I have always had difficulty maintaining a proper sight picture using the stock AR-15 front sight post. Balancing a tiny bullseye on top of the broad blunt front post just didn’t seem like the best choice for target shooting with my forty-year-old eyes. The stock AR post covers 18 inches at 100 yards and can be used as a range finder as the average man’s chest is 18 inches wide.
Always willing to try something new I purchased a Kagar Systems AR-15 Hood Duplex Crosshair Front Sight from Midway USA for $29.99. The sight is similar to the HK circle with a post within a circle. The wide and deep hood provides quick and easy alignment, centering the hood within the circle of the rear aperture is both fast and simple. Inside of the hood is a pair of duplex crosshairs similar to a duplex reticule of a riflescope. The diameter of the crosshairs is many times smaller than the stock post and allows for more detailed work.
The sight is CNC machined and offers a 0.020 bold line outer perimeter hair and a 0.010 fine line at the crosshairs. The hooded aperture is a large 0.240 diameter circle. It is finished in a deep black semi-gloss color.
The Karar Systems sight simply screws back down into the front sight base. Half of the alignment holes will not function, as they’ll have the sight’s hood sideways. I installed mine and found the notch that put the flat portion of the sight level to the bottom of the front sight.
Looking through the rear apertures I found it very easy and quite natural to maintain the front sight’s ring centered in the rear aperture. I could then shift focus to the fine crosshairs and get a much better idea as to where the rifle was aimed.
Kagar has just introduced a new model with a small bead below the central crosshairs allowing a second zero for a different round or a second range. If you’re looking for a replacement front sight which at the same time allows for quick alignment and fine target work the KNS duplex sight is worth close examination.
The Armalite M-15A4 has a detachable front sight allowing for the use of glass or iron sights.
