Midas Target Sight - A Review

of books, magazines, web sites, movies, whatever is concerned with Archery...

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
GrahameA
Posts: 4692
Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2005 4:28 pm
Location: Welcome to Brisneyland, Oz

Midas Target Sight - A Review

#1 Post by GrahameA » Wed Jan 14, 2009 6:15 am

Midas Target Sight

For those who shoot Target Archery buying a sight can be an expensive, time consuming business. In my case I generally keep my good sights and they get assigned to bow and that is where they stay forever. Over the last month I have been using a Midas Target Sight from John McDonald at AMSO 128.

In sights I look for the following:
• It has to be able to, stand up to be being shot without becoming loose and rattling in a few weeks/months. So far this has not developed any annoying rattles.
• The fit in the adjusting mechanism has to be “neat” with no slop and no backlash. There was no slop or backlash present when I opened the packet and so far none has developed.
• The pitch of the range adjusting mechanism has to be fine so that I can finely adjust the sight to bring the arrow onto the target and it has to have a graduation so I can see how much I adjusting it with a positive feedback (click mechanism) as you adjust it. I would prefer a finer pitch but the pitch is acceptable and the click mechanism is positive in operation.
• The pitch of the windage adjusting mechanism has to be fine so that I can finely adjust the sight to bring the arrow onto the target and it has to have a graduation so I can see how much I adjusting it with a positive feedback (click mechanism) as you adjust it. I would prefer a finer pitch but the pitch is acceptable the click mechanism is suitable.
• Screws that are supposed to stay done up “do” and they do come undone when you want them to. This particularly applies to locking mechanisms. With a minimum number of adjusting locking screws this so far no issues.
• It has to be able to accept of sight pins/lenses.
• It has to be able to accept a sight tape. I would have liked to see a finer pointers – and they would be after I took to them with file..

I mounted the sight on a spare bow and that has been the test bed for it. I have not shot it on a Compound as of yet and would not recommend it for such use.

Sight fitted on a bow.
Sight fitted to bow.
Sight fitted to bow.
sight_01.jpg (26.23 KiB) Viewed 3205 times
Overall the sight reminded me of similar sights that I have used but not quite finished to the same high level. It has a vertical traverse mechanism to adjust the range which operated by a threaded hole in which a threaded rod is rotated and the knobs, which have graduation marks, are fitted with a positive click. There is no apparent backlash and there is no locking mechanism rather it relies on the click mechanism to stop the range mechanism from moving. The lack of a locking mechanism has not presented any problems so far. You can disengage the traverse mechanism to rapidly adjust the sight block but personally I found it easy enough to just wind it up and down.

One side of the vertical column is engraved with a series of number and the other has a flat surface where a sight tape could be fitted and even has a pointer.

Windage is a similarly adjusted abd there are engraved marks to show the location of the block.

The supplied sight pin fits a threaded sleeve and this in turn fits in a receiver on the sight. You can set the sight windage zero both by turne the sight within the threaded sleeve and by moving it in the sight block. It is locked in the receiver clamping Allen keyed bolt.

The supplied sight pin can be fitted with a piece of optic fibre. So you have a bright dot to align on the target. Personal preference here and I would replace the supplied sight pin with Triton Recurve sight as soon as possible.

Right-hand side of sight.
Right-hand side of sight.
Right-hand side of sight.
sight_02.jpg (30.31 KiB) Viewed 3205 times


Left-hand side of sight.
Left-hand side of sight.
Left-hand side of sight.
sight_03.jpg (30.23 KiB) Viewed 3205 times
Windage Marks
Windage Marks
Windage Marks
sight_04.jpg (29.5 KiB) Viewed 3205 times
With every new sight I take them apart and then put them back with nail varnish on the threads so that screws do not fall out at inappropriate moments. On this particular sight I just nipped them all up and then started shooting with it – so far nothing has vibrated loose.

Overall

This sight is not of the same build quality of say a Shibuya but, depending upon its price, it should represent excellent value for money.
Grahame.
Shoot a Selfbow, embrace Wood Arrows, discover Vintage, be a Trendsetter.

"Unfortunately, the equating of simplicity with truth doesn't often work in real life. It doesn't often work in science, either." Dr Len Fisher.

Post Reply