Watching a guy take a snap shot at a German with his No.1 Enfield in the movie “1917” I was reminded how relatively poor the sights were on that rifle and how much better they were on the No. 4 a generation later.
IIRC too, even as late as ‘39 the Germans still had poor front post/rear notch irons on their standard Mauser rifle.
When and where did peep sights and ghost rings come into use?
Tks.
This is a good question.
I believe they first appeared on real battle rifles in the 20's. But the Enfield's original versions were deemed somewhat janky. The No. 4 had the improved version and I think those came about in the early 30's. (Same sight on the MKV Jungle I believe.)
After that of course came the Garand. Garand and Enfield testing really proved their worth and 1903's were converted to the peep making them 1903A3's for service in WWII.
There may have been other testing and options prior to these but I'm pretty sure they went mainstream with the Enfield No. 4.
