Ghost Ring Rear Sight

[Mass38S]

Has anyone had any experience with ghost ring rear sights? I am thinking of the Caspian rear sight which is configured with a ghost ring or a diamond shaped rear "notch".

Pro's...Con's?

Thanks,

Rich

[Matt Cheely]

In my limited expierence on a .22 bowling pin gun. The ghost ring sights are fast or accurate, not both, and never very accurate.

[eric nielsen]

classic benos post on this topic:

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

Edited January 17, 2006 by eric nielsen

[Crusher]

they're fairly useless on a pistol that bouncing and flying all over the place

That's my opinion on anything other than a flat rear blade and a nice squared front post (fibre rod optional of course for us OAE/old arsed eyes).

[Middle Man]

I have seen a few pistols with ghost ring rear sights and pondered their application as well. After reading BE's thoughts on the matter, it more or less confirms what I had concluded. That they may be successfully employed on long arms is most likely the reason the system has been attempted on handguns. However, ghost rings on a handgun at 20 or so inches from your eyes is a much different prospect than ghost rings on a rifle mere inches from your pupil.