Backup open sights

[medvedqc]

In 38 years of hunting, of which I started with open sights, I too admit that I like having open sights on a rifle, and using QR type mounts that I can take off the scope if it should fail, or should I be tracking wounded game in thick brush where I prefer open sights to a scope.
And yes, I have a number of rifles with clean barrels. And yes, a spare rifle or sighted scope in QR rings are great back up strategies that I too have used.
I hadn't needed to take the scope and revert to the irons out of need due to scope failure until this spring...so yes, it is rare, but yes, it can and does happen.
Better to have and not need, than need and not have.
And as long as my eyesight will allow, I still enjoy shooting irons for hunting and target practice...and to keep the skills sharp!

back up optic or open sights is always a good idea and never left home without one kind or the other.

 

[Butcherbill]

Have not needed back up irons but I do like having them on rifles, I still enjoy using irons in general. In fact I try to buy a rifle with them when I want a new gun, getting harder to find them on rifles from the factory.

 

[Spruster]

over the years I was kinda disappointed in new rifles coming out with no sights .
I do like the looks of them , however don't use
Instead the cool factor is now recoil reducers

 

[DOUGLAS D]

Been Guiding big Game Hunters for almost 50 years mostly in very rugged Mountain Terrain. Seen Horses going over and more then a few busted Stocks and good Scopes with Brocken lenses. I would not even consider taking a Rifle out hunting without open sights especially on Fly in hunts. In the good old days until 2017 I always took the Scope off before tracking down a wounded Grizzly, I don't need a Scope to kill a Bear almost on top of me.

Best Rifles should be fitted with detachable Scope mounts where no Tools are needed. The Scope can stay well wrapped in the Packsack until things are heating up.

Much more important to have good quality Binoculars always handy and Glass every minute you can.

Cheers

Well maybe...If you are my guide and you're the one with his scope off his rifle and in his backpack. Fine. Fill your boots.
If I'm your client and you want my scope to be in my backpack until as you say "things are heating up" it ain't happening.
I'll totally agree with having the very best bino's and spotting scope you can carry.
If a horse rolls on my rifle the first thing to go is the stock.
Last thing I'm concerned with is having open sights on a busted rifle.

 

[Ardent]

Nearly all of my hunting has been iron sights, so absolutely. Been a lot of animals taken over the factory irons.

 

[DOUGLAS D]

###

 

[DOUGLAS D]

Nearly all of my hunting has been iron sights, so absolutely. Been a lot of animals taken over the factory irons.

My first years hunting was 100 percent irons and I’ll admit to actually having to learn the hard way how to use and shoot with a scope.
I can still use irons but they’re never going to be my first choice.

 

[Potashminer]

Just asking ,
what's it like with iron sights on a black bear or late hours on anything

I have a book called "Finn Aargaard - Selected Works" (Edit note -28-Jul-2023 - I managed to get the phrases backward for the title!) - I think it is a collection of various articles that he wrote for Rifle and Handloader magazine - Wolfe Publishing Co. Apparently in his time in Kenya, he owned two pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in 375 H&H. He also apparently kept very meticulous game count records. His first 375 H&H had a fixed "home made" aperture rear sight, apparently made for him and fitted at a gun shop in Nairobi. He managed to convince himself that he really did not need a 375 H&H, given the other firearms that he owned. His words were that it did not take long to discovery the fallacy of that, and the second 375 H&H rifle that he bought had a Weaver K2.5 scope on it. He says he made many shots with that scoped rifle that he would not have been able to take with the aperture sights - buffalo in dark shadows, etc. In perhaps another Rifle article, John Barsness reported that Finn's wife Berit, some years after Finn Aargaard passed on, was in Africa with that second 375 H&H, and took the rifle's 50th Cape Buffalo.

A picture of the "home made" rear aperture sight on Finn Aargaard's first 375 H&H (picture stolen from somewhere on Internet - possibly / probably previously posted on CGN):

 

[Ardent]

My first years hunting was 100 percent irons and I’ll admit to actually having to learn the hard way how to use and shoot with a scope.
I can still use irons but they’re never going to be my first choice.

Shoot scopes aplenty, I just find the uninterrupted open experience of irons my type of hunting. It’s all I’ve used in Africa and pretty well everything in North America, less some borrowed scoped rifles and a couple mountain rifle transgressions of my own. Guess it’s a bit of the thing that makes people pick up a bow.

Spruster a lot of guys think they own this forum, don't rise to the bait. Remember we're all here for fun and bull ####ting

Would we be happy if our kids treated the "different" kid in class like this guys? Do you act this way towards that " weird" coworker we all have?

I know a lot of guys on here are Christians. Love your neighbour, practice on Spruster

And yes I know, I do a bit of trolling myself but this is getting ridiculous

And in that thought, everyone has the right to remember. There’s no immediate reset button it takes time, though I do feel it’s always best to respond with restraint, that’s respect in its own way. Spruster has a long road in my eyes from the early work put in, as usual I’ll view it with restraint, wait and see. It’s a fair hill to climb with how he started.

Hoyt however I know in person, as solid as they come.

