New R7 - where to mount peep sight??

[Marc]

So hopefully my R7 shows up tomorrow.  I have a Williams dovetail peep sight FP-AG to mount.  Does it matter how far forward or back on the dovetail rail you mount it?

I had it on an HW30S in .22 cal. years ago and couldn't seem to get it zeroed.  ***should have never sold that gun!!!

[Yogi]

Needs to clear the safety.

-Y

[Marc]

I figured it would be better to have it back further, closer to your eye, but I saw a photo of one mounted almost half way in the middle of the dovetail rail.

Didn't know if that was better positioning.

[Yarddog]

Wherever it works best for you

[Yogi]

The longer the distance between front and rear the better/more accurate.  That said, you need to clear your safety.

-Y

[Airwoods]

Great question.Ive always wondered why some were almost at the center of the rifle. Maybe when looking through the peep the hole is smaller?

[subscriber]

The deciding factor will be field of view through the aperture.  That and sight picture, relative to the front sight.

Generally, the longer the distance between front and rear sight, the smaller the angular error for any lack of centering.  In other words, mount the peep as far back as you can, then tune its distance until you like the sight picture.

Ultimately, speed in acquiring the sights may be just as important, as ability to shoot the smallest groups, if you have an infinite amount of time, including finding your target.

If you don't like the position of the rear sight, you can always change it.  Experiment a little, and decide what works for you...

Your question may be related to "what size aperture is best?".  Smaller is more precise, but if you can't see through it with your eyes, then larger is easier and faster.  If that were a question, for me it is somewhere between 0.05 and 0.065".

[north country gal]

As above, all my peep sights are as far back as possible, leaving just enough room to work the safety. This gives me the most options for aperture size, especially the smaller apertures. Remember, the idea of using a peep sight is to look through it and forget it, concentrating 100% on the front sight, rather than trying to center the front sight in the aperture. For me, this is definitely easier to do with the peep as close to my eye as possible.

[Yogi]

As above, all my peep sights are as far back as possible, leaving just enough room to work the safety. This gives me the most options for aperture size, especially the smaller apertures. Remember, the idea of using a peep sight is to look through it and forget it, concentrating 100% on the front sight, rather than trying to center the front sight in the aperture. For me, this is definitely easier to do with the peep as close to my eye as possible.

Spot on as always, Joanie!

Many German airguns mount their peeps sight on the rear of the barrel.  They do this so if the gun has barrel droop it does not matter, because the front and rear sights are on the same plane...

[Duckfish]

Depends on the size of the aperture.   

Williams has optional twilight apertures that are larger and are meant to be mounted more forward.  Standard with the sight would be mounted somewhere just in front of the safety.  Larger hole moves sight forward and increases field of view.  And allows for shooting in darker conditions and faster target acquisition.

My HW30 with the twilight peep.

[Benny]

Depends on the size of the aperture.   

Williams has optional twilight apertures that are larger and are meant to be mounted more forward.  Standard with the sight would be mounted somewhere just in front of the safety.  Larger hole moves sight forward and increases field of view.  And allows for shooting in darker conditions and faster target acquisition.

My HW30 with the twilight peep.

I have the same aperature and it's just to be swapped out with smaller ones as the day goes on. It's larger to allow more light through to the eye as the sun goes down. The brass that surrounds the hole makes it easier to find with your eye in the dim light.   

[MDriskill]

I would add to the foregoing excellent comments, that a sporting peep (like the Williams) is a somewhat different animal than a match peep (a.k.a. “diopter”) sight.

Part of the deal with a sport peep is to leave a good view of the target, so you can find the target in low light, track a moving critter, or whatever. For hunting in particular, it’s a huge advantage over a typical “notch” sight which obscures the bottom half of your view. Sport peeps thus tend to be physically small, with the eyepiece mounted on top. The eye disk will be small in diameter and have a relatively large aperture, and the sight can sit a few inches from the eye.

A match diopter is all about super precision. The sight will be physically bigger, to accommodate more precise internal adjustments. There will be a bigger eye disk (to block out distracting adjacent light) with a small eopening (an aperture of around 1.0mm uses the surface tension of the air to act as a rudimentary clarifying lens, believe it or not).  You want this to sit pretty close to your eye.

German-made diopter sights also use a standardized thread size for the eye disk, which enables them to accept all manner of cool accessories. Most match shooters consider an adjustable-opening iris a must-have. Not such a biggie with a sport peep, though.

None of this is hard-and-fast rules of course! Nothing says you can’t stick a big disk on a Williams and shoot targets, or put a bit Anschuz diopter on you sporter rifle. All peeps work basically the same as far as your eyeballs are concerned, and are a ton of fun. I’ve really come to love them over the years.

All this being said, I think you will find putting the Williams in front of the safety on the R7 will work great - don’t stress over fractional diffs in sight radius, etc., just shoot and enjoy the huge upgrade from the factory irons. Once you get the feel of it, you may enjoy playing with different eye disks, etc., and seeing what works best for you in various situations.