Joe Gorman
The Williams Fool Proof family of sights are available for a wide variety of modern sporting arms. Included in the Williams FP line up is the Williams FP 71 with target knobs. This sight fits Winchester 1871, 1886 and a few other rifles.
The Williams 71 FP sight mounted on the 1886 Uberti rifle. The Williams sight permits zero with traditional .45-70 loads from 25 yards to 600 yards with the stock front sight.
Manufactured from high quality aluminum the Williams sight has proven to be a rugged tool for both target shooting and hunting. By virtue of mounting the Williams sight at the rear of the receiver, the sight radius in substantially increased over the typical barrel-mounted leaf sight. With the ability to change apertures, the Williams FP sight can be used in nearly any ambient light condition.
A close up of the Williams sight
I mounted a Williams FP 71 to both an Uberti 1886 and a Winchester 1886 Saddle Ring Carbine (SRC) and had great results with both rifles. Keep in mind, the screws that secure the sight and the Gib screw should not be over tightened. The receiver screws should be torqued to 12-15ft pounds. The Gib screw should only be hand tight. I overtightened the Gib screw before asking the manufacturer what the proper toque spec should be and put a ding in the sight top. It still works just fine but there was no need for me to tighten it that much. My inclination is to tighten everything down to the maximum! Using the manufacturer’s specs, the sights held just fine through repeated trips to the range.
Mounted to the Winchester ‘86 Carbine, the high-strength aluminum Williams FP sight with target knobs stays out of the way and stays sighted in.
It’s worth noting that both the standard Uberti and the standard Winchester rear sights are high quality sights that allowed me to shoot very tight groups at 100 yards. The very best of these groups rivaled the very best groups I was able to achieve with the Williams FP! However, I quickly noted that the average size of the group was much tighter with the FP sight. Also, in very low light, mounting a brass-ring hunting-aperture allowed me to shoot minute of deer groups with the FP when I would otherwise have to pass on the shot if I was using the stock, barrel-mounted leaf sights. Increasing the distance to 200 yards there just was no contest. I was able to shoot my .45-70 reloads (405 gr cast at 1200fps) very accurately at 200 yards using the FP sight. The groups I shot with the leaf sights were typically three times the size of the groups shot using the FP sight. Also, the Williams FP sight is clearly marked for elevation and windage, allowing me to keep a small screwdriver in my jacket and dial my sights up for a 200-yard shot. As you might imagine, with my reloads, I must account for a ton of bullet drop out to 200 yards. There is plenty of adjustment for much longer shots with the Williams FP.
With a Williams sight on the Winchester ‘86 Carbine, the short rifle really grouped well.
For precision shooting and especially at longer ranges and during low light, there simply is no better sight to keep shots on target. I also can shoulder a receiver-mounted peep sight equipped rifle and get on target quicker than with a barrel-mounted leaf sight. The target knobs on the Fool Proof sight were easy to turn once the Gib and lock screws were loosened. This sight will serve you well.
The Williams FP sight really increased the consistency of the author’s groups.
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