Here's an early Weihrauch diopter and Falke diopter from the early-mid 1950's. Both are steel, hand machined/fit with assembly numbers, the Weihrauch with an old fashioned oversized aperture disk, the Falke with a cute little adjustable iris feature. The Falke has a mechanism to lock the diopter from sliding on the dovetail, the Weihrauch using the less elegant arrestor hole screw! Someone is copying someone? 
Other Interesting diopters...
- Thread starter specie
- Start date
"The Falke has a mechanism to lock the diopter from sliding on the dovetail, the Weihrauch using the less elegant arrestor hole screw! Someone is copying someone?"
Isn't the Weirauch the one with the dovetail lock? Turn the screw with a tommy bar?
Isn't the Weirauch the one with the dovetail lock? Turn the screw with a tommy bar?
Upvote 0
Both these heavy steel diopters lock on the dovetail, the Weihrauch using the arrestor hole screw, the Falke engaging slots on the dovetail.
Upvote 0
Those are lovely! Thanks much for posting.
I have several of the old HW diopters - which must have been made in small batches as there are many variations - but not a Falke one. I'd never realized the position lock worked like that.
I have several of the old HW diopters - which must have been made in small batches as there are many variations - but not a Falke one. I'd never realized the position lock worked like that.
Upvote 0
I never noticed that, but I think you are right!
Here's another oddball, an Anschutz 6702 modified by Karl Kenyon, a now passed gunsmith, for prone shooting. The Win Model 52 and Anschutz Mod 54 folks will verify, but I think he had a good reputation for match rifle triggers?
Here's another oddball, an Anschutz 6702 modified by Karl Kenyon, a now passed gunsmith, for prone shooting. The Win Model 52 and Anschutz Mod 54 folks will verify, but I think he had a good reputation for match rifle triggers?
Upvote 0
My airgun addiction definitely fed my side addiction for match sights. Here's a couple of favorites - Parker-Hale's model PH 16M sporting peep, and PH 17B match sight. P-H sights are little works of engineering art and it's a crime they were not made for more airguns! Both of these fit only the Webley Mk 3:
The PH 16M is outrageously sturdy, and mostly sits off to the side, out of your line of sight. An interesting feature is that the lateral arm will flip 90 degrees to the rear; you can keep the gun's open sight, and sight the two in at different distances. I also like that both adjuster scales can be seen clearly from shooting position. It was furnished with a tiny "ghost ring" eye disk, but I like this bigger one:
The PH 17B was a bigger match diopter designed for the Mk 3 Supertarget, paired with a tall FS 22A tunnel front sight. But it mounts in the same holes and screws as the PH 16B - they will easily interchange. It will take any eyepiece that P-H manufactured - here is it with an "Iris" model, with adjustable aperture (operated by the little lever), color filter click wheel (the shiny brass bit), and PH 72 eye shield (not snap-on rubber, but a threaded-on chunk of blued steel with a matte phosphate rear face):
The PH 16M is outrageously sturdy, and mostly sits off to the side, out of your line of sight. An interesting feature is that the lateral arm will flip 90 degrees to the rear; you can keep the gun's open sight, and sight the two in at different distances. I also like that both adjuster scales can be seen clearly from shooting position. It was furnished with a tiny "ghost ring" eye disk, but I like this bigger one:
The PH 17B was a bigger match diopter designed for the Mk 3 Supertarget, paired with a tall FS 22A tunnel front sight. But it mounts in the same holes and screws as the PH 16B - they will easily interchange. It will take any eyepiece that P-H manufactured - here is it with an "Iris" model, with adjustable aperture (operated by the little lever), color filter click wheel (the shiny brass bit), and PH 72 eye shield (not snap-on rubber, but a threaded-on chunk of blued steel with a matte phosphate rear face):
Last edited:
Upvote 0
either my eyes are crap (probably ) or i need larger center bulls to use diopters . Most likely both hahaha
Upvote 0
The best thing I've done for my shooting habit lately is...cataract surgery. Prior to that, a black blob floated in the middle of a small aperture - had to use an adjustable eyepiece and open up to a hole bigger than 2mm to make it go away. Post surgery, all good...and the world is more pleasantly colored, too LOL (cataracts are like wearing brown sunglass lenses)...!
Upvote 0
yes me too , both eyes, but the doctor "thought best " and made one eye near and one eye far . If i would have understood i would have chosen far and got glasses for near .
Upvote 0
Here's my current most Rube Goldberg-ish diopter...
Through the generosity of a fellow forumite, I recently acquired a classic Redfield "Olympic" match sight. Like many similar US sights, it's designed to mount to a bar on the left side of a bolt-action firearm receiver - so has little application to my grooved-receiver airguns. BUT...at the recent Hickory show, a friend showed up with a gun having an Anschutz adapter (part no. SA-1411), specifically made to fix this...I had no idea such a thing existed!
