Kodiak .72 revisited.....again

[Tim B]

Hello,

I have searced the forums here regarding the kodiak .72 double, and bough one last week. Took it to the range yesterday, after breaking in....OK getting over my fear, I ended up with a load, 120gr 777, and PRB, shooting level/equal height and 3 inches apart at 50 yards. More than happy for 1st shoot.
Now, specifically, what modifications have any of you made to your rifles, esp. the sites.
I would like to switch to classic 2 or 3 bladed rear site and will change the front site as needed, but would like some direction. Many different choices out there, and want to do this once.

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,

Tim

 

[scrat]

Tim dont do anything yet. If this was your first time out. My biggest suggestion. Get used to the gun. Try different loads and powders. but get used to the gun. Once your comfortable with it then you can start looking into changing the sites

 

[Cosmoline]

I also HATE the factory sights on my Kodiak. They are cumbersome and have a much too minute picture for the fast acquisition demanded by a doublegun. I am in the process of building custom sights with a stouter patridge style front and a special doble-notch rear sight calibrated for my particular rifle, with the L and R notches side by side to line me up at my chosen range. Mine is a double .54 express and I'm planning on regulating it to 75 yards or so.

The good news is you don't need to alter them. There's no point. Just unscrew them and start fresh. The barrel rib has two screw holes in front and one in back, so you can adapt any sight system that has a screw hole.

At this juncture I'm still looking for the best sight blank to use as a platform. I have done some experiements with a strip of brass as a standin for the rear sight and the idea seems to work fine, with much faster acquisition and ease of use than the factory sights. I also dropped them lower on the barrel and got rid of the ramps.

The advantage of the double notch is that you can calibrate your own load and range. If you are already satisfied with the regluation on yours using a single rear notch, it simplifies things enormously. There's still the problem of locating flip-up style safari sights. Given the fast drop of those roundballs, you'd almost need something along the lines of a Springfield Rifle Musket's flip sights. The modern smokeless style I've seen will not give you more than a few dozen yards of span between them. One example of that would be on the CZ safari magnums. You might consider just picking your range and calibrating for it with a patridge front and a square notch rear. Simple, fast sights almost like a handgun's. Not the fine target sights it comes with.

I'll be posting a thread on this soon. If I can get off my duff I'll be hauling the cannon out to the range for more testing and will post the results here.

 

[scrat]

Cosmoline sounds good. Look forward to reading about this

 

[Rampant_Colt]

I've heard that replacing the nipples with musket cap-type in place of the number 11 nipples for more reliable ignition. [or is that the other way around?]

HERE'S a nice used .58 for $500 shipped!

 

[Cosmoline]

FYI I did a second round of tests with a temp sight on the Kodiak. I noticed some surprisingly major variation from the first time out. This time the right barrel was dead center instead of veering left, and the left barrel was still veering right. The only big change was I redid the barrel/stock fit. There is an undue amount of tension pulling down on the barrel due to a fitting screwup at the factory--at least I assume it was a screwup. I may just bypass the key and lock the barrel hooks in place with some removeable epoxy. Otherwise the bottom of the stock is pulling down all the time and creating a spring tension that I suspect is causing the strange patterns.

 

[Cosmoline]

Here's what I did with mine. I picked up a rear express sight blank from midway and just screwed it onto the rib. Fits perfectly and very snug with a wee bit of filing. Now all that remains is to choose the best load combination and file the sight to fit. Two notches, one for each barrel. And no need to flip one up and the other down.

Of course, since I've got a new flinter on the way and about five hundred projects waiting for me this winter I'm not going to see this one through the rest of the way. I've put the beastie up for sale here for five bills. Whoever gets it can choose their preferred load and file notches accordingly.

 

[Pancho]

Cosmoline, If you decide to sell your rear sights let me know.

 

[alemonkey]

$@$@&^ it Cosmoline, why did you have to put that up for sale? I just bought another rifle, and now I have to convince my wife to let me buy your Kodiak! Do you have any idea how hard that's going to be?



Seriously, I might be very interested if you haven't gotten rid of it by the end of the year.

 

[Cosmoline]

I'm in trouble myself! I gotta move this one before the other one gets here.