Hi all,

Im having a single shot 450/400 made for me and am deciding on the front sight options. Is a folding hood a practical addition, or just a "nice to have" feature? I have never used a sighting system with a hood attached so have nothing to base my query on, but it would seem to help reduce glare in sunny conditions (I live in South Africa).

Any pros or cons? Thanks!

I prefer not having anything over my front sight as it blocks the light from reaching and reflecting off the bead.

It will help protect that front sight blade from damage & can be folded out of the way easily enough when need be.

My experience with hoods is that they add no advantage in sighting. The hoods have a tendency to fall off and many will rattle until they do. When I had my 300H&H built I requested a muzzle without a hood and specified that I did not even want the front sight ramp grooved for a hood. Hoods don't look bad but I don't like the look of a grooved front ramp once the hood is gone, as inevitably happens. An argument can be made that a hood might protect the front sight from damage if the rifle were to fall and bang the sight against a rock. That is unlikely but my rifle has an extra front sight blade under the grip cap in case that ever happens.

That said, a hinged hood that folds up or down with the press of a button won't become lost. The best folding design is the H&H.


I have seen many poorly made folding hoods that would either fail to move or fail to lock up for no reason other than poor design and/or workmanship. I have also seen some very well made folding hoods but even the best mechanisms must be properly maintained or things like broken springs or push-buttons frozen by rust will result.

Some shooters think folding hoods have a classic look and I must agree. But I prefer things simple and generally avoid these gimcracks.

The hood is NOT intended as an aid to sighting, it's strictly for protection of the bead and should be folded/removed when entering game country.

Any unprotected bead or narrow blade on an iron-sight-only rifle is by far the most vulnerable part of the whole ensemble, and is GUARANTEED to suffer damage if hunted hard or handled by unskilled hands. If you hunt very much at all and don't keep your rifle in a case at all times then you WILL suffer a bent or broken front sight sooner or later.

Yes, I have spare quick-change folding beads (actually much sturdier BLADES) inside my trap-door grip caps or under my butt traps, but I also have hoods on all my rifles that might need iron sights in an emergency.

The H&H design as mentioned above is IMO the best. I usually prefer Westley Richards guns and rifles but their folding hood design isn't as good as H&H's.
Regards, Joe

Excellent info, thanks for the responses everyone! I learnt something today without doubt.

I had AHR put an H&H style folding hood and flip-up night sight on a rifle he upgraded for me. I like how it turned out but have not hunted it yet.

I believe Wayne had to fabricate a rear sight blade as the front ended up higher than the rear was designed for.

WR .318

quote:

I prefer this type.
A friend lost some valuable Elephant hunting days on a Safari as he had to find a Gun Smith in Harare to fix a broken sight. A cover my have prevented that.