An Improvement in "Front Sights" for Firearms.
Year: 1892

page_text: te of Application, 7th July, 1892-Accepted, 13th Aug., 1832
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in "Front Sights" for Firearms.
I, WALTER WINANS of 7, Chichester Terrace, Brighton, Sussex, England,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
Marksmen have hitherto experienced great difficulty in seeing the same amount
of "front sight" each time the aim is taken, unless the base of the sight is
sufficiently undercut to form a "bead sight," but such undercutting is detrimental,
as it weakens the "sight and renders it very liable to injury.
The object of my invention is to overcome this difficulty, and to this end I make
the "sight" of metal, horn, wood, or other hard substance, with a strong, wide base,
preferably of the "barleycorn" or triangular section.
The face of the upper part of the sight, facing the marksman (as much of it as
it is desirable to see in aiming) is made vertical, or inclined slightly towards the
marksman, so as to cause it to appear black, as if in shadow.
The visible part of the sight, below the face, inclines forwards towards the
marksman, and downwards, so as to reflect the light, and enable the face of the
sight to be at once distinguished by its difference of shade to the lower part; it may
be polished or plated, to assist in reflecting the light, while, as a contrast, the
vertical face is cross-filed or "roughed," or may be hollowed out, so as to be in
shadow, and give it a "dead" black appearance.
In the accompanying drawing I have shown what I consider the best means of
carrying out my invention.
Fig. 1 is a side view, full size, of a portion of a revolver barrel fitted with my
improved "front sight."
Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are sections of the barrel at A. B, showing two forms which
the sight may assume in section, one having straight sides, the other concave.
I show in Figs. 4 and 4*, on a larger scale, for the sake of clearness, a side
and plan view of the sight shewn in Fig. 1, and in Fig. 5 a modification of this
shape.
Figs. 6 and 7 are end views shewing two sectional forms of the sight, and
corresponding in size with Fig. 5.
In Figs. 1 and 4, it will be seen that a is the vertical face of the "sight," which
is designed to present a dark appearance to the marksman; and b is the polished,
inclined surface, which takes a rounded form.
In the modification, Fig. 5, the face a is slightly inclined towards the marksman,
and the bright or polished surface takes the form of a flat incline.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
A front sight for fire-armis constructed as above described, whereby there will be
presented to the marksman a dark upper part, as in shadow, and a bright lower
part, as in light, so as to enable the same amount of front sight to be "taken
23 for
every shot, by reason of the contrast between the dark surface of the upper part
and the bright surface of the lower part, substantially as described.
Dated this 7th day of July 1892.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.