THE SIGHTING OF HUNTING-RIFLES. 355 



sible on the under side of the ball. Shape this ball 

 somewhat like a pin-head flattened a little on top. 

 Or make it round if you choose. Adapt the size to 

 your convenience. You can now use this as an open 

 sight with the open back sight, or can use it with a 

 peep-sight on the stock. It works well either way. 

 If you wish it shaded you need only a little slide of 

 bent tin to slip over the cylinder. By cutting out the 

 top a little more you can insert two threads or arms 

 with different-sized balls, or one of silver and the 

 other of gold. These arms should be set at right 

 angles and work on a pivot in the center. It is easy 

 to set them so as to come exactly to the same place, 

 one lying flat when the other is up. They can be 

 easily changed with the finger or a stick. After they 

 are set in, a strip of wire may be soldered over the 

 top where it was cut away to admit them. 



Beyond the importance of some flatness at the top 

 of a plain open sight to insure good horizontal shoot- 

 ing, the fineness or coarseness of sights is very much 

 a matter of what the eye is accustomed to. Except 

 at long distances, one can with practice soon do ex- 

 cellent shooting with a tolerably coarse sight, and ex- 

 cellent quick shooting with a fine sight. But it must 

 be remembered that much of your shooting must be 

 done in a dim light. 



Bold indeed must one be to say a word in deroga- 

 tion of the venerable and fashionable buckhorn sight. 

 But, even at the risk of being considered too iconoclas- 

 tic, I must mildly insinuate that very good shooting 

 can be done without the aid of this long-revered idol. 



One who has never tried it would be surprised to 

 see how well he can shoot over the open barrel with 



