Back from deer hunt......

As promised.

A new 400 Whelen is Born_Sights

I like iron sights. The aforementioned 9x57 rifle with it’s very cool Shiller-style rib and integral sight definitely influenced the design of the 400.

The reality is standard iron sights can be difficult to use in poor light conditions and with old eyes. Aperture sights are generally better in both respects than standard irons. The Rigby style cocking piece sight is better because the aperture is very close to the eye. When Satterlee offered to sell me his, I snapped it up. But, I shoot best with a scope. Most people do.
https://imgur.com/qlqYrAA
https://imgur.com/rVVQXvb

The scope needed to look right, have plenty of eye relief, and have excellent optics to manage shooting conditions in which the 400 might be used. I selected the Leupold 3x fixed scope called the Big Bore. It has enough power for good shooting and more than 4” of eye relief.

The dual sighting system created a challenge because the optimal sight plains are about ¾” different between the Rigby and the Leupold. https://imgur.com/29pMAIe

I was lucky enough to work with Stuart Satterlee in his shop for most of 2 days. It was great fun. Besides the normal gun-crank talk, we worked out the transition between the barrel rib and the receiver bridge. We also came upon a working theory on how to address the sight plain issue.

As we worked on the rig/bridge transition, Stuart whittled nearly .100 off the top of the receiver bridges. https://imgur.com/eW3Q9Zs

That still left about 5/8 difference to be resolved between the Rigby sight and the scope. This was a major conundrum seeking an answer which we simply did not have.

We finally decided that Stuart would machine a stock out of firewood-grade wood around a modified British stalking rifle pattern he had in his shop. He modified the original pattern by removing the wood for the drop box magazine. The 400 does not have one. The rest was up to me.

I took the pattern-stock home. My job was to adjust the pattern dimensions to fit me and to also accommodate the dual sighting systems. The solution evolved in a try it-fix, it, shoot it, repeat, pattern over a few weeks. Once done, I sent the stock to Satterlee and he ran the good-wood on his duplicating machine and sent it to me. He got the new stock pattern for his pattern-library. The eventual design works very well with the cocking piece sight and the Big Bore scope. (See stock design)

One final touch set off the iron sights. Satterlee milled a longitudinal dovetail into the front sight ramp which accepts the interchangeable inserts sold my New England Custom Guns. (NECG). The inserts are held in by a grub screw. At the time the picture was taken some final fitting was due. https://imgur.com/AM0b0VE

The rifle came delivered with two separate cocking pieces; a plain one, and a second dovetailed for the cocking piece sight. All one must do to switch systems is to remove the scope and to swap the cocking pieces. This is a 45 second job, tops. Satterlee gets full marks for delivering a dual sight system which is 1 hole accurate in either mode. Moreover, the behavior is repeatable after each sight change.

Best of all, this solution was one of the most cost effective components. The Rigby sight-system cost $600, including the sight, front inserts, cocking piece, and labor. The scope retails for about $400 + the cost of the rings. The bases are integral to the receiver.