Another Sudicatis

[Ron Wood]

Back in early June, â??Jack Lawmanâ?� posted photos of his nice Artillery and gave me credit for assisting in its acquisition. What he didnâ??t say was that when he found it, it was wearing a very nice set of the rare Sudicatis night sights. He graciously offered to sell them to me and now it is my turn to give him credit for helping me add the sights to my collection. I have mounted them on my one and only Artillery, a 1917 DWM, and they look like they really belong there. They are a bit different than the neat sights that were posted on this forum by Mauro Baudino, and published in his excellent book, in that the front sight-attaching band is split rather than a solid band like Mauroâ??s. This, I imagine, makes it easier to install. The knurled attaching knobs are also much smaller. I would think this was a later attempt to make the sight more â??tacticalâ?� in that it would now fit into an unmodified artillery holster.

I feel very privileged to own this hard to find item, and I am deeply grateful to Jack.

[Dwight Gruber]

Ron,

Congratulations on adding another unique item to your collection. And kudos to Jack for the assistance.

--Dwight

[mauro]

Hi Ron,
Nice find.
In my web site I have now collected more info about this nice tool and there are interesting pictures as well.
In addition, if you read the article about Luger artillery in my web site, you can see that there si an errata corrige when I introduce the Sudicatis. In fact, in my book there is an error when I analyse this tool: the picture I have proposed in my book for the rear sight is actually a K98 model modified to fit the LP08. When I wrote the book the information about the Sudi were really scarce.
What you have and what is now in the article (web site) is the original one.

If you don't mind I will use your picture in my web site as well.

Cheers,
Mauro

[Tomathvl]

Ron,
Real nice, congratulations on the acquisition.
Question: what is purpose of lens looking doohickey in back of front site?
Tom

[Ron Wood]

Mauro,
Thank you for the information and you are certainly welcome to use the photos on your web site. Glad I could contribute!

Tom,
That is just the back cover that holds the glass vial containing the radium in place.

[Vlim]

Normally speaking, the lens would be transparant with light emitting properties (that's where the radium bit came in).

The radium will oxidyze over time, creating a white/greyish surface that is no longer transparant nor light emitting, but still very much radioactive.

The oxidizing process will produce toxic fumes, so it's important to keep the stuff in a well-ventilated place (which a safe is usually not!).

[the gunman]

" My God Ron what a wonderful find"

[laoshi75]

Ron, a very rare and wonderful accessoirie, congratulations !

[Ron Wood]

Tom,
In response to your question, I may have gotten my "back" and "front" mixed up. On the rear of the front sight (the shooter's view) the yellowish lens like object is the glass vial containing the radium. On the front of the front sight (the shootee's view) is the cover I mentioned in my previous post.

[wlyon]

Ron
What a great addition to your collection!! Bill

[Mauser720]

Ron -

Wow.

Does the radium in the front sight glow similar to a watch dial that is exposed to light and then taken into a dark place?

Mauser720 - Ron

[Ron Wood]

Ron,
The watch dial is photoluminescent paint that "stores" light energy and then glows in the dark until the stored energy is drained (something to do with exciting molecules to a higher energy state that then emit photons (light) until they drop back down to a stable energy state). Radium on the other hand emits radiation (alpha particles I think) that excites a phosphorescent coating causing it to emit light/photons. Radium has a fairly short half-life, radioactively speaking, and eventually due to the combination of reduced radiation and aging of the phosphorescent coating the sight loses its ability to glow. Exposing it to light doesn't restore it. I am afraid my sights, like me, have lost their vigor and no longer shine.

I probably should have included a close up of the back of the rear sight in my first post so that it would have shown that there are also radium inserts in it. In the dark it presents a sort of "three dot" night sight picture (actually a dash-dot-dash picture )

[Vlim]

The half-life of Radium is about 1600 years, so take some care

[Ron Wood]

Gerben,
Thanks for the warning! Since Alpha radiation won't penetrate a sheet of paper and is only harmful if ingested, I promise not to lick the sights!

[Vlim]

Ron,

Yes, it's important to remember not to stick a luger in any body cavities

They're strictly for external use only

Anyway, you can't be too careful with this stuff.

[Mauser720]

Ron -

Extremely interesting. Thank you for the explanation.

I think it is correct that even though it does not glow any more, it is still radioactive. I have a sample of radioactive ore (uranium) that came with a child's chemistry set. I checked it with a geiger counter and it is still giving off radiation. Now today if you tried to sell a child's chemistry set that came with radioactive ore, I'm sure you'd never be allowed to do so.

It might be interesting to check your sights with a geiger counter and just see what they are doing.

Mauser720 - Ron

[Ron Wood]

The last time I handled a geiger counter was in the '60s, so I don't have one right at hand to check it out. But, as Gerben said, Radium has a half-life of around 1600 years so I am sure there is some life in the old sights still.