sinnsyk Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 So just got all the pieces of the puzzle finished up today. I've got the first batch of sights machined and coated today. I decided to go with BearCoat in Flat Black which provides a very matte, black surface. The sight measure 0.090" wide x 0.165" height and a 0.040" fiber. It's super-nice and already on two of my guns. I wrote up an article this afternoon which has some decent pictures and more details: http://henningshootsguns.com/pages/2008_fiberfront.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BritinUSA Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 It looks really slick... Nice pictures too ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Gundry Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Aww, is there a prototype in with my order from yesterday??? Looks great Henning! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Hepworth Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 sending in my order in the next few minutes. Looks nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shooterbenedetto Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Super nice!! another great product from the great Henning himself! if that was an open gun goodie, I'll be all over it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeoHallak Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Always well thought out and executed Henning products. Good Job Henny. leo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinnsyk Posted October 22, 2008 Author Share Posted October 22, 2008 Thanks ! I got about 30 sights on the first batch and about half is gone. The shop is going to make hundreds of more for me and I'm hoping to get at least a hundred more ready before I take off for Area 2 and New Zealand. I'm gone all November, but I have a helper shipping while Emma and I are gone. Will be a great trip, but also a long time away from home and taking care of things. We're cutting fiber rods and packaging them up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinnsyk Posted October 22, 2008 Author Share Posted October 22, 2008 Here's a few pictures of Emma cutting the fibers to 0.550" so they're ready to be installed at your convenience. Our next project is a pro fiber cutter system... ha ha... Emma threw a couple of pieces of wood together to easily cut the fibers to right length. Note she's using a chisel. Kind of ghetto, but works fairly quick and gets the job done. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Hepworth Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 cool! I look forward to trying them out on my LC and Stock2!! I found the factory sights sucked at gathering light indoors,....these look like an improvement for sure! So the sight is nearly a whole mm narrower? that is great. Should need very little adjustment if any to sight in once installed. good work , looks like a quality product! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIIID Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Is that candy corn in that dish? I didn't know that was still around or edible. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHA-LEE Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 (edited) I had one question about the sight. Do you think that the back side of the sight will be easier to catch on things since it is square? I would think that if the back side of the sites edges were rounded off or at an angle it would make it a lot less likely to catch on things. Other than that, it looks pretty sweet!!! Just a thought about securing the fiber, you could drill and tap a hole in the side of the back portion of the sight so the diamiter of the hole slightly overlaps the fiber hole. That way you could put a set screw in there and it would retain the fiber by mashing it between the threads of the set screw and fiber hole. More work, I know, I am just thinking outside the box. Edited October 22, 2008 by CHA-LEE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Bear Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Looks really good Henning. Any chance of a longer version in the future. Something like this maybe? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshF Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Guys Henning does his homework and knows what works. I'd highly suggest trying the sight out before asking for changes. I think you'll be VERY pleased with what you get. Hopefully I'll have one to play with here in a few days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebg3 Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 Cool. Is the new rear sight ready for the Novak style adj. rear sight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Ho Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Is that candy corn in that dish? I didn't know that was still around or edible.Rich What do you think the fiber optic rods are made of? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickB Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 (edited) Henning, if you are coming down to Rio Salado in November, any chance of bringing some of the front sights with you? Also, how do your new fibre optic front sights compare to those found on STI's? Is the fibre the same size or smaller? Mick Edited October 23, 2008 by MickB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshF Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Also, how do your new fibre optic front sights compare to those found on STI's? Is the fibre the same size or smaller? The narrowest Dawson for an STI is .090 and sits .180 high on adj sight guns. Henning also uses the .040 fiber which is the smallest you can get. I believe the factory sight uses at .060 which is just too big. With the lack of serrations, a .090 width and .040 fiber you really have the best of all worlds. A nice crisp sight with just the right amount of air on either side plus a perfectly sized fiber to help you pickup that front sight quick without ruining the sight picture. Also a picture is worth a thousand words... Factory Tanfoglio fibre compared to Hennings. BIG difference. VS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinnsyk