[ARCHIVED THREAD] - A.R.M.S #38 EX Swan Sleeve questions

Posted: 3/27/2021 2:07:47 PM EDT

I recently traded back an 11.5” AR pistol from a buddy, and he had mounted a Swan Sleeve on it for a rear sight while it was his. It’s reasonably salty and has the A2-style rear sight. Looking at pictures of the newer ones they have a different type of rear sight. When did ARMS change from one style to the other? Someone also filed the small aperture flat on the top and notched it, for reasons that baffle me. Are replacement parts available?

I don’t plan on mounting an optic on it any time soon, but I can’t find a lot of info on the rail system itself.

Posted: 3/27/2021 2:42:48 PM EDT

[#1]

The rear sight could be a CSAT by Paul Howe. Used for CQB sight picture.

Posted: 3/27/2021 3:45:13 PM EDT

[#2]

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Some pics of the sight itself.

Posted: 3/27/2021 3:53:20 PM EDT

[#3]

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Quoted:
https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/15874/AC08C2E4-B383-4A53-B4E2-B40416D53E47_jpe-1882310.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/15874/09CF53C5-3AA5-488E-AD64-09AB31872489_jpe-1882311.JPG https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/15874/4E9E7684-071D-4038-8C1A-1E30D8DDD6D5_jpe-1882312.JPG

Some pics of the sight itself.

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That is as it shipped from ARMS.

They made the precision flip up sight as combination of precision short range peep sight(since it is nonadjustable for range) and the notch is their way of providing a long range sight of you put the tip of the front post into the dovetail.

Put that rail on a rifle and try shooting it at 100 yards. Go from short range aperature, mark point of impact, move to precision aperature and mark point of impact, then treat the top of the precision aperature as a traditional rifle sight and watch your point of impact. Gain is like 6+ inches of I recall correctly.

My 14.5 in gun got a 38ext back around 2000 and the notched sight aperature was a thing back then.

Cannot say if I have the narrower sight flip up body or not, think I do.

But I could be confused with my ARMS SIR that is on my AR10 from 2004. Knowing what was available in 2004 and the narrower profile housing may be from that time frame moving forward.

So yours is probably a 2000 era rail.

Posted: 3/27/2021 4:23:12 PM EDT

[#4]

It's on an 11.5" pistol right now, and the sight was zeroed at 50 yards, the closest range available at the time. I'll shoot it as soon as it dries out a bit here, we've been getting slammed with thunderstorms all day.

Posted: 3/27/2021 4:26:16 PM EDT

[#5]

Quote History

Quoted:
It's on an 11.5" pistol right now, and the sight was zeroed at 50 yards, the closest range available at the time. I'll shoot it as soon as it dries out a bit here, we've been getting slammed with thunderstorms all day.

View Quote

Probably see a much higher point of impact change with the shorter sight radius.

I forget what it was supposedly calibrated to whether it was carbine or rifle.

Posted: 3/29/2021 9:27:13 AM EDT

[#6]

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Maybe it’s my progressive lenses or just my aging eyes, but it’s difficult to get a precise sight picture with the small aperture w/ notch. The material above the ghost ring looks like a thin piece of hair or wire, with no discernible notch, and my eye has problems centering the post in the ring due to this. I have no issues with the big ring so it’s going to get used exclusively.

Posted: 4/1/2021 9:00:44 PM EDT

[#7]

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What’s the purpose of the screw in the front of the rail?

Posted: 4/2/2021 4:38:16 PM EDT

[#8]

I have an ARMS 38EX with different apertures - the large aperture has a vestigial groove at the top, but it's pretty useless. This one has long-dead tritium markers on the large aperture, so it may be an after-market or special aperture set. My ARMS #40 sight is the same, but without the tritium.

It looks like ARMS trimmed the small aperture on later versions, since it sticks up above the sight body when the sight is folded. On the older versions of the 38-EX and the standard 40 sight, this can interfere with a lot of scopes, especially because the #40 sight isn't very low when folded to begin with. On the plus side (for me), the large aperture is in place when it's flipped up.

The current version is the 38L-EX, which has the 40L sight integrated. The 38L has both apertures folded at the same time, giving it a lower folded profile, but the small aperture is deployed when it's flipped, so if you want the large aperture, you have to flip the small one down.