There has been a lot of speculation about this term. It often shows up when describing British long-range rifles; for example, a sharpshooter is said to have killed Gen. Sedgwick in the Wilderness with a "globe-sighted Whitworth."

Some have thought this meant a telescope. I think, instead, the term referred to a hooded front sight (often a ball on a post) and perhaps an aperture rear sight ("peep sight").

Of course, the term could have meant different things to different people back then.

(comments not much use, huh?)

Geoff Walden