Pennsylvania Game News - August 2013 - 61

ond benefit was that the tang sight
was closer to the eye, creating a longer
sighting radius that was much more
conducive to accurate shooting. The
third was that because a shooter looks
through the aperture and not at it, the
eye will automatically center the front
sight, and all that has to be done is put
the front sight on the target (rather
than trying to line up the rear and front
sight together, then keeping them in
line while getting them on the target).
As popular as this
sight became, it still
had one detriment in
that it had no adjustment
for windage. If the front sight
was dovetailed, then it could
be drifted left or right, but if
the front sight was fixed on the
barrel it was just bent in the direction
needed. To cure the lack of windage
adjustment of the #1 tang, in 1887,
Lyman designed the #15 tang sight,
which was similar to the #1, except
that it was stationary and could not be
folded down when not in use. As good
as this sight was, it never became very
popular because it could not be folded
down. The, rifle, therefore, could not
be comfortably held or carried by the
grip.
In 1885, Bill Lyman also patented
the dovetailed front sight with an ivory
bead (and later in gold, silver and red),
which would stand out better against
a dark background over the conventional blued metal post. The following
year he also made them for shotguns,
of which both are still manufactured
today.
Between 1878 and 1896, Bill Lyman
was the driving force in designing,
creating and manufacturing a variety
of fixed and adjustable front and rear
AUGUST  2013

sights for hunting/target rifles, and
pistols and shotguns. Just prior to his
passing in 1896 he knew that with the
new breed of bolt action rifles (with
the long throw of the bolt handle) the
tang sight had its limitations, and he
began to develop the fully adjustable
receiver sight that would be attached
at the rear-most portion of a receiver.
Even though the receiver sight was
a little farther away from the eye than
the tang, it was much more convenient, because it was out of the way
when gripping the stock of a rifle and
for all practical purposes accuracy was
the same. Even after his passing, the
Lyman Family Corporation followed
through and made receiver sights for
bolt actions, lever actions, single-shots,
pumps and semi-autos, all of which
have evolved to accommodate today’s
firearms.
In 1925 the Lymans bought the
Ideal Reloading Tool Company
that had been making reloading tools since 1884. These
tools covered the gambit
from bullet casting,
lubricating and sizing,
to cartridge and shotshell reloading
presses and tools, along with powder
measures, decappers, a reloading manual and other accessories. Throughout
the decades, Lyman has evolved its
reloading equipment to be state of the
art, which has allowed it to be a leader
in the industry.
Because Lyman was a major factor
in the gun sight business, it seemed
only natural that it would get involved
in telescopic sights, and so in 1928
Lyman bought the Winchester scope
rights, and in 1929 the Stevens scope
rights as well. From these purchases
Lyman brought out the Lyman A-5 in
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