A tang sight is the rear sight of a pair of

iron sight Iron sights are a system of physical alignment markers (usually made of metallic material) used as a sighting device to assist the accurate aiming of ranged weapons (such as a firearm, airgun, crossbow or even compound bow), or less commonl ...

s used to aim or align a rifle so the bullet fired will hit the target. The sight is attached to the tang: a steel plate extending toward the butt from a rifle receiver for attachment of the receiver to a wooden

buttstock A gunstock or often simply stock, the back portion of which is also known as a shoulder stock, a buttstock or simply a butt, is a part of a long gun that provides structural support, to which the barrel, action, and firing mechanism are attach ...

. A tang sight often offers the maximum sight radius, or distance between the front and rear sights attached to the rigid receiver and barrel assembly of a rifle. Large sight radius decreases bullet placement errors caused by sight misalignment. Tang sights were widely used for long-range shooting during the late 19th century. They became less common as lighter rifles with heavier recoil increased the possibility of eye injury from the proximity of the sight to the shooter's face. Tang sights remain popular with individuals participating in historical re-enactment events and cowboy action shooting matches.

Sources

{{reflist Firearm sights