Front sight protector

[45B20]

Please,, front sight cover or “COVER, front sight“, is the correct name or nomenclature.

45B20

[Johnny Peppers]

If nothing else stuck with me from my college freshmen English class, it was the professor's admonition that the most important part of being able to properly using the English language was to be understood. I think most here know the official term, COVER, FRONT SIGHT, but for discussion purposes the front sight protector worked just fine.

[Wullie]

Sure looks like a covered front sight to me.

[Aragorn243]

Interesting old video and yes, they are firing the rifles with the covers in place. And the film is a US Army production, not the Marines.

[Johnny Peppers]

The 1903 rifle is easy to fire with the sight cover in place, but the 03-A3 is another matter. The eye automatically seeks the center of a circle, so when you look through the rear aperture of the 03-A3 your eye centers the front sight in the aperture. If the eye sees another aperture ahead of the rear aperture, it automatically centers it in the rear aperture. If the sight blade is not centered in the front aperture, you must consciously try to make your eye disregard the front aperture and concentrate on the sight blade. It is simply the physics of the human eye which is centripetal.

[Wullie]

Mine was an '03. Like you said, it was easy to shoot with the sight cover. I never was a fan of the A3.

[Aragorn243]

Then I must have an incorrect front sight blade because it is centered perfectly in my front sight cover on my 03a3.

[Johnny Peppers]

Most 03A3's I have seen take an "A" blade to sight in properly. This is a late Smith-Corona with an A blade, and it is about 3/32" off the top of the sight cover.

[Aragorn243]

That isn't what I have. How do you tell what type blade it is? Mine is dead center in the cover opening.

[Johnny Peppers]

That isn't what I have. How do you tell what type blade it is? Mine is dead center in the cover opening.

It has an A on the right side of the blade.