The reason these sights were developed....., so I heard...., was that for some competitions of the 50's, the regulations stipulated that the original sights had to remain. This was because some units would replace the iron sights with P-H sights. So these little add-on sights stuck to the rules in that the original issued sight remained on the rifle, but there was a small amount of deflection too, PLUS different sized eye pieces.

Additionally, some units didn't have the facilities to fit the PH sights to their rifles because it meant drilling and tapping hole(s) in the rifle body side but later this was approved. But the little 853 solved many problems that arose when using the Army No8 rifles in Civilian competitions

They are still used on School and Cadet forces No8 rifles

There was also a 'spaced' PH5 type sight that would just clear the rear body pad of the No4T with the aid of a shaped inbuilt spacer. The cursor slide that housed the eye piece was spaced over to the right by the thickness of the spacer. These allowed the use of the more accurate (?) telescope less No4T into SR(B) class. Has anyone got one of these as a matter of interest. I think I know where there is one or certainly the remains of one...........
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