Home Made Globe Front Sight For My Octane

[HollowPoint]

I've had this on the back burner for a while now but, I got a day off this past Friday so I thought I'd use that time to machine a new Globe Front Sight for my Umarex Octane.

The one I cobbled together initially worked well enough but the vertical cross-hair I used was a bit to thick of a diameter. It tended to obscure my target if that target was smaller than a sparrow or even as large as a feral pigeon out past 50 yards.

I wanted to use some slightly thinner wire as my vertical and horizontal cross hairs so that I got a sight picture like one would get looking through a target scope with fine cross-hairs; except that with the peep-sight setup that I have, my sight picture is one of a zero power scope with three horizontal cross-hairs.

With my air rifle I shoot both the 14 grainers and the 18 grainers if I feel like spending a little more money for them. The point of impact is pretty close to the same out to 50 yards with only an inch lower impacts with the 18 grain pellets.

The top most cross-hair keeps me on target out to the stated 50 yards. I figure the middle cross-hair will get me out to 75 yards and the bottom cross-hair should give me some accuracy out to 100 yards; although I don't know what I'd be shooting at that distance.

The finished Front Sight turned out a little chunky compared to my previous effort but I love the sight picture I'm getting now. It's alot more precise since I can now see the full body of the pigeons I'm aiming at beyond fifty yards. I posted some pics of my peep sight setup once before so I thought I'd post a few pics of the Front Sight I'm eluding to.

I hope they make sense to some of you. I tried using a scope with my Umarex Octane but for some reason I just couldn't hold it steady enough to make accurate shots. I think it has something to do with the fact that my scope tended to amplify even the slightest movement on my part as I was trying to settle the cross-hairs on my target.

At any rate, for the distances that I shoot at, a scope isn't really all that necessary.

HollowPoint

[Junior1942]

Consider making the lower mount section with a standard 3/8" dovetail and in sizes to fit military Mausers, SKSs, Mosin-Nagants, etc.

[Dan Cash]

What Junior said +1 AND making your base to fit some of the other air rifles with enlarged muzzle sections, e.g. RWS.

[williamwaco]

Nice job!

[HollowPoint]

Thanks guys. This was more of a one-off deal to aid my aging eyes. The scopes I use are wonderful on my powder burners but for some reason, using them on this air rifle just doesn't equate to more accuracy for me.

The factory iron sights were just a blur to me so, I went with peep sights. They correct my eye sight enough to keep me shooting with some accuracy.

HollowPoint

[W.R.Buchanan]

HP: I just sent a Weaver K2.5 off to be worked on and found out that many of the older scores used web strands from "Brown Recluse Spider webs."

Apparently this material is the strongest thing known to man and the way that these spiders spin their webs makes it easy to unspin them and wind the thread onto a spool. I know you don't want to get bit by one, but I guess if you farm them they get domesticated.

I guess everybody is using tungsten wire now. It is available in a zillion different sizes down to .0002 in dia.

I know that we used tungsten wire to drill very small holes in Aluminum Oxide parts at Gaiser Tool Company when I worked there.

I personally have drilled a hole .0007 in dia thru .015 of fired Aluminum Oxide . I'd tell you how to do it but then,,,, Well you know the rest.

Randy

[HollowPoint]

I'm not sure what the exact diameter of the wire I'm using now is but, I tested a couple of different diameters to make sure that I could actually see it at the sight radius I was looking at. I'd like to go finer but there gets a point were I can no longer see the wire; especially if the color of my intended target is anywhere close to the color of the cross-hairs.

I intended to chuck my stock on the fourth axis of my mill and align my tiny holes for these cross-hairs but, it was quicker and easier to just eye-ball them into place, put a pin prick in the spot where I intended to drill the hole and then use the smallest drill bit that my cordless drill could handle.

It's not a very precise way of going about it but it's close enough for shooting feral pigeons out to sixty yards. I can't even imagine trying to drill a .0007" hole.

HollowPoint

[Walter Laich]

very nice--good old American skills at work

[W.R.Buchanan]

HP: I took me 4 hours to drill that hole. and it was more of a proof of concept than a practical production technique. However we had Women who operated custom made drilling machines that routinely did .0022 sized holes the exact same way, and these parts were our bread and butter parts and were worth about $5 each. We sold them by the thousands to everyone who made computer chips and at one time the company had 95% of the market.

When installed on an Ultrasonic bonding machine these tools with their tiny holes fed the gold wire that links the actual IC chip to the lead frame it sits in so that it may be connected to a circuit board.

The company was bought by Coors a few years ago for their ceramic technology. Many people don't know that Coors has two separate companies. One makes Beer, the other makes ceramic crucibles used for melting all kinds of stuff.

The Ceramics side of the company makes almost as much as the beer side.

Randy