Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Mausers and Military Rifles Anybody have ideas for a homemade peep/aperture sight for an Ishapore 2a1 (7.62x51/308)?

Hello,
I have a bubba'd Ishapore 2a1 that is a shooter, but I do not like the sights (front or back, actually). I am not going to put a scout scope on it, and I do not want any kind of scope on it really. But the old British and Australian aperture sights that were designed for this rifle are achieving the status of unobtainium these days. I have heard of a little add-on aperture that sells on Ebay that goes in place of the rear sight notch, but I cannot say that I like that one. I have seen pictures of homemade rear peeps located on the charging bridge or thereabouts. Can anyone post pictures of homemade ones they have managed?
Thanks much. K

I have the same rifle. Yes, the sights stink big time.

kwg

I got an Ishapore 308 imported by Gibbs Rifle company, sold by J&G in Shotgun News for $69.95 in 1999.
I cleaned pounds of Cosmoline off the rifle and was criticized for not leaving the stock Cosmoline in place.

I further added a non invasive Federal Arms Corp steel scope mount.

Back then the ATF had not put FAC federal Arms corp, out of biz.
They sold scope mount for the Ishy, that they probably imported from China.

If I were to make one from scratch, it would look like this
https://www.ebay.com/itm/264027619969
But that would be saving 10 cents per hour on my time.

Good to hear, kwg. I didn't really think I was alone in this, but it is still good to have some validation from someone else in the same boat. Now for some potential solutions to the problem...anyone?
Thanks, K

Clarkm,
Does that scope mount wrap around the barrel somehow? Is the receiver tapped? If I decide in the end that a peep would be too much of a pain, this kind of thing might be the way I go even if it means I will have to adapt the comb height to the newly elevated sight line. But if that scope mount is just held on by some sort of pinching action screw setup, has it held up to recoil over time for you? Seems like it might be fragile, but if you say it is good then I might take a look if a peep doesn't work out.
Thanks, K

No, it is non invasive.
Here are views from both sides of the front ring.




I made an invasive enfield base [bad for collectors, good reliability for hunters] 20 years ago that was not as good as the one Steve Redgwell made earlier and had on his enfield web site.
A million guys know more than me about enfields, but he is the only one I can name, and he is on this forum.

Nice, Clark.

I too am awaiting to see if any solutions for an aperture sight pop up.

I snagged a cherry No.2 Mk IV.22 trainer recently. (Picture a .303 No.1 Mk III, but in .22.) I bit the bullet and bought a vintage BSA aperture rear sight for it. Jeez, it cost almost 1/3 what the gun cost but it was only money, so they say, and now I can wring much better accuracy out of it.

Saw a gentleman at our local range with an 30-06 cartridge head epoxied to the receiver of some military rig with the primer knocked out. Said POI as about 2 ft left of center, so he just held off.

Cool! Any gun nuts and bolts sentence that has "30-06 cartridge" and "epoxy" in it is going to get my attention (for better or worse). I have seen a peep made of filed light angle iron that looked pretty hoopty. I saw another one that looked as professional as can be made out of...wait for it...filed light angle iron that was cold blued. And I saw a really cool looking one made out of the sling swivel mount of a Mauser of some kind. I will be honest, I get a real kick out of that kind of creativity. Hence my original post question...

K

I have one of the unobtanium sights. A parker hale PH5A. My suggestion, making some assumptions on your skill level: Buy a Williams sight. Perhaps for the Winchester 94? I think if in doubt Brownell may have drawings or the williams website or make calls, I tend to make a "best guess". That is Step 1, buy a reasonable over the counter rear peep with a flat side-mounting surface.

Step 2, fabricate from heavy sheet metal, a base that attaches the same as my PH5A. Then you be "the man" and come back and post your results.

Cool! I have two little kids under 5, so any clever projects like you suggest will have to be broken up into 15 minute blocks. But still, the idea is a good one. I am guessing that one or all of the three screws that appear to secure your PH5A are longer than the normal screws that belong in those locations? I wonder if the threading and size of those are easy to find...
Thanks for the idea!
K

All Posts Made By Steve Redgwell on 24HCF
https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/userposts/id/677

He has a web site:

https://303british.com/



Look how good a job Steve did back when the internet was in its infancy over 20 years ago.


Now look at the primitive work I was doing 20 years ago.


My screws don't match.


That is why I am a big fan of 24HCF member Steve Redgwell.

That is a hard question because I got the gun with the sight installed. I found this explanation with a Google search. He says it is easy. It is a little more involved than I expected. I found out these can be odd ball threads when I replaced my ejector. I though my sight reused the original screws. So, I was told. Maybe not. I know there was a piece removed and replaced with a spring. I got that collar piece someplace.

I forgot. Note, that to remove the bolt, a part of the sight is lifted out. I think the Williams has a set screw so that you can do that and return to zero. Keep in mind when selecting your rear sight.

https://www.enfield-rifles.com/parker-hale-for-2a1_topic8602.html.

This forum has some very knowledgeable people spread across Great Britain. Many shooters, not just collectors. Both. Even one member from India who has inside knowledge of the armory work done there.

https://www.gunboards.com/forums/the-lee-enfield-forum.55/

The beast.

I marked up the image posted by gnoahh to show how the PH5A is installed.

Thanks, nicely done. I would say the PH5A is the Cadillac of sights for these rifles. I had one on a Lithgow No.1 Mk III a few years back. This BSA sight I pictured is very nice but not quite in the same league as the PH5A, IMO.