Folks,

I've been shooting National Match Competion for a bit and wonder about the purpose of the "ears" on military front sights. I see them on ARs and on M1As. I realize that they are there to protect the front sight in battlefield conditions. However, not having been in the military, I wonder if these ears serve any other purpose as well, say, range estimation or such. Is there a reason for their shape? If anyone out there could provide any futher information, I would appreciate it.

thanks,
hbennett

You guessed right - protection of the fragile front post sight. Secondary, it helps to a degree to shield light from the sides. After WWI, most nations decided the front blade needed some protection against being banged around. Same with the "ears" on the rear receiver sights of the M1 and such.

Gents,

I also use these to make sure that the rifle is not canted, and verify my cheek weld. I don't put my nose on the charging handle, which is kind of an age old (bad) military habit, so if both wings on the front sight "touch" the edge of the peep sight, at 11 and 1 o'clock, I can tell that the rifle is plumb.

This becomes real important if a fellow's rifle is shorter, my company gun only carries a 10.5" barrell. Short barrelled guns are harder to be precise with, and every little bit helps.

Works for me.

Steve

The idea of using the front sight to estimate range is an old one and influences the specifications for most military rifles. The technique used to be taught many years ago but went by the wayside with the all volunteer Army. The technique works with any rifle. Using this technique the sight post coverage at 100 yards can be worked out in advance and used in the field.


First find the distance from your eye to the front sight....for example 30 inches. Then multiply the distance times the constant for a Minute of Angle..or .0003(see below note) Now divide the width of the front sight by the product..in this case .009 (30 x .0003 = .009). The answer is the area in inches that the front sight is covering at 100 yards. The effect is linear so double the value for 200 yards.

[For any range a minute of angle equals 6.2832 times the range divided by 21,600 or .000291]