Hi guys – remember the butchering I was going through:

http://forums.accuratereloadin...=757103337#757103337

Well - I just hope that enough is enough...:



After long heavy brainstorming I’ve pulled the plug and visited a retired gunsmith in vicinity, just to talk about ghost sights. As a surprise, old man smiled when I asked him if he has ever heard about, or even made a ghost ring sights. He slowly went to his chambers to be back in a minute with his old cape gun. He handed it to me and behold – there were nice ghost ring sights sitting there – staring at me. Cape gun was his exam work when he finished a gunsmith school in Ferlach some 50 years ago. To cut a long story short – in a couple of weeks my Merkel was there and the long wait began...oh - he took some time and I just let him do his job – finally, after 2 ½ months, I received a call that my Merkel is finished. I just couldn’t wait to get it in my hands and give it a try at the range...and right now my smile is just as Robert Duvall’s from the end of that clip...



Custom made 1mm front bead – horizontally adjusted



Custom made 2mm ghost sight – vertically adjusted - 1 turn is 2.5cm aka 1” at 100m



Former rear sight filling



4xR-L, RWS factory 293 TUG’s at 100m (pretty scary – I don’t remember shooting in that manner - even with a scoped rifle for some time!)

Many thanks to Ganyana and Philip A. ...

Great post!

Holy Shit! That is impressive!
Peter.

Perfect, Mouse. Just dead solid perfect. Jeff Cooper is grinning from beyond the grave.

Great shooting
Bill

thanks guys - to lit some background for those interested in aperture sights, here are some things worth look at.

- Theory from Lyman:

http://www.lymanproducts.com/l...f/LyC_Sight_Tang.pdf

- Parallax suppresion with a target rifle aperture sight by A. Kerr - interesting stuff that explains a lot:

http://dougkerr.net/Pumpkin/ar...rture_Sight_Demo.pdf

- How things work out in praxis - I found it somewhere on the net but forgot where and who wrote it, but it is as it says:

"Step 1
Look through your peep sight at a bright wall or the sky (on a non-cloudy day). Do NOT allow the front sight to come into view. Do you see the small "fuzzy" in the middle of the rear sight? Some people see it as a blur, others see a gray or a blue-gray object. This "fuzzy" is the OPTICAL CENTER of your rear sight.

Step 2
Add the front sight to your view. Notice how your eye automatically put the tip of the front sight into the middle of the "fuzzy"? Your eye likes having things lined up (the optical center of the rear sight is now aligned with the front sight).

Step 3
Let's add a target into your sight picture. Again, you'll notice that your eye has automatically put the target into the optical center of the rear sight and at the tip of the front sight. By now your eye is getting tired. Do you see a squiggly, worm-like object in the sight picture? (Usually crosses your vision diagonally) The surface of your eye is starved for oxygen and you are watching a blood corpuscle go across the cornea of your eye. Relax, blink your eyes, and look at something else for a few seconds ... give your eyes a brief rest.

Step 4
As you may have noticed briefly at step # 3, your eye was going berserk trying to focus on the target, the front sight, and the rear sight all at the same time. You can't do it ... it's physically impossible for your eye to focus on three different objects at three different distances at the same time. Since the front sight determines where the bullet goes, focus on the front sight (fine tune it like your TV set so the front sight is sharp and clear). The target will get a little fuzzy and you will hardly see the rear sight for the blur (this is OK because it means you have focused on the front sight). Congratulations, you now have a perfect sight picture, using peep sights!

Shooting is a skill of consistency. IF you do everything the same way, every time you fire a shot ... you'll hit the bull's-eye every time (in theory at least). One more time, real quick on the four steps:
1 Find the blur
2 Put the front sight in the middle of the blur
3 Put the target at the tip of the front sight
4 FOCUS on the front sight"

- Koos Barnard's article in African expedition magazine on using them in the field:

http://africanxmag.com/ghost_rings.htm

Is that 2- 4 shot groups with a sight adjustment in between. If so that is very fine shooting, how far?

