ok as usual playing with someone elses new gun brought up some questions.

I tend to listen when a GM gives his opinion, then question myself. Thanks Paul

What style or shape of rear sight blade do you prefer, and why?

Do you find a pyramid or rabbit ear rear sight speeds sight picture or target acquisition when matched with a fiber optic front as opposed to a plain partridge rear?

I have to do some work on my rear blade due to corner reflections anyway, and I hate to say it but a pyramid would "look" good matched up to a 3 sided slide.

Yaa I know, but I have accepted the fact that I like a good looking gun even though I would probably shoot a flat black ugly slug better.

[ErikW]

Probably, the angled-corners Bo-Mar blade was my favorite. But I don't mind my rounded-corners Heinie at all. The rounded-corner Caspian and STI blades weren't as good as the cut-corner ("Combat?") Bo-Mar.

Probably the worst are the barn-door, square-corners blades of the Para Limited and EAA Super Sight.

[gmshtr]

The new "Bo-Mar" cut Scott Warren sight is the way to go. This sight will be the next big thing in IPSC, I think. Imagine a bomar type sight with no parts to break, no elevation screw, no front pin to snap, no worries about hitting the sight, and having to re-adjust it. It's a totally fixed rear sight. The "blade" of the sight is rounded to help see more of the target, and the bottom of the notch is slightly rounded to help the front sight present more clearly. Basically, the only sharp angles your eye has to focus on is the front sight in relation to the top of the rear notch. I've been using a Bomar that Scott cut and re-worked for me which worked great. Then I started thinking. When is the last time I actually adjusted my Bomar? Hmmm. Never. So I talked to Scott, and asked if he could make a fixed sight to fit a Bomar cut, and poof, there it was. I should be getting my new rear sight this week! If you're curious as to what the rear sight looks like, just catch a glance of the Ernie Langdon edition Sig Pistols. They're all equiped with it. It takes a few hundred rounds to get used to, but afterwards, you wonder what you did without it! If you see me at a match, make a point to ask me about it. I'll be glad to show you.

Phil

[Flexmoney]

I can't say that I have time on the "rabbit ears" or the "pyramid", but I have looked through a few. My eyes/brain sent me a big "don't like it" signal.

I want plenty of clean material across the top of the rear sight (though, not likely the barn-door stuff as Erik mentions).

And, I agree with Phil. If you have your gun and load all tuned in, there is no need for adjustables in our game.

[EricW]

Buckhorns. Definitely go with the buckhorn rear.

[eric nielsen]

I put a post on the subject of rabbit ears here

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?...pic=15165&st=15

Your mileage may vary...

[Steve Moneypenny]

if you want to pyramid your rear sight to match your slide go for it i d on't think it will hurt you, just don't go too crazy, remember you can take off as little or much as you want.

I've "seen" the scott warren rear sight, I really want to try one.. guess i need a new pistol now. to put them on LoL

[vincent]

I hear talk of the Warren sights all the time, but so far all I've every seen is the one on Ernest Langdon's match gun. Are these sights just for folks who know Scott or are they available for purchase some where?

[reneet]

I took a look at Phil's gun at Nats last week and would be interested in giving the Warren sights a try.

[MikeFoley]

A local GM and national match sponsor cuts his Bomars as follows:

.010 from the inside of the notch in each direction, then 30 degrees downward.

I changed mine after comparing the two guns side by side. It appears that I am indexing steel and the A zone of paper much faster. I use a .090 Dawson FO front.

I still like the factory Bomar too, but this is much easier to me. It really shines with a target between two no shoots, or a target with hard cover o each side of the A zone.

[ErikW]

I think it's kinda funny that we get all involved with the rear sights then when they break off we don't even notice the complete lack of rear sight for several shots.

[DogmaDog]

I bought a used pistol, and it showed up with a really thin (0.075") front fiber optic sight, and a standard STI adjustable rear (Bo-mar copy).

I'm growing to like it, as I can see a lot of light on either side of the front sight, and the small fiber optic really seems to stand out for me, though the front sight seems kinda fragile, and prone to bending.

I think I would prefer a front sight around 0.09" or 0.1" wide, with a widened, "U" shaped notch, as I've seen a few shooters at my local clubs use, with rear notches about 0.135" wide. The little chance I've had to look through that kind of set up and shoot a few rounds suggests I could see a lot throught the notch, and still align the sights precisely.

DogmaDog

[Singlestack]

I think it's kinda funny that we get all involved with the rear sights then when they break off we don't even notice the complete lack of rear sight for several shots.

Even if the broken sight hits you in the face.

Please don't ever touch me again Erik

[kevin c]

Dogeared Bomar (notch & post) for me.

Dogears to pick up the target a bit easier, but mainly so's the corners don't tear me up.

[ErikW]

Remember, when a piece of ejected brass hits you in the face and you suddenly can't hit your targets, that wasn't brass.

[benos]

A few things I learned from years of experimenting, and experimenting with ideas from the (out of print) Experiments of a Handgunner -

You should have "found the target" before your sights arrive there, therefore -

your sights should be designed so you can read them quickly, not so you can find targets quicker.

It's important that the top of the rear blade is flat and fairly wide - approximately at least 2 to 3 times wider than the notch (on each side). This is important because you can only see one thing precisely at any one time; however, shooting quickly and accurately demands that you keep track of several things at all times: You're looking right at the front sight as it's returning toward the rear notch. It looks huge, like you can't see anything but it. Peripherally, you are (and need to be) aware of the where the front sight must stop in order to fire an accurate shot (top of the rear blade), so it helps if that information is perceived as easily as possible, like a nice, sharply defined flat line. Which is why pyramid blades look cool when they're nice and still and pointed at the target, but don't "work well" in high-speed shooting. I always felt like I should have had better hits than I actually did when using a pyramid blade.

For an IPSC shooter, it's paramount that your sight's design will help you call shots that break when they are not perfectly aligned, which is most of the time. Bold, crisp, flat, square shapes will help you do that, and pretty much anything other than that won't. Imagine "other sight designs - although they look really cool when they're perfectly aligned, like the rear buckhorn/front bead, for example, they're fairly useless on a pistol that bouncing and flying all over the place.

be

[D.carden]

BE,

In my case i am just the oppisite. I can shoot more accurately and faster with a pyramid rear blade. That shape allows me to use the blade as a "pointer", thus removing alot of unnecessary "blade baggage". I have used many others and find this style most effective. We must keep in mind that everyone's brain processes information differently ( shapes, sizes, colors, etc.), therefore , if you find something that works, use it.

I have taken a millett rear blade ( revolver) and shaped a pyramid with about 1/8" of blade on either side of the notch. When i transition from target-to target this acts as an "arrow" and gets me "centered" on the target quicker. I had excellent results at this years IRC with it.

D.carden