Hello all. With all the discussion about the Robbins tang sight over on the gunsmithing thread, I thought I'd dig another interesting sight out of the collection. This Carver sight came to me mounted on a No.4 Ballard & was an added bonus. I'd never seen one before and the only information I could find about the sight was in "The BreechLoading Single Shot Match rifle" by Roberts & Waters (pgs 114-115). I'd say it was fairly innovative for its time having a provision for precise windage adjustments as well as features that allowed mounting on a number of different SS rifles (the rear mounting screw slot & a locking plate that allowed the angle of the staff to be set according to the rifle it was mounted on). Roberts & Waters states that the base could be used on Maynards through to Winchesters but my base will only work with hole spacings up to those on a Stevens. In practice, I've found the locking plate for the staff a bit difficult to set up  but once done it works fine. Here are some photos.
Spud

Locking plate on staff

That is the first Carver I have seen pictures of. I have line engravings from the old Shooting and fishing magazine. I copied some of the features on the prototypes for Sergio’s universal rear sight that he had made in the Ukraine. I will share some pics of the engravings. Thanks for sharing.

Spud wrote on Aug 4^th, 2018 at 10:06pm:


Only the Soule sight was as well designed.  A demonstration of the sad fact that a very clever & practical idea does not guarantee commercial success, whereas a clumsy, awkward, design--windage adjustment in the front sight--becomes the norm.

Years ago, I bought one of these (unidentified) on ebay, but later succumbed to the greed of reselling it.

That movable locking plate on the Carver looks like a quick slick way of adjusting the staff angle.

never seen a carver tang sight.i had a couple of ballard long ranges that had carver front sights.both were very early guns,probably before ballard had there's figured out.