Thoughts on the pleasure of iron sights

I'm a hard core Iron Sights guy, but my eyes are less than what they used to be. Its a good thing that 40 years of shooting gave me a sixth sense to aim a rifle. I see scopes in my future, but I'll enjoy my old guns while I can still shoot them without scopes.
 
kootenayshotty said:
I find nothing more gratifying than pinging the 330yd plate at the range with my sks iron sights.
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X2! When my wife first started shooting what is now her SKS I never told her all the Internet BS around these rifles...Consequently she can hit the 200 and 300 yard gong offhand 8 out of 10 times with her SKS...iron sights.

Go figure.

While I totally see the advantage to scopes I have had nothing but trouble with them, from mounts to eye relief in the optics etc. Personally I prefer non magnified red dots or fiber optic iron sights.

Especially given the insane price of quality scopes these days.
 
I like this style on ARs, bang em up and they still shoot straight + you don't have to worry about lenses/dirt/etc

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I plan to try the Marlin 336Y "Spikehorn" I just bought this year for Whitetails w/ IRON's...it's got a white dot post front sight, and a Williams Fibre Optic Ghost ring insert on the rear.

Jeff.
 
Great question, I have always been a fan of iron sights, sure scopes have there place but I never liked the bulk of a scope and there is something satisfying about hitting the target at 100 plus yards with irons.
 
Last time I checked in my collection, only 2 of my firearms carry scopes. The irons just work way too well for the type of hunting and shooting I do. Too bad most new guns don't carry irons anymore.
 
iroc22 said:
Last time I checked in my collection, only 2 of my firearms carry scopes. The irons just work way too well for the type of hunting and shooting I do. Too bad most new guns don't carry irons anymore.
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Or if they do come with irons they tend to be crap in quality and function. :(

IMHO some of the old Swedish target rifles have some fine examples of what Iron sights should be.
 
A couple of years ago I had an old 1894 38-55 fall into my hands at an auction. Didnt expect to get it for what I was bidding. 26in barrel on the old girl (1900) and what surprised me is the quality of the sights. They are Marbles not the cheap plate sights you see on new guns. I can hold that long barrel and get really good groups standing at 100m. Then I picked up an old BSA Martini 22 target rifle with Marbles no 8 sights on it. Shoots like a hot damn. Recently picked up a Henry Golden Boy which also has Marbles irons. I think a lot of the trouble people have with iron sights is they are junk and replaced by something decent they are a pleasure to shoot. Check out the Marbles site and have a look at all the fine open sights there. Then again there are receiver sights too. Getting back into irons. I have scoped rifles but they are hunters. These I shoot for fun!
 
I just received a lovely old large-frame A.G. Parker Martini in .22 Hornet via Clay at Prophet River which has beautiful iron sights on it:

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As you can see, it still has the original-style open sight (although I think it's missing a spring to keep the slider in place) as well as a marvellous aperture sight.

Once I slug the bore to see if it's .223 or .224 I'll get to work rounding up reloading components.

:) Stuart
 
Now thats purdy. I am fond of the Martinis and would certainly have grabbed that one if I had seen it. Nice looking gun. Since its a single its easy to just rechamber if its a 224 too if that were an option.
 
I've heard it mentioned several times that most people don't know how to use open sights properly. I'm pretty sure I know how to use them but can anyone tell me how they think they should be used? Maybe I should be doing something differently. I've heard that you should be focusing on your front sight and your target blurred. Is this true?
 
bogie said:
Now thats purdy. I am fond of the Martinis and would certainly have grabbed that one if I had seen it. Nice looking gun. Since its a single its easy to just rechamber if its a 224 too if that were an option.
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I'm pretty sure it's .224 but I won't know for sure until I slug the bore. I think the only rechambering I might consider is to K-Hornet but then only if I felt I needed the extra range for hunting, but then I'd probably want a scope! (BTW, "The Double D" on the Martini-Henry forum says he's working on a "no gunsmithing" scope mount for Martinis. Should be possible if you have access to a milling machine.)

Hopefully I can find someone in Canada who has .224 bullets in stock. Easy to get in the US, of course...unless you're in Canada :( so I can get loading for it. Since you're a member of MRGC I'll let you know when I get the old girl out to the range so you can see her in person.

Calum:
Yes, a Martini in 6.5.55 with an Elit diopter sight would be a fine thing indeed, although you'd have to get a rimless extractor, which is problematical for these rifles. I belileve that Bob Snapp in the US still makes them but I'm not sure for what calibres.

I've often wished that one of the Italian mfrs. would make Martini repros, both large- and small-frame.

Slooshark,

Dave Scovill has done a couple of articles on using open sights in Rifle Mag. I'll see if I can find them in my back issues, as I now subscribe electronically.

:) Stuart
 
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