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Old February 12, 2013, 08:41 AM   #1
JL Wesson
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Rawson sight usage

May be someone can help me.

I just had a Rawson aperture sight installed on my N°1MkIII SMLE. The piece is complete with all screws, plates etc and fits perfectly on my rifle.

I have some problem in understanding the elevation scales. I know that once on target it would be just an adjusting a click or two business regardless what the scale reading is; nevertheless I would like to understand how these readings works (e.g. for quick range adjustment for longer distances).

These scales reminds me of a vernier gauge but I am not sure how to read them.

Thanks for your help
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Old February 12, 2013, 11:22 AM   #2
emcon5
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You may be better off asking that question here:

http://www.surplusrifleforum.com/viewforum.php?f=27

or here:

http://forums.gunboards.com/forumdis...-Enfield-Forum
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Old February 12, 2013, 08:20 PM   #3
adrians
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Hi , i have one on my 2a1 and i'm in the same boat ,

All i know is through trial and error i have it on at 75yds using my handloads.
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Old February 13, 2013, 12:01 AM   #4
Tikirocker
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G'day gents,

Rawson sights are Australian and are one of the many popular tangent sights used for target shooting in Australia over the years. While I do not own a Rawson (Mine are (OZ) Mues or Central) ... the vernier principle is generally the same for all these sights.

The elevation and windage divide on the vernier principle of 100th of an inch each. Your 100th equals 1 inch on the target for every 100 yards of range. Put it another way, adjustment usually is one click per half or full minute of angle, for half or one inch of adjustment on target at 100 yards.

What I don't know is whether you sight is set for 1/4 or 1/2 click adjustments. That will make a difference ...

Cheers, Tiki.
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Old February 13, 2013, 07:55 AM   #5
JL Wesson
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Thank you all for your suggestions.

I will be visiting the links suggested soon.

I also understand Tikirocker's explanation; I will also check the 1/4 vs 1/2 clicks. Mine has ten clicks for a complete turn of the knob.

My Rawson looks exactly the same as Adrian's (only the red paint has faded).
As far as I remember the vernier trick is choosing as a reference the line with a perfect match with the scale and then read the "fractions" scale.

From the pic Adrian shared with us I read 175yds: do I got it right?

Mine is now set at 30 on the right scale and 3 on the left and it shoot straight at 300m (which is roughly 330yds): shall I assume those readings are in real yards? I am using Sellier & Bellot competition loads.
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Old February 15, 2013, 08:46 PM   #6
wnycollector
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Quote:
I just had a Rawson aperture sight installed on my N°1MkIII SMLE. The piece is complete with all screws, plates etc and fits perfectly on my rifle.
Nice sight. When I had my old Ishy .308, I scoured Flea-bay and gunbroker looking for a reasonably priced Rawson, Parker Hale 5a or Central. I kept getting outbid because I couldn't justify spending more on the sight than I did on the rifle!
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Old February 16, 2013, 04:05 AM   #7
Tikirocker
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The Aussie sights are collectors items in their own right these days so all those like Central, Austral, Mues, Rawson, Motty and Taylor will all have a following who don't just want them for shooting ... but for their collections.

Tiki.
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Old February 16, 2013, 10:25 AM   #8
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Quote:
As far as I remember the vernier trick is choosing as a reference the line with a perfect match with the scale and then read the "fractions" scale.
Thats the trick. First find the "major" measurement & then look at the sub "tics" to get the minor sub division.
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Old February 18, 2013, 08:10 AM   #9
JL Wesson
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Thank you all for your posts.

I am triyng to figure out which scale is the major one and wich the sub-ticks one on my rawson.
Is the "major" the one reading from 3 to 10 on the right of the post or the other one on the left? (pls cfr Adrians pic above).

Could it be that someone has a clue if user manuals were available for these sights and where to find them nowadays?

Anyway I am grouping much better at 300mt with my rawson.
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Old February 18, 2013, 10:25 AM   #10
wogpotter
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Here's the "generic" How to read a vernier if that helps.
http://www.upscale.utoronto.ca/PVB/H...r/Vernier.html
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