JD

Hello,

Like JD I have a question about the groups.
Is that a left barrel 4 shot group and a right barrel 4 shot group or two seperate 4 shot ( 2 left and 2 right ) groups with an adjustment of the front sight in between ?

Either way good shooting !

Nitro

Just 4 times right-left without adjustments - will explain.

When picking a bead there were some compromises to be made. For target shooting only, it is hard to beat a fine pitch black mate post - however it is almost useless for hunting.
When we decided on finest bead we agreed on silver/white one - eish this guy knows what he is doing - the more I look at his work the more I am stunned. Not only that the bead is filed (as it should be) - if you look with magnifying glass it is also concave...so if you have light coming from above or from behind, the bead shines in the center like a morning Venus - brightest cold white imagined. Side effect of this is that bead, under brighter light looks bigger...and that is what happened - weather was changing and on occasions sun made it through the clouds. So the lower hits were made when the sun was shining (bead looked bigger so the aim was lower since I was using 6 o'clock aim) - wouldnt matter much if I'd aim for the center I guess.
Still gunsmith refused to tell me what coating is there on the bead - looks like nickel...don't know.

P.S. Another look from behind - more surpsrises - although tiny, bead is designed very solid (no fear of bending or even breaking) + look at the shape of the pedestal - when looking through aperture, the shape resumes the lover part of the ghost ring - making the aim even faster and firmer...

mouse,
I really like that front sight.
You would have to work hard to damage it.

yet another ghost...busted this morning

Is the bead plated or is it brazed on ? What are the dimensions ? I prefer a 3mm square post and a 4.5mm opening.
Obviously yours works for you but now you won't have excuses for missing !

It is 1mm dia. bead and I believe it is plated - see for yourself:

...and a look through:

Got this fella yesterday - came to a call - shot at 60m quartering:

Very nice ghost ring setup.

Nicely done!

Thanks guys. To put it mildly - I am sold on those.

First I had second thoughts on aligning them properly very fast, it is hard to knock out the alignment phase of classic open sights - automaticaly you look for afirmation that sights are indeed aligned before releasing the shot. So in the meantime I had my gunsmith make me an exact replica of sights you see above on my .22lr Brno. Now I am app. 500 .22 lr rounds wiser all I can say is I am further impressed - it is so simple, fast and accurate, that it just looks too good to be true...

Incredible - once you get the appropriate hold imbedded in your memory - all you have to do is trust, that wherever that bead is the bullet will go - point - bang - flop...

Sorry to behave like a kid - but I am realy happy

Ghost rings are much more accurate than an "open" rear sight down on the barrel. I don't care for them myself but am delighted that it has given you such great results.

Well thanks a-lot - where were you 3 years ago?

J.K. - well, since "Once you've been amongst them, there is no such thing as too much gun" I was left with but a few options - 450+ class is just beyond atm and I am still waiting for an experience of a face-shot ele giving up upon recieving Taylor's formula - I am not yankin your chain - in a wicked way I am kinda expecting IT to happen sooner or later - btw a true believers are born that way...and those are the only ones that matters anyway...so all in all it is just an investment in squeeezing some juice from a puny 9,3 to give it most needed crutches under certain situations...you know...

And again - from this morning - I learn to live this setup:

Mouse,

Really nice gun and I love the sights. Debating mentally if I would like them on my Merkels.? And hey, great shooting. BTW, you are getting in way too much hunting time. I am envious; I hope the venison is tasty. MS

Mouse, Forgot to add, nice gunsmithing work as well. I love the old timers that can visualize what you want, take a slab of metal, and make it happen. Kudos to you for applying this to your DR.

Aperture sights have the same advantage as F22 on a camera lens. I love them; accuracy is often, as we were here, very impressive, even with older eyes, which benefit from these types of sights.

I can get my doubles to group that good--but only if I tape the target to the muzzles!
Good shooting and nice set up.
Cal

quote:

Originally posted by cal pappas:
I can get my doubles to group that good--but only if I tape the target to the muzzles!
Good shooting and nice set up.
Cal

Yes just wondering where you buy the hollow punches for getting those bullets holes on target, wouldn't mind one in 404.