 

[0faustus0]

Ok, this thread does not make any sense any more .... where are the posts that were quoted here????

I can't make sense of this conversation ....

-----

But I do prefer a ghost ring or peep sights over an optic for the eastern woodlands and where shots are normally within 100 to 150 meters. And if I have an optic mounted, yes, I do have backup irons ...

 

[NAA]

Ok, this thread does not make any sense any more .... where are the posts that were quoted here????

I can't make sense of this conversation ....

-----

But I do prefer a ghost ring or peep sights over an optic for the eastern woodlands and where shots are normally within 100 to 150 meters. And if I have an optic mounted, yes, I do have backup irons ...

Unfortunately, some posts in this thread had to be removed due to not following the general rules & guidelines for posting.

Infraction(s) will likely follow if that continues from here.

----------
NAA.

 

[conor_90]

Hoyt however I know in person, as solid as they come

I have had nothing but solid dealings with zhoyt and I'm sure he is a nice guy.

I can be a prickly little ####, my "advice" applies to us all. Me included


Anyways, I will continue to hunt with irons for the same reasons many hunt with bows. I'll even agree that they have their advantages. But mostly, I just enjoy carrying an iron (peeps preferably) sighted rifle. I would really like to take some game with my kipplaufs irons, nothing like carrying a 5.5 lb " magic wand" that points like a shotgun

 

[Ardent]

They bloody well work. I’ve yet to find an ethical shot for my style of hunting I can’t take with irons.

 

[dgradinaru]

I prefer to have irons on a rifle. During the off season I like to have fun at the range or just knowing they're there as backup for "just in case scenarios" gives me peace of mind. I grew up shooting iron sights before scopes, so I try each season to tag something out with irons to keep the tradition going. In my opinion makes for more fun and more rewarding feel to the hunt.

 

[Spruster]

Ardent
what's the highest score you or a client ever got

Black bear
Grizzly

 

[DOUGLAS D]

I’ve no problem with irons if that’s your primary sighting system.
My original question was have you ever pulled a scope off your rifle and then concluded a successful hunt using your backup iron sights. I never have and that’s why I asked.
I’m lucky in the aspect that I’ve been using good optics on my hunting rifles and make double sure the rings and bases are as foolproof as I can buy.
And yes I’ve seen scopes fail and fog up but only once in an actual hunting situation.
In that instance it was a 3 hour round trip to replace a 20 year old Redfield that was way past its expiration date.
That one wasn’t on my rifle but on one of my hunting partners.

 

[Ardent]

In that light, can’t say I’ve ever had to pull the scope, I have but out of user preference. I have had a client destroy their scope on a scree slope and have to use my loaner, rifle was fine so irons could have worked. Not many people put the time into practicing shooting centerfire with irons at 200+ though anymore, so even if he had them unlikely they would have been used. Personally, I think rifles look bald without sights, but others see the lines as cleaner. A gun with irons says adventure to me.

 

[iron cat]

I hunt with irons on a regular basus but have never had to use them because the scope failed .
I do take it off on a regular basis and hunt with the irons because I like to
Cat

 

[Brassman66]

Well maybe...If you are my guide and you're the one with his scope off his rifle and in his backpack. Fine. Fill your boots.
If I'm your client and you want my scope to be in my backpack until as you say "things are heating up" it ain't happening.
I'll totally agree with having the very best bino's and spotting scope you can carry.
If a horse rolls on my rifle the first thing to go is the stock.
Last thing I'm concerned with is having open sights on a busted rifle.

Would never Dream off telling a Client what to do with his Scope, but I remember a time or two where a Client happily used my old beat up Browning Safari Grade .338 with quick detachable Leopold Scope rings to take that Trophy because his Scope was hit hard when he stumbled in that Shale Rock.

Cheers

 

[Brassman66]

I have a book called "Selected Works - Finn Aargaard" - I think it is a collection of various articles that he wrote for Rifle and Handloader magazine - Wolfe Publishing Co. Apparently in his time in Kenya, he owned two pre-64 Winchester Model 70 in 375 H&H. He also apparently kept very meticulous game count records. His first 375 H&H had a fixed "home made" aperture rear sight, apparently made for him and fitted at a gun shop in Nairobi. He managed to convince himself that he really did not need a 375 H&H, given the other firearms that he owned. His words were that it did not take long to discovery the fallacy of that, and the second 375 H&H rifle that he bought had a Weaver K2.5 scope on it. He says he made many shots with that scoped rifle that he would not have been able to take with the aperture sights - buffalo in dark shadows, etc. In perhaps another Rifle article, John Barsness reported that Finn's wife Berit, some years after Finn Aargaard passed on, was in Africa with that second 375 H&H, and took the rifle's 50th Cape Buffalo.

A picture of the "home made" rear aperture sight on Finn Aargaard's first 375 H&H (picture stolen from somewhere on Internet - possibly / probably previously posted on CGN):

View attachment 696407

Very practical and always works not to mention the extra line of sight which makes for more accurate shooting. Very similar what I have on my shooting Iron.

Cheers