Having another crack at drawing Mephisto's gun. Does anyone have a better image of the front sight other than what I already have (= everything on the net!). I can only see a blurry ring with something above and below the barrel is images in Whitmore's book and internet images.
Also; there's a piece of what looks like angle iron fixed to one side of the breech. Any ideas on what that was for? Attached is my effort thus far (although I started 2+ years ago!). The front sight is conjecture, as are some of the dimensions of details.
At the top of page 6 or your article, I believe you can just make out a band about 2/3rds back from the muzzle. I saw a reference in an article to Mephisto having an iron sight recently but discounted it as an error. I had in mind a telescopic sight like the Sockel mounts, but down the centre line. However, the more I look, the more I see the simple sight.
I'm thinking the sight was a simple post fitted to the top of a steel band which was clamped in position by a bolt underneath. It probably was easier to remove the gun without it, and in later images it seems to be gone.
There are three holes on the top of the barrel over the breech. I wonder if these secured a simple rear sight.
The barrel is upside down in Mephisto - has been for years. I agree it looks like there's something around the barrel of Mephisto after it was recovered - it could be a strap with
a simple foresight.
I think there was a comment on this forum that A7V gunners preferred the simple sights of the bocklafette mount because it gave them a better field of view compared to the telescopic sight.