Lick the front sight?

P

Prof Young

New member
Occasionally in a movie or TV show you'll see someone lick their thumb and then moisten their front sight before they shoot. Is this just "theatre" or does it really serve a purpose?
Live well, be safe
Prof Young
 
I've seen this in just one movie, Land of the Dead.

The theory is that it makes the front sight reflect light so you can pick it up. Decent night sights would work better, but the shooter had an old carbine so maybe better sights weren't an option.
 
Gary Cooper in the movie "Sgt. York" did it. Nothing to it except superstition and habit like baseball players and their rituals.
 
It was also done in a scene in Ball of Fire, mostly as a joke about Sgt. York. A gangster wetted the front sight on his revlover and said he saw it in a movie.

Ball of Fire also starred Gary Cooper, and was also released in 1941 (same year as Sgt. York).

Regards,
Tom
 
A few years ago, at a match, I pulled my carry gun out of the holster -- and then had to flick a dustbunny off the front sight before I could shoot.

pax
 
Seems like everybody's seen Sgt York do it, even me.

Then there are the carbide lamps that some folk used to blacken their sights as well as 'markers' and paint that do the job too.
 
Most Service Rifle match shooters blacken their sights with smokers http://www.sbsdistributing.com/index.php?pr=Ray-Vin_SuperSmoker or other sources of soot. Used to be able to buy what looked like a Bic lighter but was filled with acetylene instead of butane so it burned sooty.

Someone on another Forum said he used a smoker made by filling a .308 or 7.62x39 case with used cleaning patches or a piece of old T-shirt. Leave a wick, fill with oil, light it and it burns sooty. Cap with a used 9 mm case. This is what I use and it works very well except not in wind. Have to smoke sights before the match in calm air.
 
I always thought it was a backwoods (Alvin York was from rural Tennessee) superstition akin to spitting on one's hands before undertaking a task ......


Spit has always been a point of superstition .....
 
superstition akin to spitting on one's hands before undertaking a task ......*
Click to expand...

Spitting in your hand before a handshake to seal a deal I buy as superstition. Spitting on your hands before you grab a tool to undertake a task has more to do with improving your grip.

Regards,
Tom
 
It is a modest amount of spit, and it is spread over a fair area. It is nowhere near enough to lubricate.

Dry callouses on hard wood slide more than slightly damp callouses on hardwood. Sometimes it is also about cutting the dust. Kinda like dampening your sneakers before hitting the basketball court to improve traction.

I will also say that spit sticks to a lot of stuff.

Tom

PS Here is a link related to spitting on the soles of basketball shoes.
"Sheffield said that when he played in high school, he had simple method to help with traction. 'We spit on the floor and wiped our feet, way back when,' he said with a laugh."
 
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i would guess dirty sight ?. even some of my pistols' sights get sooty with smokeless powder after a couple hundred rounds out at rio salado
 
If the sight is black wetness gives it a little darker contrast temporarily (until the spit drys). It is the same idea used by comp target shooters with black markers to give the front sight a little more contrast crispness. Of course with stainless or silver sights it sometimes has just the opposite effect and makes a halo glare, depending on how the sun hits it. I can't say I have ever used spit on my sights, but have used a black marker to sharpen them up and take off some of the glare.
 
I always thought "licking" the sight was to keep it from fogging up? I didn't think spit could cut the glare down, at least not much. I can see it being a superstitious act like not changing your undershirt during hockey playoffs.
 
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