RPA TRAKKER - side mounting or top mounting?

[njb]

Hi, about to put down the deposit for a rifle. The smith isnt able to get hold of top mounting sights at the moment, and is offering me a choice of side mounting Rpa Trakker, or a top mounting rearsight.

What is ythe difference between a side mounting and top mounting rearsight, apart from the fact they are mounted on the rifle differently!?

Also, are centra rearsights as good as the RPA?

Thanks, Nick

 

[M700]

May not address your question completely, but most of the guys I know are shooting w/sights that mount on the side of the receiver.

Off the top of my head, I can't think of anyone who's using anything except a side mount.

My Winchester is still setup with the old Swenson, predecessor to the RPA if I have my sight history correct. Nice old sights. Side mount.

Here's some nice sights from Alan Warner - would love to have a set of these on my match rifle! http://www.warner-tool.com/sights.htm

Have you checked over at http://www.long-range.com/ ?

Regards, Guy

 

[rsilvers]

I used an RPA today with a side mount and liked it very much.

How do RPA compare to Warner?

Why don't you see Anshutz 7002 sights on high power rifles? Is there not enough adjustment range or some other issue?

 

[Robert]

Hi, about to put down the deposit for a rifle. The smith isnt able to get hold of top mounting sights at the moment, and is offering me a choice of side mounting Rpa Trakker, or a top mounting rearsight.

What is ythe difference between a side mounting and top mounting rearsight, apart from the fact they are mounted on the rifle differently!?

Also, are centra rearsights as good as the RPA?

Thanks, Nick

Nick,

Side mounting a sight with the necessity of an interface between the action and rearsight is a notion of the past.

Except when the action and the sight were of the same manufacturer, I have seldom seen side-mounted sights having their windage zero well balanced in the centre of the slide. Not to mention also the correct height.

Dovetail top mounting is universally adopted in smallbore, initiated by Anschutz (still always named Anschutz Dovetail), and is machined perfectly vertically centered with the action. Easy then to design the sight perfectly centered as well.

It offers also the added advantages to be precisely adjusted along the dovetail, and can also be fitted on your smallbore rifle for training in ‘real condition’ for long range.

It is now common to have competition fullbore actions equipped with the dovetail machined on it, and the only advice I can give you is: As your action is equipped with a dovetail, use it to fix your sight, you will certainly not regret your decision.

As to the merits of Centra to others, I leave to others to do so. Just read recent posts on the subject.

Sinclair has the Centra listed, and Tom Myers xan also be contacted: http://www.x-tremeshooting.com/

There is an other option, and it is to have a rearsight equipped with a WeaverPicatiny prism. Your rifle being equipped with a scope rail, the rearsight naturally then use the same interface as the scope, and centers same. Centra offers this mounting, and I presume other sight makers does?.

Regarding using smallbore sights for LR, out of the fact they have very limited movements, they are usually very encumbrant and restrict the visibility around it. Moreover, they have movements varying from 1/8 to 1/12 of a minute.. not really what we need for Long Range.
R.G.C

 

[Mudcat]

I have an RPA Trakker and its ok, but I only use it on a practice rifle. ALL of my competition rifles have Warner rear sights on them. They arent cheap, but when I move my sight 1/4 min, it goes a 1/4 min....every time. I cant say that for sure with some of my other sights. You will see more Warners than any other brand out on the firing line at a long range match than any other rear sight. There is a reason for that.

They also hold their value pretty well if you decide you need to part with one....though, that something I wont be doing for a while.

John

 

[rsilvers]

So RPA if you are using it in the field as a backup sight, and Warner if you are at a match?

You speak of side mounting vs dovetail mounting but how would you compare side mounting to Picatinny rail mounting?

 

[watercam]

You will do just fine with RPA, Centra, Phoenix, PNW etc.. Nice thing about the RPA for me is the ability to adjust any slop our of the adjustments due to wear (over a very long time). If you are shooting a tube gun, top mounted sights make sense as your head is higher relative to to line of the barrel. Your front sight will be quite a bit higher for the same reason. If you are shooting a more conventional match rifle you can go either way but if you use a top mounted rear sight you will need the extra tall front sight as well and your cheek piece will be quite high. I use a picatinney rail and a Lipski top mount that accepts a side mounted rear sight. With the Lipski the side plate is adjustable for height. I mount the side plate upside down so that the sight mount is at the same height as if you were using a side mount. You then have the ability to move the sight fore or aft much more quickly and with greater latitude as well as mount a scope, in weaver rings, quickly and easily and with greater latitude.
Works for me. Lipski mount is available through Creedmoor Sports or Brownells.
Mike T.

 

[rsilvers]

This?

http://www.creedmoorsports.com/store/product.php?productid=889433

So, for a moment - how would this with a side-mount RPA compare for height to a rail-mount RPA? This would be lower?

If so, why didn't RPA just make their rail mount like this?