SinglePoint scope [Archive]

brownknees

April 15, 2006, 05:42

Sorry it took so long to reply. I have one of those all-in-one print/scan/fax/crash printer thingys. It won't take books so I've been trying to photograph the info without any luck.
Heres the stuff I'm typing in instead.
The source is the "FAL Rifle" book by collector grade publications.
The singlepoint sight was developed prior to the SUIT in 1968, modifications were made in 1971. Those included improving the twilight reticule illumination. This was the model adopted for service.
In daylight the sight projects a red dot that is self ajusting for illumination levels. The dot is lit by fibre-optics that collect ambient light & projects it back to the eyepiece.
In twilight/night conditions there is a tritium (betalux) light source that lights up a vertical bar. This bar is vertically above the dot, & it's lower end is just touching the upper edge of the dot.
This reticule is known as the "SP231".
Both illuminated items are designed to be slightly brighter than the surrounding illumination at all times.
Elevation & windage turrets allow the reticule to be zeroed, just like any telescopic sight.
The construction is a steel outer tube enclosing an aluminium optical tube.
Dimensions & weights:
Wt: 0.213 Kilo (7 1/2 Oz.)
OAL: 169.5mm (6 3/4")
Max Dia: 35.0mm (1 3/8")
Tube Dia: 25.4mm (1")

To use the sight both eyes are left open. the sight is looked "thru" and the brain superimposes the illuminated dot/bar on the image seen by the other eye. The appearance is of a dot/bar "floating in space" on the target. You could get an idea of how it worked by using any "red dot" sight, covering the front lens & looking with both eyes open.

There were some trials conducted that used a combination of very experienced & non experienced soldiers who were given a course of fire to be done using
A: The standard iron sights.
B: The "Singlepoint" sight.
C: The SUIT.
The results were that the less experienced shooters were quicker to train & hit better with both the the "Singlepoint" & the SUIT, but that experienced shooters had some time getting used to the optical sights as opposed to the iron sights they had been trained on.
At the conclusion of the tests all were hitting better, but slightly slower than with the iron sights.
The SUIT had a slightly higher hit rate than the "Singlepoint"
One shooter who was cross-dominant had major problems with both optical sights.

End quote from the book.

From memory there were singlepoint sights available to the general public here in the US in the late '70's, and a friend of mine had one. A very similar unit was the "Armson OEG".
I don't remember any illuminated bar, just a hot pink dot in the one I saw. I've also seen them with both clear & frosted domes on the front, although I have no idea if there was any internal difference between the two versions.

Hope that helps.