Back up iron sights: carry another scope instead?

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philthygeezer

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I've been thinking about fitting a barrel or two with iron sights as a back up if the scope breaks or fogs out.

But then what about just tossing another scope in your pack? Wouldn't that be better? Scopes don't weigh much.
 
Not easy to zero a scope in the woods my friend. Not without scaring all the critters away. The chances of your scope actually breaking is not the real issue as most decent quality scopes will take a beating. It is usually the scope getting hit on something and losing zero, as I understand it. In which case you sould have 2 scopes and no zero.
 
mlehtovaara said:
Not easy to zero a scope in the woods my friend. Not without scaring all the critters away. The chances of your scope actually breaking is not the real issue as most decent quality scopes will take a beating. It is usually the scope getting hit on something and losing zero, as I understand it. In which case you sould have 2 scopes and no zero.
Click to expand...

It isn't that difficult to re zero a rifle. In fact it should be checked as a matter of course on any back in the weeds hunt. On the other side of the coin is the irons that you can't be remotely certain haven't shifted zero themselves. I don't pretend to know the answer, but If I was alone I would have another scope. If there is another gun in camp I take the chance knowing there is at least some form of backup in someone else's rifle.

Scopes and rifles fail so seldom that it is hardly worth worrying about, but it does happen. I was on the phone with D'Arcy Echols a couple of weeks ago. He had just had a client call him irate that one of his Echols Legends had broken on a sheep hunt. A $15000 rifle was now in two pieces! He had fallen down the mountain and broke the McMillan EDGE constructed stock right at the wrist. IMO the whole situation was a fluke, but the stupid part was he had another $15000 "backup" rifle safely tucked away in a safe several states away. He drove home, retrieved the rifle and came back and successfully finished his hunt. It would made a lot more sense to have it a bit closer I would have thought.
 
What a guy can do is index his sighted in scopes with a bore-sighter, then it only takes a minute to verify the switched scope's zero without shooting. Once my scopes are sighted in, I check them against a bore-sighter and record the position of the reticle against the grid. This is cheap insurance if I want to: change loads, switch to irons, swap out scopes, or if the rifle takes a hit, I can check to ensure nothing is amiss.

Hunting Africa is an expensive proposition, and the cost of a back up scope isn't even on the radar. Have both scopes in QD rings and you're good to go. If one fails check it against the grid of a bore-sighter and you're good to go.

I wouldn't consider not having a set of irons on a hunting rifle. Even if you have a back up scope along, chances are it won't be with you if your primary scope fails, requiring a halt to the hunting activities and a return to camp. A set of irons ensures the day is not lost. It might be necessary to enter very thick cover, where even a low powered scope is at a disadvantage, pull the scope off and you're good to go.
 
You'd have to try it at the range and see how close it hits to zero after swapping it back on. I've tested a rifle with Leupold QRW rings on a scope and it certainly would be fine to remove and put back on and still hit a deer at 200 yards. It was out about an inch from removing and putting back on at 100. But, you'd have to experiment with your setup and see how it works for you.
 
Ok so when r u gona know your scope is broken. Do you walk around the woods withyour cheek on the comb lookin through the scope. No. You prolly wont notice your scope is out till you take a shot or if it is broken wen you bring the rifle up to your eye to take a shot. Now it is a hell of alot quicker to just tear the scope off, or if you have see through rings then to put a new scope on. I am a believer in binoculars and range finders for spotting so i wouldnt even know till the last minute.
 
In my mind nothing is as durable as a set of simple iron sights. Once their dialed in and the points marked, you will always have a reliable aiming system. I once put together a .300 Winchester magnum that I planned on taking to Africa one day. I had a smith istall a good set of open sights. I shot that rifle alot with a scope, but always assumed one day it would fail and I could fall back on the irons. No scopes don't fail often, but I've fallen enough to know my confidence in my scope has dropped as hard as I just did. It's nice knowing I have an alternate system with a few spins of an Allen wrench.

With that said, I have a nice little 7mm-08 I plan on buying matching scopes for in the event one craps out. Since this is a rifle I don't plan on taking far from home this is not a problem. but as far as I'm concerned, you cannot beat a set of irons for a back up, even a primary sighting system in many cases.
 
mlehtovaara said:
Ok so when r u gona know your scope is broken. Do you walk around the woods withyour cheek on the comb lookin through the scope. No. You prolly wont notice your scope is out till you take a shot or if it is broken wen you bring the rifle up to your eye to take a shot. Now it is a hell of alot quicker to just tear the scope off, or if you have see through rings then to put a new scope on. I am a believer in binoculars and range finders for spotting so i wouldnt even know till the last minute.
Click to expand...

So when you discover this mysteriously broken scope while lining up on your quarry what does this "broken" look like?
 
Irons

I have my Rem 700 30-06 setup with the factory irons and QD rings on the scope. If I need to I can remove scope for close bush hunting as a 3-9x40 would be usless. As for a backup, some of my rifles have that option when it comes to scopes as they have QD mounts but no iron sights.

As an aside note, when ever I go hunting I always take a spare rifle with me. Two reasons for this, one is in case of an accident and the other is I'm a CGN so I like variety.

I can only have one wife so I might as well have multiple guns!:dancingbanana:
 
QD rings and two zeroed scopes...

but then also begs the question...

if something happened taht you beat up one scope on your rifle, would you trust to just reattatch another scope and think it still holds zero. It very well might, but I suspect I'd be resighting.

I prefer Irons for back up..
 
notenough said:
I have my Rem 700 30-06 setup with the factory irons and QD rings on the scope. If I need to I can remove scope for close bush hunting as a 3-9x40 would be usless. As for a backup, some of my rifles have that option when it comes to scopes as they have QD mounts but no iron sights.

As an aside note, when ever I go hunting I always take a spare rifle with me. Two reasons for this, one is in case of an accident and the other is I'm a CGN so I like variety.

I can only have one wife so I might as well have multiple guns!:dancingbanana:
Click to expand...

I really like the irons as well for the up close bush busting...
 
notenough said:
As an aside note, when ever I go hunting I always take a spare rifle with me. Two reasons for this, one is in case of an accident and the other is I'm a CGN so I like variety :dancingbanana:
Click to expand...

:agree: Any hunt where I am travelling I always take two rifles. Optics aren't the only item that can fail ;)
 
I have never had a scope break, but have had a scope fog on me. I prefer a scope base that allows the scope to removed in the field to expose the irons I have always zeroed as a back up.

I once slipped on the ice and a rifle with iron sights had the front sight badly bent. Soon there after I made a great spine shot on a deer at 25 yards. I was aiming at the lungs ....

I always bring a back up rifle on a hunt with good iron sights for those heavy rain/snow days when a scope is not the best. It has been used a number of times by me for that reason, and been borrowed by someoen else with a rifle problem. (Like forgot the bolt or brought the wrong ammo, and the usual breakage.
 
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