DIY Low light sights for a rifle made from scrap LEDs

I purchased a .177 'springer' air rifle some years ago to control vermin in our garden/backyard. I'd had considerable success with this method until this year when it was evident that the rats were coming out to search for any surplus grain left in the poultry feed bowls at a much later time of day, that is, dusk. Furthermore, when they couldn't find any they started to attack our vegetables and more worryingly our quail. As my rifle has only the original iron sights on it, I found it difficult to see the sights in such low light but I could still see the rat! I tried painting the foresight with white paint which helped but only by a few minutes longer than before.

By a coincidence, we were tidying up the plants at the front of the house and I came across a few inches of LED lights that were used to decorate the foliage at the front of the house at Christmas. I started to think about using LEDs to illuminate both my sights and ducked into the workshop to rummage around in my 'not quite ready to go to the dump' collection. The result being that I ended up with a battery pack and a whole string of coloured LEDs that had started to loose lights due to faulty connections.

I started with the two white LEDs which I'd found by the front door.  To establish if these worked, I connected them to a 5V dc source. The tails leading to the lamps looked like bare wire but in fact they were coated in a varnish to insulate them. I removed this with a lighted match and lightly sanded the ends. Sure enough, the LEDs worked.

I cut off the end LED with sufficient wire for soldering to the battery pack leads. Once cooled, I insulated the connections with PVC tape.

The next step was to attach this LED to the rifle barrel so that it would illuminate the foresight. Once I was happy with the amount of light hitting the post of the foresight, I fixed the LED in position with PVC tape. It is important to note that the LED had to lie as flat as possible so as not to obstruct the view along the rifle barrel and yet still illuminate the sight. The battery pack was attached to the rifle stock with a single cable tie and the wires from it to the light were taped to the barrel leaving a loop at the hinge so that there was sufficient freedom when cocking the rifle. I ensured the pack did not interfere with how I held the rifle when aiming.

That evening I tried the new arrangement and found the foresight well-illuminated but whilst it was visible at a later hour in the evening, I could not clearly distinguish the rear sight. Back to the workshop for modifications!

I decided to have one of the green LED from the string of discarded lights and soldered the bared ends in parallel with the connections to the front sight LED. When I positioned this LED I attached it with PVC tape with a small piece of foam rubber under the front tip so as to tilt it up to illuminate the sight. As most owners of springer rifles know, the rear sight is on the barrel of the gun and so it was important to check that the cocking action and the upswing of the rear of the barrel did not hit the LED.

The next opportunity I had at my evening target(s) was a success in that I fired once, one hit, one dead rat! I have repeated this 2 more times, with a hit every time.

One of the main reasons for the immediate success is that I have not had to change my sighting technique, what worked in full daylight conditions now works to at least 30 minutes after sunset.

This modification cost me nothing and the results have been impressive. So, I shall continue with my evening vigils until my uninvited dinner guests take the hint and find a more welcoming dinner table. The Quail are pretty happy too now that their greenhouse is safe again!

The Film

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Until next time and from a sunny day in Normandie,

Cheers, Andy

© Andy Colley 2019