Does NM front sight improve accuracy for M1 Garand

[Patrick Chadwick]

I have also tried in vain to find the aperture size of what's on my Winchester from '43 for a reference.

According to Kuhnhausen: 0.069-0.074". The NM aperture comes in 2 sizes: 0.0595" and 0.0520" (nominal sizes). The larger one is quite small enough. Excessively small apertures produce that annoying "spider web" fuzziness. I think it is the hooding of the aperture that is helpful, rather than the reduced size.

A thin NM foresight blade does NOT help with older eyes. The wider blade may actually be a better fit when you are using a 6 o'clock hold, keeping a thin, but definite strip of white between bull and blade tip. If you cannot see the blade tip perfectly sharply, it tends to disappear into the bull, resulting in shots that are far too high. It may also be easier to hold the left/right symmetry with the wider blade - it depends a bit on your eyes!

Whatever the setup - you must be optically comfortable with it. What suits an 18-year old can be unacceptable for us advanced teenagers.