Smoke those military aperture sights!

[MOC031]

I bought my carbide smoker back about circa 1975 when I was a cop and started shooting PPC for the unlimited ammunition we were issued if we shot competitively. Ah... the old days of the 158 grain round nose trundling out the barrel of a S&W Model 10 at 880 fps. What a manstopper! I started with an old carbide miner's lamp (probably now a valuable antique), but this tiny little smoker took up about as much room as the 35mm film canister that held the water I used with the carbide loaded in the smoker.

Anyways, even with the eyes of a kid back then, it didn't take long to realize how much better you could see the sights after you smoked them with a carbide lamp. Mine is still going strong after 45 years, and I expect it will be there in my estate for somebody to snatch up (if they know what it's for). Still gets use most of the time I go to the range, whether with the A.J. Parker vernier sights on the Long Branch Lee Enfield or any number of different revolvers and auto pistols.

Had been looking for years to find them still for sale somewhere to buy for each of my younger brothers. Anyways, finally found them. If you target shoot with irons, rifle or handgun... you should really consider buying one of these before they disappear again.

If I wasn't about to go out hunting whitetails, I'd take the time for before/after pictures of the vernier sight on my Long Branch to show the difference smoking makes.

http://www.champchoice.com/store/Main.aspx?p=ItemDetailOptions&item=CL20

271791

[higgins]

Back in the late 60s I got into high power competition. Some of the shooters (myself included) smoked sights with a metal 35mm film container (also now an antique I'm sure) that had a tiny hold punched in the lid. We would put a couple of small pieces of carbide in the can, spit in it, screw the lid on, and light with a cigarette lighter or match. Set it aside until it ran out of gas or blow it out. I've used spray sight blackener, but nothing beats carbide smoke.