Posted October 24, 2008 Author Share Posted October 24, 2008 I'm coming to Area 2, but I'm already running out of the sights. I had 32 on Tuesday night. Took two for myself and as of this evening I've got 3 left. The machineshop is busy with another project, but I've asked them to get at least 100 sights ready before I leave. As soon as I get them in my hand I can get them coated in flat black in a day or so. The fiber hole is 0.040" exact which means some fiber rods won't fit. I ordered a bunch of fiber from one manufacturer and some of them were 0.042" which don't fit. Of course we could have opened to hole to be more accepting, but I really want the fiber to sit in there good. And once you've melted the ends it's not going anywhere. I make sure mine are melted tight and with a small dot that I'm looking at. Of course, if you want a bigger dot, you can always open the hole to accept a 0.060" fiber. That wouldn't be a problem at all. The idea of a 0.040" on a 0.090" is that the dot is a visual aid, not the main aiming device. You still want to be able to see the black edges for a long distance, precise shot. And at dusk it'll be a huge help when you start having a hard time seeing the light between the front/rear or even seeing your front at all. At Desert Classic they run you from 6:50am until 6pm and if you're at either extreme ends of the day you'll be shooting in very poor light conditions. Then you'll definitely be quicker in picking up the front sight and have a clue what you're shooting at. I can't wait to get to Phoenix and shoot the Classic. It's my favorite match of the year, they always put up something crazy and it's a three day blast. I wrote in the article too, that Brownell's sells a 3-fiber stick kit (green, red, yellow) which are about 5" long each. It's $15 and they are perfectly 0.040" so they slide right into the iFiber. I cut the fibers that come with the sight to approx 0.550" length. This gives just the right amount of fiber of each side so that when you're melting it in place you don't create big blobs. This is how I like it so I wanted to make it easier for everybody by pre-cutting them and if and when you have to replace your fiber it's easy to stick a new fiber in and melt it in place. You could even do it at a match if you needed to. In the article / install instructions I mention how I melt the visual dot first, very carefully and as little as possible. Then on the opposite end I melt the excess fiber and create a strong hold. The iFiber has a 0.050" recessed hole on both ends which gives the melted fiber a pocket to create a nice round dot and also a pocket to create a hold / grab. I put one on my 6" Hunter 10mm and with the long sight radius it still looks good, but of course with more light between the front and rear. I've got two of these Hunter 10mm 6" guns and they are super-cool. One was machined by John Sandlin (Leo's buddy) to become my a 6" Limited gun. The other was done up by Canyon Creek Custom (Rich Dettelhouser) who put a 1911 barrel bushing in the slide to tighten it up for potentially improved precision. He also ported the barrel. The slide was already lightened by John Sandlin ala the Gold Team V8. Right now it's over at Schuemann barrels who is going to make a mount for the Aimpoint Micro. Once I get it back from him I'll have the gun BearCoated in their camo finish and probably take it hunting next year. At least that's the plan. I used to hunt back in Norway, but I've still to take my hunter safety course here in the US. I've always liked blasting a lot of rounds so I've had more fun shooting 1000 rounds in a day at the range than spending a whole day in the woods maybe shooting one. But with these cool pistols I want to take them up in the Rockies and shoot something I can barbeque.. Btw I have to say that I am super happy with all the machining work that John Sandlin has done on all of my guns. He's lightened several of my Limited 40's and they are more works of art than just lightening cuts. Give him some ideas and turn him loose to cook up something cool and it's a treat to get the gun back. Same goes for Rich Dettelhouser at Canyon Creek. It's just fun to take an already nice gun from Tanfoglio and have Rich trick and tune the gun into something that's unique and purposeful. As time and money permits I intend to develop and improve most of the internal parts of the Tanfoglio guns. Eventually it'll more or less only be the frame, slide and barrel left of the original guns. I'm working with spring manufacturers, sight manufacturers, machine shops, heat treaters and coaters of various kinds to eventually have high quality 99% drop-in competition quality parts that you will see, feel and understand makes a difference. I think they should be aesthetically pleasing, highest grade material and finish and make a noticeable difference to your shooting. For me it raises my confidence level when I'm at a match, knowing that the parts will improve my gun and my gun handling / shooting. And it's pretty cool to have a nice looking gun to show off too... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinnsyk Posted October 24, 2008 Author Share Posted October 24, 2008 A quick note on Big Bear's question of making a longer sight in the future... Initially I was going to make the front post stick over the dovetail. It for one turned out after talking to several machine shops to complicate the manufacturing process greatly. Secondly I don't know how much more light you actually will gain by moving the post forward. Ultimately I didn't want to create a sight that felt oversized, ugly and potentially I could catch with my hand when racking the slide (I grab the front, top of the slide when I rack). I hate to use the work compromise, because I don't want to settle for any thing when designing a part, but it felt like the best solution to put the two posts on the opposite far ends while still giving it a rugged support and pleasing look from all angles. I guess I could have radiused the back portion to reduce chances of snagging. I wasn't designing a tactical type sight so I will still be very careful about my sight when handlng the gun. We