Rossi 92 rear sight confusion

[Mecsey33]

Hello everyone, I'm a new member and a new lever owner! I recently purchased a rossi 92 chambered in 357 and I'm a little confused with the rear sight. From what I have read the rear sight is a semi buckhorn and the smaller notch inside the horns is used for a closer range then the top of the horns. Would anyone know what yardage the little notch inside the horns is set for and how many yards the top of the horns is set for? Also when adjusting the rear sight up a step for elevation how many yards is each step? Hope this makes sense and please correct me if im wrong for I am new to the lever world. Thank you

[44-40 Willy]

I think there's some confusion here or maybe it's just me. I've never used a set of buckhorns as described. I always just use the "little notch" for sighting. I've always thought the top of the buckhorn sights to just be ornamental.

[Model 52]

That's not the intent of a semi-buckhorn sight. What you are suggesting is along the lines of this with the 1911:



It's crude but it works for ball park ranging of the target.

Similarly, there is no doubt some range where aligning the front sight blade with the top of the semi-buckhorn will produce an impact near the point of aim, but alignment will not be very precise given the width of the buckhorn relative to the front sight blade - exactly what you do not want at long range.

The purpose of a semi-buck horn (and the buckhorn sight for that matter) was to allow a rapid, if less precise, sight picture for very short range shooting. When snap shooting at a moving target at short range, getting the target and the front sight more or less centered in the buckhorn was usually sufficiently accurate to get a hit. The Buckhorn sight created what are virtually a large rear aperture sight, but it had the downside of also obscuring a lot of real estate at longer range, so the semi-buckhorn is a compromise with shorter less curved wings that block less of your view at long ranges.

Winchester's rear sight elevators on their lever guns like the Model 92 and Model 94 were at one time were actually designed to allow a properly regulated rifle to zeroed at 50 yards on the bottom step with each higher step in the elevator moving the range out another 50 yards (100, 150, 200, etc).

[Mecsey33]

Thanks for everyone's help, the confusion is cleared up. I took it to the range today and was hitting a 12" steel plate at 200 yards, I didn't know how accurate it would be from most of the reviews I have read of it shooting high.

[Maximumbob54]

Also keep in mind your ammo choice will change point of impact from hot hot it is loaded and what grain the bullet is. And some guns just tend to favor one load while they shoot miserable with another.