Help on using tall buck horn sights

[wvmountaineer]

Can someone please explain the correct way to line the front sight up in the rear tall buck horn sight.

 

[armedandsafe]

A true buckhorn setup is best used as a peep. Center the tip of the front sight in the (open top) aperture and drop the front sight onto the target.

The theory was that the open top was to allow you to let the front sight drift up without losing sight of the tip. This supposedly gave you better control of those long range shots.

That's what I was taught about 60 years ago.

Pops

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Ah Ha! A mystery is solved!

At least it's better than what I was told, and makes more sense than the notch in the bottom of buckhorn was for out to 75-100 yards, the top tips were for long range shots, and that one centered the front sight post in the middle of the "circle" formed by the horns in low light or moonlight for defensive use (like a ghost ring on a modern shotgun).

LD

 

[wvmountaineer]

Please excuse the ruff drawing, but is this what you mean?


Dave

 

[Omnivore]

It gives you all those options.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yes, that was what I was told BUT I was a bit of a doubter, as I don't think in low light back then (unless the moon was full = 3 days a month) you'd be able to really use the sights in very low light or at night. Seemed more like conjecture based on modern experience, not actual knowledge.

LD

 

[wvmountaineer]

I don't know about the notch at the bottom being for 75-100 yds. I first tryed that at about 40yds and it hit about two feet low. And it wasn't just once, it was every time at that range.

 

[arcticap]

Try reading the following thread by clicking on each of the responses.
How you use your buckhorn sight depends on the height of the front sight, whether the rear sight has an elevator or not, and how it works for you with experimentation.

http://members.boardhost.com/tmmh/msg/1208273704.html

Is this a new or used rifle and set of sights?
Are they a matched pair of sights, was one sight replaced or could there have been a previous filing adjustment made to one of them?
In the diagram, your rear notch looks to be quite low & shallow to be used for anything except centering the front blade.
One of my BP rifles has a large semi-buckhorn with a deep square notch, along with an adjustable elevator for a more conventional open sight alignment with the front blade at normal distances. The semi-buckhorn comes into use for shooting at moving game or distant targets farther away than what it has initially been sighted in for.
I guess those are some of the main differences between having an adjustable semi-buckhorn and a fixed full buckhorn rear sight with different style notches and horns.

 

[wvmountaineer]

These sights are on a brand new Pedersoli frontier long gun 50 cal flintlock. The rear sight is non adjustable, windage nor elevation. thier suspose to be correct sights to the time period of the rifle,so says Pedersoli Co. Sights installed by them at factory.