TM Hi-Capa 5.1 Fiber Optic Sight Guide

Introduction

For quite some time I have been looking for the perfect Hi-Capa 5.1 sight. I liked the stock Bomar for target shooting at ranges over 20m but I would always get frustrated with slow acquisition when I was in a close range skirmish environment (I run pistols only).

I realized that I needed something with better visibility but I also knew that I didn't want to give up the Bomar design. I was stymied until I came across Shooters Design's new rear sight blades while putting an order together on Den Trinity. At $12.50 I decided that these were the fix I had been looking for all this time.



Installation

When they showed up I wasted no time in breaking them out and installing them on my Hi-Capa. The installation was fairly simple since it only involves removing one screw.



after removing this screw the rear sight blade and a spring will fall out.



it should look something like this.

The next step is to prep the SD sight. I just broke off little pieces of the Fiber Optic material and then smoothed each of the ends with sandpaper (1000 grit). However, I think that there are tons of ways to do this so use your imagination. In order to insure a solid fit I super glued each of the rods into its hole.

At this point you need to have your SD sight (right) looking like this



Installing the sight is just the reverse of taking it out. The parts go in in this order


(note that I do not have the fiber optics installed in this picture)

All thats left is tightening the screw till the sights are adjusted to your preference.

Function



Here's the new sight picture.

I immediately took the gun out for a little target shooting to see how the sights worked. My first impression was that the SD sight was great. It was far easier to line up up quick shots. Without a doubt my close quarters acquisition problems were solved. Since I already had the gun out I decided to shoot at a 12in x 12in target at 30m. Before the new sights, this had been my target shooting standard. I could hit the box 9/10 times. With the SD sights, my performance came down to a dismal 6/10. I was so shocked that I thought I had broken something else on the gun.

Tuned out, on close inspection, after a bunch of fiddling, that the problem was with the SD sight. Its rear aperture was far wider than the stock Bomar blade.



This meant that it was so "loose" that I couldn't hit anything reliably at range.
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So, to summarize, the SD sights are well constructed, easy to install, and make target acquisition quicker at close range. Their downfall is that they are nigh useless for precise shooting over 20m or so. For many users this is just fine but for me it wasn't.

The Fix: RCW Fiber Optic Sights

After cooling off I decided that I would need to re-install the stock sight blade. However, in the process of doing it, it hit me that if I could modify the stock blade to take fiber optic rods I would have my dream sight.

It was actually a simple matter to use the SD sight as a template for the holes that I needed to drill. Next, I ran the blade through the drill press and Viola, I had my RCW (Romulus Custom Works biggrin.gif) sight done.

After I installed it, I carried out my standard range test and everything had returned to normal. Mission accomplished.


(SD on left, RCW on right)
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So, the moral of the story is, if you aren't a target shooter SD Fiber Optic Sights are great but, if you are a person who likes to make things as accurate as possible, it is fairly easy to create something like my RCW Sight which will allow you to get the best of both worlds.

What a great conclusion. Funny that the fiber optic sights had a bigger aperture than the stock ones.

This gives me an idea, since all you really did was drill into the stock ones; you could take one of those Lego Starwars light sabers and use that.

BTW, blue fiber optic sights would look great on that gun, match the grip perfectly!

Good how to. Whenever I get my Bomar sights I may have to mod them in a similar fashon. Do you know of anywhere you can get the fiber optic rods without the sites?

PxRxSxRX, I have your solution!

I had these from a long time ago when I was a kid:

click


click


If you want I can send them to you if you buy the silencer for like $3 more; just tell me what color you want.

Thanks.

The advantage of the bigger aperture is faster target acquisition. However, when I skirmish I normally point and shot without sighting in the first place so to me it's a lots cause.

I suppose that light sabers would work but traditional fiber optic material would probably work better.

I haven't actually looked for Fiber Optic Rods but my guess is that they would be available from online retailers fond in a quick Google search.

Romulus wrote:

Thanks.

The advantage of the bigger aperture is faster target acquisition. However, when I skirmish I normally point and shot without sighting in the first place so to me it's a lots cause.

I suppose that light sabers would work but traditional fiber optic material would probably work better.

I haven't actually looked for Fiber Optic Rods but my guess is that they would be available from online retailers fond in a quick Google search.

Your right, they don't bring in as much light but they still look pretty much the same.

But here are some you can buy alone: http://www.dentrinityshop.com/pr_details.jsp?pid=7997 But then you have about $40 in shipping...

Yeah, that might be cool. I'll probably hit up the local sporting good stores and gun shops this week and see what they've got, but something tells me I won't beat that deal from you. Hopefully it'll work out that I get that silencer from you then.