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Posted: 6/30/2004 3:01:08 PM EDT
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I am looking for a front sight post so I went to Brownell's web site. They have posts made by several different companies, but the Colt parts surprised me a bit. They have one post listed for 16" barrels and a different one listed for 20" barrels. I know there are different FSBs for A2 vs flattops, but I didn't know there were diffferent sight posts also. I've also seen a couple "non-standard" sight posts that are taller than normal. The way the parts are listed on Brownell's it looks like there are two standard posts. Is this correct? |
There are 3 standard height Colt front sight posts. The round post for A1 type sights The square tapered post for carbines with A2 sights or flattop The square post for rifles with A2 sights or flattops The non-standard taller front sight posts are for flattops which do not have a flattop "F" stamped front sight base. |
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The USGI 20" front sight post is 0.072". To replicate a 20" sight picture on a 14.5/16" carbine you should use a 0.052" front sight. The front sight is closer to your eye on the 14.5/16", so by making it thinner you get a more precise aiming point that looks just about like the 20" sight picture. However, info posted to this board in the past few months (I can't remember from which member) was that Colt (or the military?) found that a 0.052" front sight post wasn't durable enough. So Colt settled on 0.062" posts for their 14.5/16" carbines. Sure enough, I measure my Bushmaster 16" front sight post and it was 0.072" (too wide for my tastes). Both of my 16" Colt uppers have 0.062" front sight posts (which give a much better sight picture). So Colt offers the following square front sight posts: - 0.072" for 20" rifles; and - 0.062" for 14.5/16" carbines. I know Colt offers other front sight posts as well, but I don't have the time to research them and I think I answered the original question. IMHO 0.052" to 0.062" front sight posts work better for me on carbines. YMMV. Corey |
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I just did the math and on the mid-length carbines a 0.060" post would give you the same sight picture as the 0.072" on a 20" rifle, so the 0.062" would be just about perfect for them. My RRA came with a .072" however. Is Brownell's the best place to get the .062" one? Any place that won't gouge you on shipping for a small part? |
I saw them in Brownells. Just make sure to get the Colt carbine front sight post. (And measure it when you get it.) Let us know how you like it and how much it cost. Corey |
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