Long Lee target sights - windage

[Surpmil]

Okay...I'm intrigued. Tell me more.

Sorry not to have replied before. The windage adjustable leaf I showed was BSA's commercial use variant of the model made for the WD which had no 'knob', but had a spring that retained the leaf in whatever position it was set to. A pin was inserted in a hole to release tension on the spring and from there it was a matter of shoving it over as much or as little as you guessed was necessary.

The BSA variant took some of the guesswork out. IIRC, each number on the 'knob' or dial was 1 MOA of adjustment.

I have one of the WD pattern ones here and next time I come across it I'll take some photos.

[Fred G.]

I occasionally see a Southerland rear sight on ebay. They go for about $75.00 . They have a lateral adjustment and also an elevation adjustment capable of very fine adjustments using a knob on top of a long screw. They were standard sights on the Ross rifles I believe but are often seen on the long Lee Enfields too. I use a Parker's 9.G rear target sight on my long Lee to effectively use Mk VII ammunition in the old rifle. It's got a special aperture that has a fully adjustable diopter like a camera iris or a human eye. It also has another adjusting lever that selects any of several colored lenses to look through. Blue, green, yellow, grey tint and clear. Pretty neat and a good thing to have too because I'm so old now(only 56) and my darned eyes can use every advantage.

leftview3.jpg picture by Whitedog333 - Photobucket

leftview2.jpg picture by Whitedog333 - Photobucket

leftview8.jpg picture by Whitedog333 - Photobucket

LS10.jpg picture by Whitedog333 - Photobucket

LS7.jpg picture by Whitedog333 - Photobucket

LS5.jpg picture by Whitedog333 - Photobucket

[Devils Own]

Hi

I use BSA 9c target sights on both my 'Long Lees' (a 1902 MKVI sighted MKI and a CLLE). They don't permanently alter the rifle and they work on the basis of clicks, so they are easily sighted in. They are spot on. There is some evidence that some of the colonial units used these setups as early 'sniper' rifles at, for instance, Gallipoli.

Cheers

Steve

[Fred G.]

Hi

I found that my Long Lee shot very low with MkVII ammunition and it had me stumped for a while at the range. To get the shots consistently on the paper at 100m range, I had to have the rifle sights set for about 400 yards on the scale.

I have a BSA No.9 aperture sight that I bought on the auction site you mention, but haven't fitted it yet. I too thought that once set up, this would be the easy way to compensate for the different ammunition.

More info can be found here:

http://www.rifleman.org.uk/BSA_sight...sories.htm#No9

Kind regards

Mike

The site incorrectly says that the Parker SP 3 mounting plate requires drilling and tapping for the bottom, rear mounting screw in the butt socket. It certainly does not. That screw hole is already present on all butt sockets of Enfields. That was the idea behind that particular mounting plate, it could be readily attached to the Long Lee's. I can't figure out why they'd make that mistake. I sure wouldn't have mounted a Parker's 9.G sight on my rifle if I was required to drill and tap a mounting hole! Now, the SP 3 mounting plate DOES require the proper mounting SCREWS. Those I had made by Scott of Evans Obsolete Screws. The top screw is tightened all the way, seating the plate against the rifle, and the bottom screw is then turned in carefully until it securely holds the plate in position. At this point, the mounting plate under the bottom screw has a slight gap between the butt socket and that part of the plate. This insures that the attached rear sight isn't cocked off to one side at an angle. The mounting plate fits so well because the upper shoulder of the plate fits right into the opening left by the removal of the long range volley sight aperture. It's a good arrangement that holds the Parker sights securely.