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A discussion of the 9.5x57 M-S cartridge on the Mannlicher forum wandered off into questions on cocking piece aperture sights. Public demand by Sarg and xausa caused me to open this thread and show photos of some such sights. Such aperture sights mounted on a bolt-action's cocking piece were quite popular in the pre-scope days.
First is the "Rigby Special Aperture Sight" mounted on a 9.3x62. It may be the most classic of such sights, even copied again today, selling for about 500.- Euro in Germany. I bought mine for much less when the Rigby/Roberts shop was still in Covent Garden. IMHO it is, technically, the least desirable of the sights I have. It is mounted into a dovetail cut into the rear end of a long commercial Mauser cocking piece, windage adjustable only by hammer and punch. Elevation is controlled by spring friction on the vertical stem. The adjusting wheel is fastened by a TINY screw. Rigby's used to engrave distance marks on the rim of the wheel, near impossible to see and to adjust properly.

http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af303/kuduae/2010_01180008.jpg

Next is the Lyman No.1 on a 1899 vintage Mannlicher 6.5x53R by G.Gibbs of Bristol. It too is mounted in a dovetailed regular firingpin nut, the firingpin shortened to clear. Again windage adjustment is nil. Up-down movement is controlled by the "nut" on the stem. As only friction keeps this from being moved, Gibbs once blocked the stem with a tiny set screw after sighting in. I did never need any readjustment, as the rifle is still dead-on with 160gr bullets at 100m, even after 110 years!

http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af303/kuduae/2010_01180010.jpg

This is the Parker-Hale "Sportarget", this one mounted on a G.Gibbs (again) M1903 Mannlicher-Schoenauer 6.5x54 dated 1905. It's base is brazed/silver-soldered to the M-S firing pin nut. You are looking at a coin-slotted disk on the right side of the base that provides some windage adjustment. Elevation is again controlled by the nut around the stem, fitted with a left-hand thread, so "right" is "up". Both adjustments are arrested by clicks, giving about 1"/100Yards. To me the "Sportarget" is the most versatile of the cocking-piece sights I know, even if it is a little bit more bulky than the others. Sorry, but it is out of print now for quite some time, near impossible to find without a pretty expensive rifle underneath.

http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af303/kuduae/2010_01180014.jpg

At gunshows or in country gunshops in Britain you may sometimes find another Parker-Hale sight, the P-H No.16. This one was usually screwed to the round receivers of early .22 target rifles. Whenever I see such a sight I buy it, as I convert them into my "Ersatz Sportargets".

http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af303/kuduae/2010_01180013.jpg

Several times now I have disassembled these, watch out for the tiny detent balls, springs and washers! Then I attack the base with hacksaw and files, remove lots of the metal to reshape them. I fit them to both Mannlicher or Mauser nuts, clamp them and braze them in place. Here is an example on a commercial Mauser B 9.3x62.

http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af303/kuduae/2010_01180012.jpg

http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af303/kuduae/2010_01180011.jpg

My Ersatz Sportargets may not be beautiful, being even wider than the original. And, you have to turn the former elevation, now windage knob left to make the rifle shoot right. But, IMHO they are better than having no Sportarget at all.

Edited by CptCurl to display photos

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Edited by CptCurl (19/01/10 10:40 AM)