what tang sight for trapdoor

[saturn]

I have an 1884 trapdoor. My eyes are at the point that the fine sights can no longer be seen clearly. I would like to mount a vernier tang sight but can't find much info on what would work. Track Of The Wolf has a number of creedmore sights that look like they might work but don't mention anything about fitting a trapdoor in the description. If anyone has any experience with this type or project I would appreciate anything you could offer. I don't need a 300$ sight. This is a parts gun but a good shooter.

[varsity07840]

I have an 1884 trapdoor. My eyes are at the point that the fine sights can no longer be seen clearly. I would like to mount a vernier tang sight but can't find much info on what would work. Track Of The Wolf has a number of creedmore sights that look like they might work but don't mention anything about fitting a trapdoor in the description. If anyone has any experience with this type or project I would appreciate anything you could offer. I don't need a 300$ sight. This is a parts gun but a good shooter.

I was in the same boat with my 1888 TD but I didn't like the idea of mounting the sight on the wrist of the stock. I now have a Williams radius bottom receiver sight mounted just ahead of the breech. I used Loctite Black Max to secure it. No holes drilled. A sharp whack with a lite hammer will knock it off and the glue comes off with a little heat and some acetone. The sight costs around $30.00. I now have the same sight on my Sharps carbine, 1868 TD and 1871 Rolling Block. All originals and no butchering for the sight.

[tdoor4570]

Do you have the Williams number for that sight and where did you get it ?

[varsity07840]

Do you have the Williams number for that sight and where did you get it ?

WGRS-BAR. I got mine from Midway, but other vendors have them, too.

[Carrier]

There is a guy Ernest Brandt at https://www.trapdoorcollector.com//index.html that makes a small rail that mounts to the rear sight holes that a red dot can be mounted to. I was going to get one but he can’t ship it to Canada.
I know many would consider this blasphemy but with my old eyes it would be a blessing as I have to use optics on everything now. Trying to see the sights on my 1873 is almost impossible.

[varsity07840]

I forgot to mention that I leave the aperture out to make it a ghost ring.

[saturn]

Thanks a bunch for the info.
Varsity, did you have to add height to your front sight to get the WGRS-BAR to shoot somewhere close to original sights?

[Carrier]

I checked a few online places that will ship up here and that sight seems to be out of stock.

[varsity07840]

Thanks a bunch for the info.
Varsity, did you have to add height to your front sight to get the WGRS-BAR to shoot somewhere close to original sights?

Yes. It's 7/16" high.

[bigted]

There is a guy Ernest Brandt at https://www.trapdoorcollector.com//index.html that makes a small rail that mounts to the rear sight holes that a red dot can be mounted to. I was going to get one but he can’t ship it to Canada.
I know many would consider this blasphemy but with my old eyes it would be a blessing as I have to use optics on everything now. Trying to see the sights on my 1873 is almost impossible.

Oh my ... that featured trapdoor is VERY COOL! Id love to have a trapper like that. Might need to begin gathering parts for a build. Thanks for sharing that.

[Carrier]

I have gotten so much information and help from Trapdoorcollectors forum and especially from Al Frasca. Have bought original parts and tools for my Trapdoor from Al that are the real deal. There is a ton of information on that site for the Trapdoor.

[saturn]

Yes. It's 7/16" high.

Thank you sir. If I go that route I guess I'll have to make a new one.

[Deadeye Bly]

Here is a tang sight I recently installed on a trapdoor sporter. It is a Sharps Soule type sight. I made a steel tang extension that went under the original tang and the tang screw holds then both in place. I used a rear screw on the extension. You can remove the barrelled action and leave the tang extension in place.

[varsity07840]

Williams sight on my TD. I have no idea why it's upside down.

[varsity07840]

My ultimate Trapdoor.

[Carrier]

I was in the same boat with my 1888 TD but I didn't like the idea of mounting the sight on the wrist of the stock. I now have a Williams radius bottom receiver sight mounted just ahead of the breech. I used Loctite Black Max to secure it. No holes drilled. A sharp whack with a lite hammer will knock it off and the glue comes off with a little heat and some acetone. The sight costs around $30.00. I now have the same sight on my Sharps carbine, 1868 TD and 1871 Rolling Block. All originals and no butchering for the sight.

Does that adhesive you using hurt the bluing at all? My Trapdoor has perfect bluing on 80% on the barrel and I would sure be pissed if it hurt it at all as I would like to try what you did.

[varsity07840]

Does that adhesive you using hurt the bluing at all? My Trapdoor has perfect bluing on 80% on the barrel and I would sure be pissed if it hurt it at all as I would like to try what you did.

My '88's barrel has turned brown and spotty in some areas. Very easy to touch up with cold brown. Two of the others are in the white. The Sharps was a victim of a poor rebluing job. I stripped it off and refinished it to an antique faded blue. On a perfect blue, I'd use hot melt glue which has also worked for me. It peels right off. None of the rifles I mentioned are anywhere near collector grade, but I draw the line at drilling holes in the wood or metal where they don't belong. Make sure with any method that the spot on the barrel and the sight base is degreased.

[M-Tecs]

The H&R Officer Model reproductions used a cheap copy of originals. Some pics here

https://www.bing.com/images/search?q...ight&FORM=IGRE

They were not what I consider a quality sight for other than sighting in at one distance and windage.

https://www.assra.com/cgi-bin/yabb/Y...num=1459577958

We talked about year ago at my table at the gun show.

[saturn]

The sight I considered from Track of the Wolf is the RS-creed-3-WE. After looking at the pictures M-Tecs posted I think it would work. Any thoughts on that?

[John in PA]

The biggest issue with mounting a tang sight on a trapdoor is the very minimal drop from the boreline to the wrist compared to , say, a sharps, Ballard, Stevens, or Winchester high wall. You need a tang sight that allows the peep to be lowered down far enough so that you can see the original rear sight picture through the peep. Otherwise, you end up having to put a very high front sight on as well to get sight line approximately parallel to bore, unless all your shooting is going to be done at very long range. A Soule is a beautiful sight, but will raise the peep way above boreline on a trapdoor. You may have to consider something like the Dr. Goodwin sight, which, though serving the purpose well, costs nearly as much as a nice rifle. https://www.buffaloarms.com/kelley-k...-sight-akelkos Why not just open the peep aperture on you Buffington sight a bit? Should work just fine, and you have the advantage of using the fine graduations and windage feature on that very fine sight, the most sophisticated sight design ever placed on a rifle issued to a common foot soldier