I got lucky and turned one of these gadgets up, and so next thing ya know - an HW 55CM is looking like this:
The sight is unusual in being drilled and tapped for a non-standard eyepiece thread; but came with a Merit adjustable iris fitted with the same odd thread, so hey...I'm good to go.
The sight attaches securely to the bar with a single thumbscrew. The three holes on the sight, and two on the bar, allow a good range of quick adjustments to the sight's position.
It's a great setup; the Olympic has extremely precise and repeatable adjustments, its open construction gives a great view of the target, and it leaves space behind the receiver for different hand positions. And it's dumb to say, but I also love the low, lean, racy look it gives to the action.
All that being said...I'm still sorting things out. It shoots high at 10 meters so I may need a taller front sight, or some sort of riser spacer for it (or maybe I just need to start shooting 50-yard targets, LOL). But this unique bundle of American and German quality is big fun.
Through the generosity of a fellow forumite, I recently acquired a classic Redfield "Olympic" match sight. Like many similar US sights, it's designed to mount to a bar on the left side of a bolt-action firearm receiver - so has little application to my grooved-receiver airguns. BUT...at the recent Hickory show, a friend showed up with a gun having an Anschutz adapter (part no. SA-1411), specifically made to fix this...I had no idea such a thing existed!
I got lucky and turned one of these gadgets up, and so next thing ya know - an HW 55CM is looking like this:
The sight is unusual in being drilled and tapped for a non-standard eyepiece thread; but came with a Merit adjustable iris fitted with the same odd thread, so hey...I'm good to go.
The sight attaches securely to the bar with a single thumbscrew. The three holes on the sight, and two on the bar, allow a good range of quick adjustments to the sight's position.
It's a great setup; the Olympic has extremely precise and repeatable adjustments, its open construction gives a great view of the target, and it leaves space behind the receiver for different hand positions. And it's dumb to say, but I also love the low, lean, racy look it gives to the action.
All that being said...I'm still sorting things out. It shoots high at 10 meters so I may need a taller front sight, or some sort of riser spacer for it (or maybe I just need to start shooting 50-yard targets, LOL). But this unique bundle of American and German quality is big fun.
Last edited:
Upvote 0
That is too cool!…I have a few of those sight myself, also a few Vavers….will have to see if I can machine a reasonable facsimile for some of my rifles. Thanks John
Upvote 0
Thanks John - and I'd really love to see that! Vaver sights with their unique "combination lock" dial adjusters are absolutely as cool as it gets, some true engineering art (here's a random shot filched from the interwebs):
Last edited:
Upvote 0
While not as vintage, cool, and fascinating as the units shown above, I have a couple of rear sights that are pretty interesting. At least I think they are.....
Top left is an Andrew Tucker rear sight from the UK. I believe it to be late 60s to mid 70s manufacture, but of course I could be mistaken.
Right side is two Elite 202 rear sights with different base lengths to accommodate different length mounting rails.
Bottom is the new AirArms rear diopter from Precihole in India. This sight replaces the cheapo stamped FWB clone sights that came standard on the S200 and S400 precision rifles.
Above shows details of the AT rear sight that show it's similarities to how a Unertl scope or tube sight mounts. The front of the anti glare tube is mounted in a spring loaded gimbal and remains stationary throughout its adjustment range.
You may be able to discern that the ID of the front anti glare tube is threaded on the inside. This was done as an anti reflective surface, I believe, as I have found no evidence of any accessories or add ons that mount to the ID of the tube.
And last, we have the lowly Precihole manufactured sight.
The sight is cheap and sturdy. There are no stamped sheet metal parts, and it exhibits no backlash in the adjustments.The clicks are somewhat vague feeling, but are positive if you pay attention.
For the price that these sights are offered at, I think that it is a great value for one seeking a step up from a Williams type peep without forking over for a true match diopter.
Top left is an Andrew Tucker rear sight from the UK. I believe it to be late 60s to mid 70s manufacture, but of course I could be mistaken.
Right side is two Elite 202 rear sights with different base lengths to accommodate different length mounting rails.
Bottom is the new AirArms rear diopter from Precihole in India. This sight replaces the cheapo stamped FWB clone sights that came standard on the S200 and S400 precision rifles.
Above shows details of the AT rear sight that show it's similarities to how a Unertl scope or tube sight mounts. The front of the anti glare tube is mounted in a spring loaded gimbal and remains stationary throughout its adjustment range.
You may be able to discern that the ID of the front anti glare tube is threaded on the inside. This was done as an anti reflective surface, I believe, as I have found no evidence of any accessories or add ons that mount to the ID of the tube.
