Wooly Mammoth Front Sight for SAA Revolver(s)

[daleraby]

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This is a front sight "bead" of sorts that I fashioned from a tiny piece of wooly mammoth ivory. It is fitted to the front sight of a Standard Manufacturing Sherrif's Model. The gun is a "working" gun, actually the one I carry with me most of the time if I am carrying a gun, so the nicks and scratches are just how things roll. She ain't a safe queen.

With my old eyes, SAA sights especially, are difficult to pick up some days. Colored inserts and/or glow-in-the-dark sights do help, but they don't lend themselves well to the SAA type guns. I recently tried gluing a tiny ivory bead to the existing sight on one of my Ruger Blackhawks and found it quite an improvement.

There are a lot of tricks to working with ivory, not the least of which is that cyanocrylate (Super Glue) is the product recommended for sealing the ivory when you are finished shaping it. I found that with things this small, it is also probably the best substance to glue it into place.

Also, unless you are a jeweler, and maybe even if you ARE a jeweler, it is best to place the ivory piece you are working with before final shaping.

Now, mammoth ivory is quite legal to trade in most places. The reasoning being that, as wooly mammoths are extinct, no amount of ivory trade will make them MORE extinct than they already are. Unfortunately, there ARE a few places... mostly bastions of liberalism out East... where mammoth ivory is NOT legal. Oh well.

I haven't done a great deal of experimentation with this particular sight just yet. With my favorite factory load, holding with the bead perched atop the ears of the rear sight groove, the strike of the round is pretty much right on the money at 21 feet. I was able to hit an empty "Buzz Ball" with it, at least.

Sight regulation with the SAA is a whole 'nother can of worms that I won't address here, but if you got one that consistently hits high with a load you really want to use, this could be your solution as well.

[Texas by God]

Interesting.
So- does the ivory “cap” create shade on the front sight for better visibility?


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[HWooldridge]

I had an ivory bead on a muzzleloader. Could pick it up in almost any light conditions where iron sights worked. Another advantage is that it doesn’t shine like metals.

[daleraby]

Interesting.
So- does the ivory “cap” create shade on the front sight for better visibility?


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I'm not certain I understand your question, however, the ivory "cap" does not really provide any shade. Rather, it becomes a sort of focal point for the shooter's eye. In effect, it becomes the front sight. I've found, with VERY limited experimentation, that with different loads, one can infer different sight pictures. My favorite factory load, for example, after experimentation, seems to hit the target at 21 feet with the ivory bead covering the target with the rear sight groove held parallel to the shooter's line of sight such that the bead seems to float above the groove. If the target is dark, which is actually fairly common, you don't actually see the sight blade, just the ivory.

This would probably not be optimal with a gun intended for hunting or other precision shooting. A sherrif's model, however, is more for up close and personal encounters with things that are dangerous. In my own case, it is mostly for water-filled bottles at 21 feet... though I have killed a rabbit with it.

[daleraby]

I had an ivory bead on a muzzleloader. Could pick it up in almost any light conditions where iron sights worked. Another advantage is that it doesn’t shine like metals.

This is what I was looking for when I ordered the ivory. So far, it seems to be working as your ivory bead did. Only issue I can foresee is that because ivory is fairly soft and fragile, it might not survive being clunked against things. Also, I don't know how well cyanocrylate adhesives will hold up over time. I might end up finding a missing front bead at some point. As I have plenty of ivory pieces and more glue, it isn't that big an issue.

[Texas by God]

Thanks-I get it now.


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