Vernier Tang Sight - Advice Required

[Andrewm28]

Hi All,

Just bought my first 45-70, a slightly used Chiappa 1874 Creedmore. Its not a Shiloh or Pedersoli but I like the gun (just the sight is a pain at this moment).

It was shipped to me with the sight leaf spring taken out. So while installing the leaf spring back on, I noticed two things, The first one is that the sight can only fold forward which will make cleaning the between shots (group of shots) impossible from the breech end. The 2nd thing is after playing with the sight, the vertical position does that hold and I have to re-adjust the leaf spring again.

Did I install this simple thing wrong? I have read some posts that some sights are only front folding which is a bad design for a "competition" gun. Don't they clean their bores after a few shots?

Thanks looking forward to some advice from you veteran shooters.

[KCSO]

They are not very repeatable either and the graduations are not up to snuuf. More for looks than use imho.

[Andrewm28]

This is suppose to be a Creedmore Limited Edition rifle and they put a "show" sight on it ?

Guess I will be buying a replacement sight

[KCSO]

Why do you think MVA sights cost as much as a rifle? First off the Chiappa is a good enough rifle for hunting but is no long range wonder the barrels are not as good as the Pedersoli and not up to Badger or Shilo Sharps standards.

The sights are just not well enough made to be used for serious competition. If you sight in for say 300 yards and don't have to adjust them and don't mind muzzle cleaning with a guide they will work but as for actual competition where you will have to move by minutes and repeat with precision they are just not good enough. Worst still are the sights with rocker windage adjustments. A lot of the Itie stuff is made for looks or for casual plinking, hence the price difference. Pedratti, Chiappa, Pedersoli, C Sharps and Shilo all are one step or more up the ladder. The differences will also be found in the locks and the internals with the cheaper gun being made with soft internal parts and rough locks.

[Andrewm28]

I knew the Chiappa won't stand up to the Pedersoli, let alone C Sharps or Shilo when I made the decision to buy it. I just didn't expect the sight to fold forward.

I wanted to try BP and this was my first 45-70. The price was right and there weren't any used Pedersoli (or reasonably priced) available currently. I won't be using it past 100 yards due to poor eyes.

Is there a replacement sight you can recommend ?

Thanks

[country gent]

I use the MVA soule long range sights with good results. If you replace the sight also replace the base so it matches the new sight. Lee SHavers are getting good reviews also. If yu arnt planning on past 100 yds the shorter shortrange ladder soule will get you to around 300 yds and be cheaper. Depending on what you want a standad sight might work okay and the addition of a Hadley eye cup for adjustable appetures is a plus

[Lowpower]

Bores...you can make a blow tube out of a .45-70 case and plastic hose. This will cut down on swabbing the barrel every shot although I tend to anyway.
Verniers...normally there's a slot cut into the bottom of the sight which allows you to reset it after each shot. I wear a hat when I shot and it always pushes the sight forward. You reset it back into its tang and shoot again.
The sight vertical rails need to be 90 degrees to the barrel.
I use the Hadley eye cup as you can adjust it to the light conditions in which you're shooting.
If your sight is not adjustable for windage you can purchase a front, windage adjustable globe sight with inserts. Combine circles within circles and its like looking down a scope at your target. When done correctly the target comes into perfect focus. Beware light conditions can also cause the target to disappear.
Should you decide to purchase another brand of Vernier Sights you should keep your original set and put them back on the rifle if you decide to sell it.

[indian joe]

Why do you think MVA sights cost as much as a rifle? First off the Chiappa is a good enough rifle for hunting but is no long range wonder the barrels are not as good as the Pedersoli and not up to Badger or Shilo Sharps standards.

The sights are just not well enough made to be used for serious competition. If you sight in for say 300 yards and don't have to adjust them and don't mind muzzle cleaning with a guide they will work but as for actual competition where you will have to move by minutes and repeat with precision they are just not good enough. Worst still are the sights with rocker windage adjustments. A lot of the Itie stuff is made for looks or for casual plinking, hence the price difference. Pedratti, Chiappa, Pedersoli, C Sharps and Shilo all are one step or more up the ladder. The differences will also be found in the locks and the internals with the cheaper gun being made with soft internal parts and rough locks.

I have wanted to query this for ages - yeah I have seen the better sights and appreciate the quality of MVA etc - no argument about that - but the adjustment thing ??
Had a cheap Pedersoli on my sharps for ages. The lead screw is a fine metric thread (Would need to check my book but something like 46TPI) All I did was file a big notch on the screw head to indicate a full turn and three others for quarter turn - with a measurement from front to back sight, a bit of figuring, each complete turn of the lead screw is 2.3 Minute of angle - quite repeatable - with my present load it is 26 turns neat from 100yard zero to 500yard zero. I have made that adjustment numerous times and it sticks. So I have a 100yard zero mark on my cheapo sight staff and I just do the rest by counting turns of the lead screw from that zero mark - its easy and it is repeatable - if you get lost half way its easy to go back and start over.

I think these cheaper sights get canned excessively because of the difficulty trying to use the staff graduation marks for adjustment - agree 100% about the rocker adjusted sights - dumb idea!

The problem here is we still dont have windage - but for hunting ranges - say to 300yards, should be able to make a cheap ladder peep sight work.

Later I made a soule style sight for my Uberti 76 .... 40 TPI elevation screw gives 2.5 MOA per turn, 32TPI Windage screw gives 3.2MOA per turn (the windage adjustment screw is too coarse but it works if you careful)