Nice double and shooting mouse93 and of course great success in the field.

Thanks guys!

quote:

Originally posted by mdstewart:
BTW, you are getting in way too much hunting time. MS

mdstewart - hunting is my life and vice versa - I live through workdays for hunting weekends (wish it would be just the opposite ) and is basicaly (beside my family) all I have - greatest fear I have is that one day I might just get enough of it and quit...hope so not, but one never knows. Geting an open sighted double was one of the medics helping me keep it going...I mean I was realy tired of all the shooting I have done on game with high tech weapons topped with top notch optics - it wasn't fun anymore - just a plain execution.

Thanks Cal - I am sure you could do it with ease, I mean 9,3 is just a mouse's squeek against .600 of yours that you master so well...of course with .600 one doesn't even need that accuracy edge I guess.

If I summerize - It realy took me 3 years, 1K+ rounds down the range over 3 different sight setups to get where I believe I wanted to be from beginning. I have missed out a lot of opportunities - blanked on 2 Zim Buff trips...I am on my way back this year to even the score tho .

Anyway - the biggest obstacles are light conditions and a sight of your eyes - if you have both, those sights can hold out with 4x scope out to 100m I guess. It is interesting that grouping as seen on a target above is the same be it on 20, 45, 60 or 100m - it doesn't get worse nore better, wonder how would it look like over at 200? 2mm apperture is rather small, especially in twilight - it appears as a dark blob that overshades the bead until lighting is sufficient - once there I wouldn't change it for a bigger one no way.

mouse great shooting

Mike

You see?

I do - I've payed a tribute to you guys on my initial post:

quote:

Originally posted by mouse93:
Many thanks to Ganyana and Philip A. ...

And here is a pic that started it all - from a thread "Pictures, for the sake of pictures" - go figure :



and my way :

Nice. I have one of these to try as well.

http://www.skinnersights.com/lo-pro_sight_7.html

[/QUOTE]

Good one, I like it!

Mouse,

Could you furnish more details about the adjustment features of your ghost sight? I am assuming you make windage adjustments with the fore sight, but how do you keep the back sight tight after you back it off a turn to raise the POI?

I am a great believer in aperture sights, after 55 years of using them on plinking rifles, target rifles, militsry rifles and hunting rifles. Three of my four elephants, five of my six Cape buffalo and my rhino all were taken with an aperture sight (Lyman 48) with the insert removed: very much like your 2mm ghost sight.

quote:

Originally posted by xausa:
Mouse,

Could you furnish more details about the adjustment features of your ghost sight? I am assuming you make windage adjustments with the fore sight, but how do you keep the back sight tight after you back it off a turn to raise the POI?

Hi xausa - nice to have you here.

If you look closely you can see there is a tiny hole (between extractors) that goes all the way throught to the back sight (back sight is a long bolt with a flat end) - it holds a tiny allen bolt that keeps the sight tight. If I want to make an adjustment I must unscrew the allen bolt with a hex key first, make an adjustment and then screw the allen back.

I think I would like to fix up my .500 NE Merkel in the same fashion.

Anybody got any recommendations on who would/has do/done it in the US???

My post above has a link to a rear sight that is quite similar and very reasonably priced IMO. I have one that I am going to try.

quote:

Originally posted by Boxhead:
My post above has a link to a rear sight that is quite similar and very reasonably priced IMO. I have one that I am going to try.

Hey Box,

Who is going to install yours???

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:

quote:

Originally posted by Boxhead:
My post above has a link to a rear sight that is quite similar and very reasonably priced IMO. I have one that I am going to try.

Hey Box,

Who is going to install yours???

I am taking my 450-400 and 9.3x74 out tomorrow. Just eye-balling things elevation will work fine. I'll will see if any luck prevails and the windage is on with the fixed front sight. If not, I suspect I will swing buy Tip Burns' place and discuss the matter with him. I need to get over there this Friday to pick up a 7x57 Mauser he is doing a bit of work on. The sight picture is great. I'll post photos tomorrow.

2 more:

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