As I’d mentioned earlier, the factory sights on my new Ruger No. 1 don’t really work for me. The combination of a tiny gold bead up front and a U-notch rear halfway down the barrel leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to precision, especially if your eyesight is less-than-perfect.
I replaced the little gold bead with a 3/32″ white bead from New England Custom Guns. The new sight is almost twice as large and a LOT easier to pick up. Here’s the factory bead on the right, NECG on the left. It’s a “no gunsmithing” part, but not quite drop-in. The dovetail base is slightly oversized, with two fitting pads on the bottom. 15 minutes of cut-and-try stoning produced a nice snug fit with no slop. The factory front sight was .330″ tall. I took a gamble and bought a .350″ replacement, figuring that I might need a taller front sight to go along with the new rear…
The rear sight is NECG’s quick-detach peep, which mates to the integral Ruger scope mounts. It’s a simple, high-quality machined unit that, unlike its competitors, doesn’t require drilling and tapping.
Windage adjustment is provided via a pair of opposing adjustment knobs; you loosen one side and tighten the other to shift the point of impact. The right knob can be locked in place with a set screw, allowing the sight to be removed and replaced by loosening the left-side knob only. NECG claims this can be done with no loss of zero; I’ll have to test that for myself.
Elevation is adjusted by turning a single screw that raises and lowers the elevation slide, then locked in by tightening the knurled aperture. I have the .125″ aperture installed right now. There’s also a .093″ aperture for greater precision at the expense of some speed and low-light usability.
I got the peep boresighted dead-on, which should put me within 3 or 4 inches of the truth at 25 yards. Weather permitting, I’ll hit the range and get zeroed in tomorrow afternoon.
That wood to metal fit is beautiful…..