I'd like to put a fiber optic sight on my No. 1 -- my 'smith is concerned the durability of it. Anyone use a fiber optic sight in Africa -- if a brought along a spare, would it be likely that there would be a gunsmith in Zambia that could put in another?

Craig Boddington mentions the fiber optic sight on hunting rifles in an article in the Safari Magazine that just arrived. He has been impressed with them on rifles. I for one, have a front fiber optic sight on my Ruger .458 Lott and it makes a BIG difference. I purchased two of them for the rifle from NECG. They come in various sizes of bead and I believe that I have the smaller one on the .458 Lott, although I do have the "spare" in the bigger bead. I also have a fiber optic front blade sight on my .470 NE double rifle, that was factory installed after I purchased the double rifle and had hunted with it in Africa for elephant and cape buffalo. Again, it makes a BIG difference. The older you get, the more sense it makes with your aging eyesight. I think Boddington's opinion is the same, for what it's worth to any of you out there. As far as installation goes, I would make sure that a competent gunsmith did the installation before you left and you had worked on sighting it in prior to your Safari. You do not want to do that in Zambia and then wonder about adjustments, etc. while you're over there hunting, IMO.

My last trip to Zimbabwe was 2 years ago and I used a CZ550 416Rigby with a NECG Universal ramp with red fiberoptic. No more trouble to change it than any other sight blade in this ramp. I carried a spare blade in both Red Fibre
and normal metal bead but did not need either. I have never yet in over 50 years broken a front sight on a rifle. Just lucky I guess.

I am surprised these aren't spoken of more by hunters. My eyes aren't what they usta be, but I can sure see the fiber optics sights better than anything else (except a scope.)

Not sure this is what you mean, but it is a fiber optic type sight. It's a Trijicon. It's a red dot that gathers light by a grid on the front, no batteries. I love it. My old eyes can't shoot open sights anymore. I use this one for moose and bears in heavy brush in Alaska. You have to learn to shoot with both eyes open. Left eye follows the game and right eye follows the dot. It's the fastest sight I've ever seen. You might want to take a look at one.

Here is what we are talking about. This slips in in the place of the front sight as found on the Ruger rifles. Instead of a brass bead you have a bright fiber optic red bead. Or, you can put an ivory bead in place of the regular brass bead on the front sight. I always recommend using a gunsmith to do it, but you could do it yourself if you wanted to attempt it.

i made a set to fit my double 470 so i could see the sights again. i used a green in the front sight and orange in the rear so that you just set the green dot on top of the orange one and touch it off. they have survived a couple or three trips just fine.

I had one on a CZ 550 in 375h&h that really helped me see in the dim light. It was made by CZ america and I ordered it directly from them. Some how the fiber optic worked loose and I lost the glow rod (or what ever it's called). I haven't tried the ones from NECG but probably will because I really liked the bead.

I had a trjicon reflex on my lever action -- I switched to a bushnell trophy sight because it has a german #1 recticle -- the dot on my trijicon was so big that I couldn't use it over 80 yds. I've been tempted to put on my No. 1, but it pulls up so well with iron sights, that I don't want to mess with putting pads on the comb, etc.

I've got them on my .375H&H, red on the front bead, and green in the rear leaf. I did it at first as a lark, something different, but after using them, I wouldn't go back. Here in Colorado, in the pine, they work great, also.

Splash a little Gun Scrubber degreaser on them accidentally and they will melt like the Wicked Witch of the West getting a bucket of water from Dorothy. Just FWIW.

Thanks for the warning. I don't typically make it a point to clean any non-metal gun parts and sights with gun solvents, etc. just to be safe and that is a good thing to know.

I didn't mean to do it either, just like I didn't mean to splash it in my eye that other time. Garden hose to the eye took care of that stinger, luckily only a drop that somehow got around my glasses.

Damn Rip that had to hurt.Hope it wasn't your shooting eye.

Sounds like spitting cobra venom.

quote:

Originally posted by Pathfinder:
Damn Rip that had to hurt.Hope it wasn't your shooting eye.

Yep, it was my shooting eye, but it escaped permanent damage. Still 20/10 with my shootin' spectacles.

I knew a gunsmith wannabe in Alaska who splashed hot bluing solution in his eye, caustic pH equivalent to lye. That eye was blinded. he did not seek medical attention immediately. I referred him urgently to an ophthalmologist the day after it happened, when he finally decided to seek attention, too late. Tough guy.

Thanks for the warning about gun scrubber, any idea if milder stuff, say Hoppes, eezox, or CLP will affect them? That's pretty much all I ever use... It might be the brand of sight you were using -- that sounds like it was actually a plastic sight, not a fiber optic (glass) one -- probably far tought to break the plastic one though.