Am I the only one who does this?

Whenever I get a new lever action gun the first thing I do is to get a file and convert the bead front sight to a straight post and then convert the rear 'V' sight into a flat topped, straight groove, patridge type sight. For my old eyes it sure makes it easier to consistently hold the same sight pattern shot after shot as the alignment is clearly 'either/or' and not a matter of degrees as when trying to align a ball in the 'V'.

Well your "old" eyes are sure correct in what they perceive. I like em too, on pistols and revolvers if I'm wearing the correct prescription lenses. We call them target sights. I've always been led to believe that a Patridge site was a specific type of FRONT sight designed by a fella named Patridge. Yes the profile as seen by the shooter is a square cut post but it has an insert in the top rear corner, usually brass(gold). There also a lot tuffer than most bead sights. But I cant see either one while trying to see the rear sight and the target. So, the first thing I do is tear off the middle open sight and install a receiver or tang peep sight. Now I've got something to shoot with. So you see, you've got more changes ahead of you. I wish you lots of luck with that, hope you can put it off for years. In the mean time ,keep shooting and have fun. Pepe Ray

I'm about to do the same thing with a couple of rifles, I think. See my thread about open sights in the Rifles forum and feel free to jump right in....

I have a hunch that a square front and rear sight is a Patridge and a square front with a gold insert is a Sourdough Patridge, as made by Redfield. My old gunsmith had a selection of them and I wish I had picked up a half dozen of them, but $20 had to go a long way 40 years ago.

Bye
Jack

The Sourdough is the ticket for front sights. Pick up light well in woods, even show up in moonlight in the open. Redfield quit making them years ago, but they can still be found at gun shows. They can be found for as little as $10, but still worth the money even when priced as collectible. Burris made some Sourdoughs a while ago, but they quit also. The Burris were cast, it's possible to break them, but still a good sight if you can't find Redfields.

I believe the front sight in square shape is the "Patridge" style, though the "Sourdough" is the common name for the square shape rifle sight with a brass or gold angled face.

The patridge is a favorite of mine as well, I went a step farther on a marlin 39a I bought in a tag sale, the rear sight was broken, and I looked in the dungeon, my throw it in there I might need it someday drawer. Lo and behold there sat a set of primative muzzle loader sights ready to be mounted and filed in. I filed them in at 65yds and from 25 to 65 there seems to be very little difference in aim pt. The sourdough should easy to make with a patridge and some braze or silver solder.

You've received a lot of good information on your post but here's a couple items that I've found to really help when it comes to "Old Eyes".

The use of a tang peep sight such as the Lyman #2 or better still the Marble Tang Sight (more expensive but it has windage adjustment) can make a world of difference. In stead of having to try and focus on the rear sight, front sight, and still see the target, the eye only needs focus on the front sight and target. With regular iron sights the eye must constantly adjustfrom the sights to the target and back to the sights and this gets harder to do as the eyes get older.

Another trick if you wear glasses (prescription or shooting) is to attach a small piece of metal (tin or whatever) with a small hole in it to the frame of your glasses for your shooting eye. This piece of metal does not have to be very big and when set properly does not cut off much of your normal view. The small hole does cause your eye to focus better on the sights and target.

Just some additional thoughts that may be of help.

Bill