The Canadian Cooey rear sight shown above used the leaf
from the Ross rifle
This was the Canadian answer to providing a training rear sight
for the .22 SMLE to emulate the aperture sighted full-bore Service rifles
The earlier British equivalent was the "Auxiliary"
rear sight manufactured for the .22 SMLE, but intended to simulate the rear
aperture sight of the .303 CF Enfield No.3 rifle - more commonly known as
the P'14.
The auxiliary rear sight fitted in place of the rear volley
sight
The No.3 rifle was originally designed at Enfield and manufactured
in the U.S.A. by Winchester, Remington and Eddystone for the British Government.
The rifle proved very accurate and was also manufactured by the U.S.A, as
their Pattern '17 rifle in 30-06 calibre. The British rifles were re-issued
to the Home Guard during the Second World War, and many of them were used
as target rifles - with target rear sights fitted - both between the Wars
and post WWII.
Then follows the later No.2 Mk.IV*
Rifle No.2 Mk.IV*
manufactured into the 1950s - particularly in Australia,
whose rifles often used coachwood furniture
This example is fitted with the Parker-Hale No.5A
rear aperture target sight. Such configured rifles have been used for small-bore
target shooting over many years - and are still in use in Classic rifle
competition.
The Parker-Hale No.5A rear aperture target sight fitted
with their six-hole eyepiece
An earlier method of providing a .22 Rimfire training
rifle at minimum expense was the "Aiming Tube". This was a logical
evolution from the .297/230in. CF calibre "Morris
Tube" previously utilised, originally with the Martini Henry and
Martini Enfield rifles, and latterly with the first Lee-Enfield - the "Long"
Lee.
Below is a No.1 Mk.III* .303in. Centre fire calibre
rifle fitted with an aiming tube. To assemble, the bolt is removed, the
tube slid in from the breech, and a leather washer , brass/bronze washer
and knurled nut tighten onto the threaded section of the tube protruding
from the muzzle.
The tube must be rotated into the correct position
for the sliding chamber extraction sleeve - just visible in the images below
in both rearward and forward positions - in order that the extractor on
the bolt head will withdraw the sleeve, which is at the same time rotated
by virtue of a helical slot cut in it which engages on a pin fixed to the
outside of the chamber section of the aiming tube.
When fully withdrawn, the semi-circumferential
flange on the rear of the sliding sleeve, and with which the extractor engages,
rotates clear of the extractor, allowing the bolt to be fully drawn to the
rear of the action. To reload, the extraction sleeve must be pushed fully
forward over the chamber before the next round can be fingered into the
breech. The system is fiddly but effective. Correct functioning, accuracy
and grouping are considerably dependent upon careful fitting of the tube.
The parent arm must not be too worn in the bore, otherwise the tube can
flex within the excessive tolerance. The MPI and grouping will then significantly
change as the barrel temperature varies. Do not let anyone tell you that
the design was a hopeless non-starter. In good condition and carefully assembled,
this system is quite capable of grouping to one inch at fifty yards!
For the inquisitive amongst our readers, no, the
foresight lens arrangement has nothing to do with the aiming tube. It just
so happens that the rifle which best accommodates this particular tube also
carries a set of Lattey "Galilean" First World War sniper sights.
Sights of this type were designed early in WWI to improve the sight picture
for the British and Commonwealth Armies' sharpshooters. Initially only issued
with rifles carrying the standard open service sights, many took it upon
themselves to fit target aperture rear sights to their rifle to improve
accuracy. Such sights are poor in low light levels, and further improvements
were sought and devised, often by those whose task it was to employ such
equipment. The Lattey sight set consisted of the objective lens fitted to
the nose-cap in front of the fore-sight, and the correcting lens fitted
immediatel to the rear of the "V" or "U" notch on the
tangent rearsight leaf. The magnification afforded is no more than 2X
The Lattey rear correcting lens
This sytem had other equivalents such as the "Neill"
and "Martin" sights not to mention an arrangement manufactured
by BSA. Some early set-ups utilised a foresight lens and merely a rear aperture
sight; usually a proprietary target sight as previously mentioned. Almost
any option was tried until the first purpose made sighting telescopes were
eventually fitted to sharpshooters' rifles.