The sight is cheap and sturdy. There are no stamped sheet metal parts, and it exhibits no backlash in the adjustments.The clicks are somewhat vague feeling, but are positive if you pay attention.
For the price that these sights are offered at, I think that it is a great value for one seeking a step up from a Williams type peep without forking over for a true match diopter.
Upvote 0
Thanks Chuck, those are great! I've never seen the AT before and have lusted in vain for an Ellte for many years, LOL.
The Precihole sight is most interesting. The funky thin aluminum attachment bar of the Williams FP series sights works well enuff if you're careful with mounting it but has never been my fave. How much tolerance does the Precihole have for minor variations in rail spacing?
The Precihole sight is most interesting. The funky thin aluminum attachment bar of the Williams FP series sights works well enuff if you're careful with mounting it but has never been my fave. How much tolerance does the Precihole have for minor variations in rail spacing?
Upvote 0
The Precihole sight has a clamping arrangement like so
I opened it up to .650 and the securing screw still had good purchase in the sight body.
A few caveats to be aware of with this sight. The aperture eyepiece is a non standard thread, as in, it is not threaded for Lyman, Redfield, Williams etc. apertures, nor will it accept an Anschutz or Gehmann aperture.
The mounting base is somewhat tall as well, causing a higher sight line when the sight is adjusted to its lowest point vs a sight with a shorter profile mounting base. This MAY result in one needing a higher front sight arrangement depending on the rifle.
I forgot to comment on your Redfield sight as well. Nice stuff, and it looks like it belongs there!
Your issue with needing a higher front sight may be cured by mounting a Redfield Palma rear sight. On the Palma model, the diopter eyepiece mounting boss is under the horizontal cross arm and may adjust to a lower sight line VS the Olympic with the diopter eyepiece above the horizontal arm.
Now the deep dive.....
Redfield Olympic, International, and Palma sights are basically the same sight with some minor differences.
The Redfield International and Palma both use opposing springs to control backlash while the Olympic model lacks this feature.
The later Palma model sights also have an adjustment feature that let's you control backlash in the adjustments via screw tension, the earlier Palma model sights lack this feature.
Redfield match sights also use celluloid shims between the rails and their mating surfaces on the base. This was done for smoothness, but over time, they degrade and can cause the sight to have a hitch or some drag in adjustment. It used to be a thing to disassemble the sight and polish the mating surfaces lightly and lube them with quality grease to eliminate the shim effect when they start to get raunchy.
The problem with doing this on the Olympic model is there is no provision for eliminating any backlash or slop present in the mechanism other than readjusting the screws in the base. The screws are generally glued in place, but they are removable and you can adjust the interference fit that way.
The Palma sight will also accept standard eyepieces vs the Olympic and International which accept the Redfield eyepiece. Basically 12-40 vs metric apertures.
That exhausts my knowledge on the subject.
Last edited:
Upvote 0
@MDriskill
Just talked to a fellow in the know and he advises that you can flip the aperture boss to the bottom of the horizontal crossbar on a Redfield Olympic sight.
The small strap with the 2 screws on the end of the horizontal arm can be removed, the aperture boss threaded off, flipped to the underside and reinstalled.
This may give you enough vertical adjustment to zero properly?
Just talked to a fellow in the know and he advises that you can flip the aperture boss to the bottom of the horizontal crossbar on a Redfield Olympic sight.
The small strap with the 2 screws on the end of the horizontal arm can be removed, the aperture boss threaded off, flipped to the underside and reinstalled.
This may give you enough vertical adjustment to zero properly?
Upvote 0
Thanks Chuck! I'm a Redfield newbie so this is GREAT info. I'll give it a play and see wot happens...the adjustments are quite stiff so I prolly need to go through the whole mechanism. (Brings up a related question though - need some precision screwdrivers with some really small bits. Everything in my big Brownell's set is way too big for the Olympic's itty bitty screws.)
For the record, I got a used Redfield aperture boss from Numrich, as I was anxious to see if (like the old Lyman on my ancient Remington 521T) it would take Parker-Hale eyepieces. Alas it does not; interchanges with Williams though.
Thanks also for the Precihole follow-up. The fact that the mount will fit the old HW 13mm rails is interesting. It kinda reminds me of the Medoza peep sight which shares a strength (very sturdy mount), and a weakness (sits really high), but does at least take Williams eye disks.
For the record, I got a used Redfield aperture boss from Numrich, as I was anxious to see if (like the old Lyman on my ancient Remington 521T) it would take Parker-Hale eyepieces. Alas it does not; interchanges with Williams though.
Thanks also for the Precihole follow-up. The fact that the mount will fit the old HW 13mm rails is interesting. It kinda reminds me of the Medoza peep sight which shares a strength (very sturdy mount), and a weakness (sits really high), but does at least take Williams eye disks.
Last edited:
Upvote 0