Service rifle sight question.

[Wnick308]

What size front sight post and rear aperture for a service rifle and a newbie shooter?

[highpower790]

What Rifle?M1/M14 front post is .062 and rear sight is either .520 or .595

[Wnick308]

Sorry, AR15

[highpower790]

The AR has a number of different combos for front and rear sight.Go to www.compasslake.com,I use the CLE front and rear sight.Currently a .052 front post and .046 rear ap.

[milotrain]

I used to shoot a .038 rear until I was shooting in dark conditions with the above poster. Now I just leave a .042 in the ring and it covers everything with plenty of parallax suppression.

I really like a .072 front sight, it's just a hair smaller than the buff target backer at 600 yards so it is very easy to see a secondary centering indicator even if the light wipes out the target.

[OpenSightsOnly]

Yep, an .072 sight post is a good bet. Will help you out for standing.

Also, if you wear glasses, get an eye exam and a shooting script that is optimized for the AR15's sight radius.

[fast14riot]

Interesting, I'm building a NM Service Rifle AR right now as well, I took John Holligers advice and went with .062" front post and bought the 3 aperture kit for the rear. I figure I'll shoot the .062" post for a few months and it's only $10 for a new one.

-X

[milotrain]

Ideally here is what you do:

You go to the 100 yard reduced range with a pile of SR1s or MR1s. You setup the rifle with a known ammo and you shoot a 10 shot string (in prone) for each post you own and each aperture you own. You then look at the targets to see which group was best, that's the post and aperture you use 90% of the time. If the light goes up or down you swap apertures but you leave the post alone.

To reduce the round count of this test I would shoot all the posts you have with a .042 aperture, pick the best then shoot all the apertures you have. If you only have one post, then shoot all the apertures you have and see which is best for you.

White Oak's apertures are good, but they are known to be a little off center, likewise their posts are good but vary in height. For this reason if you switch one or the other you need to have good dope for the new aperture or post, or you will find that your POI has changed. Additionally with a white oak aperture you want a paint mark on the hood and leaf so that you know the aperture is screwed in tight, if it is loose your shots will be all over the place. Compass Lake Engineering makes all their posts and apertures in batches so the posts are the same height and the apertures are very close to the same.

This should help

http://www.beingofservicerifle.com/rifle-sight-marking/

[Wnick308]

So, I have a WOA upper coming with a .072 post and the 3 apertures. I'll order some targets and a .062, is there anything else I'll need?

[Wnick308]

Thanks for the help Milotrain!

[milotrain]

Some people shoot a .052 front post, but I'd stick with what you have. You'll get a good idea of what you like with the two different posts, if you find that you like the .062 and want a smaller one then order a .052 but you have enough options to waste 60 rounds of ammo in testing

[highpower790]

Use a post that covers the width of the aiming black.Choose a ap that causes the least amount of eye strain.When eyes become fatigued the target will turn gray and fuzzy,then its almost impossible to break a good shot...this will most likely happen in low light conditions,this is the point at which a larger ap is needed.

[micro911]

With my aging eyes, I need to have bigger aperture.

[jarhead714]

We should be paying for this kind of dope in threads such as this.

[OpenSightsOnly]

With my aging eyes, I need to have bigger aperture.

Yep, same here but I'm myopic and astigmatic.

So I need a smaller aperture for down range image clarity for sight alignment purposes.