made it as rugged as we could while giving it the height and length between the posts. If we radiused the back we probably would have had to make the rear post bigger which would give it less exposed fiber = slightly less light. I think the most care has to be made when drawing the gun as the front, visible portion needs to have sharp, square edges for a good sight picture. It can catch on a holster, clothing etc if you don't have your rig set up correctly. I guess you can always smack the sight into a wall / port if you're not careful, but I don't think it hurts to have some of your brain power monitoring how and where your gun is at all times. If you smack your gun through a port, yes you could blow out your front sight if you're wreckless. I've definitely bumped the front of my gun into tight ports, but for the most part I've bumped the gun/slide/frame when I've done so. Fiber sights will always be more prone to damage than a regular black sight so pay attention as best you can. Treasure your sight. It's made with a lot of thought behind it and a lot of care in making each and every sight. My machinist really cares about the parts he makes and he takes extremely good care of his equipment; cleans the coolant, toolheads and tooling often. He never runs parts too fast and always triple checks what he's doing. It doesn't make him the fastest machinist in the world, but I always know I get a good product from him. And when we're running a lot of parts I end up running the machine as well. A fair amount of the magazine pads and grips I've ran. Doesn't mean I do much else than push start/stop and load/unload material, but I've pulled many all nighters and ran parts until 8 in the morning. Even thought the machine will produce a finished part a lot of times, several of the pads, grips and even the sight requires some manual deburring, polishing and careful inspection. All the parts I make are 100% made in the US and most of the made in the Colorado Rockies ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPang Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 The new front sights seems higher than the stock ones. My rear sights are adjusted high already with the stock iron sights and using the H-520 pads just barely fitting the IPSC box with the sights depressed. Is there anyway getting the new sights lower? maybe a mm lower than the stock iron sights. More lower like this on the pic I edited. Notice the step removed? It would be better (for me) without the step. Original: I understand that you will see a bit of the slide if it is lower but I rather have that than increase the height of my rear sights even higher. I am really interested on having that sight but it won't work for me at the moment. Any chance of getting it lowered in the future? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobobooie Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Mine just came in the mail. Very, very nice indeed. The handwritten note of thanks from Emma was a class act touch!!!! I want to have my slide cut on a bit, and when that is finished will have it Ion Bonded. I will serrate the face of this new front sight (personal pref) and have it done as well. It looks awesome as is though. Very high quality product. I keep thinking of the chisel cuts on the fiber optic rod and poor Emma slaving away and I almost want to return the cut pieces and do my own from the stock I already have. She deserves a pay raise!!!!! Thanks Henning and Emma. Good job folks!! A satisfied customer, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinnsyk Posted October 24, 2008 Author Share Posted October 24, 2008 Joseph, The height of the sight shouldn't be a problem. The new sight is only 0.015" taller than the factory of 0.150". When I push my gun into the IPSC box I SQUEEZE the rear sight hard. I can get the gun into the box with both H-520 and H-550 pads. Are you sure the box is correct size? Remember... SQUEEZE both the rear sight and the pad. I have a box that measures 149.50mm and it'll fit the H-520. Tight, but doable. When I went to the Europeans 2007 and Czech Euro this year, both the H-520 and H-550 went in. I can make a smaller sight, but that will severely reduce the visual input you need to shoot fast and accurate. I debated making the sight 0.175", but decided that 0.165" would give it enough extra height to avoid seeing so much of the slide and still not get too tall.The "Stock" has a 0.125" tall sight or something like that. To me that isn't tall enough. I'll shoot the sight in the upcoming Desert Classic where of course none of this will be an issue. I will also shoot it at an IPSC match... the New Zealand Nationals. It'll be interesting to see what they're doing in their part of the world. I will bring a dial caliper and measure their IPSC BOX. I've also always wondered if you can question the IPSC box if it's too small. Rules say 150mm + 1 mm (-0mm). So I guess it means the box could be anywhere from 150 - 151mm. The two boxes I've seen lately at the Europeans and Czech Euro must have been way bigger than 151mm because my gun dropped in and rattled inside the box.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinnsyk Posted October 24, 2008 Author Share Posted October 24, 2008 Hey Paul Glad you liked the sight. Yes, I slave Emma all the time and she complains about me being too tough... he he. But she bitches about me being dis-organized and horrible all the time too, so it's all good ;-D Weekend is here and time for a beer.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sean.McCanne Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I got the parts today, including my new fiber sight. Installed and burned in, it looks great. I may have a problem because I think the rear sight may not adjust low enough. I'll have to run some rounds through it to see. Love the new toys, thanks for a quality product. I'll report on it tomorrow. Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinnsyk Posted October 25, 2008 Author Share Posted October 25, 2008 Sean Adjusting low would never be a problem. Taller sights require the rear to move up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now