Peep sight or scope?

funny how that silly peep shows up on a great deal of MILITARY amd competition rifles- the fn, all the garands, the m14, 16, etc- in basic we were taught that it goes like this- the worst was the "buckhorn and post" then the "v" and post, these were bad b/c they obliterated your target- then the peep( hey, guess what- you can see what you're shooting at) the peep and globe( i've kind of wondered about that one) and then the full blown scope
 
Personally, I think peep sights are just plain silly. Look at the wall, now look at the wall through a TP tube. Why would you voluntarily narrow your vision by 90%? .

I've never come across a peep sight with a tube type aperture as you describe. All the peep sights I have seen are of a ghost ring design that do not reduce your vision by 90% as you stated. Quite the opposite as you can keep both eyes open with a peep sight to maintain 100% field of vision and focus on both the target and post.

What you describe is a scope.

I have Williams peep and firesight on my marlin lever and couldn't be happier. It's the best low light bush setup I have had. I removed a bushnell dusk/dawn 1-4x scope and now enjoy a full field of view. Perfect for a slow moving target in thick brush.
 
Personally, I think peep sights are just plain silly. Look at the wall, now look at the wall through a TP tube. Why would you voluntarily narrow your vision by 90%?

Lost me here....

A peep/aperture sight is by far the best choice in iron sights. They actually obscure the target less than other iron sights, thus letting you acquire your target much faster. What makes them fast is you only have to line up the front sight, and target, instead of the back sight, front sight, and the target.

It takes very little to get accustomed to an aperture sight, if you ignore the peep, and focus on the front sight and target.

I see people make the mistake of trying to center the front sight in the peep,when your eye will automatically do this for you without any effort. When you break yourself of this it will all come naturally.
 
Personally, I think peep sights are just plain silly. Look at the wall, now look at the wall through a TP tube. Why would you voluntarily narrow your vision by 90%?
The worst is when you see one on a blr or 94, which both have excellent sights.

That being said, we had a marlin once, and the only thing I didn't like about it was that rear sight, so I do understand the op's position.

Whatever you do, make sure you can put it back to original condition in case you ever want to sell it. There's a couple rifles that keep coming up on the ee, and I know in my case the reason they've not sold is the owner has only the stupid peep sight, no original.

Shoot with both eyes open.

Put that TP tube in front of your dominant eye and then open the other eye and you may be surprised to find the TP tube will become ghost like and transparent....:eek:

I like "silly" peeps.
 
Perhaps you should read more than the first line of my post.

hey, i did , and if you think the 94 has an "excellent" rear sight, i've yet to see it- traditionally, it's a buckhorn that obliterates the bottom half of the target and both ends, or a v notch which obliterates the bottom half of your target- and yes, i do have a 94- it's my b/u gun for my savage 99
 
I've never seen a "ghost ring" like you guys are talking about, the one's I've seen are more like a little rubber cup with a hole in it. That's the one's I'm talking about, and they're just plain terrible. All the disadvantages of a scope with none of the advantages of open sights.

Next time I'm in a gunstore I'll ask if they've got one I can look at. I always shoot irons with both eyes open. Shot a gun with a peepsight like I described above once and that was plenty for me so I just never looked further.

Might of just learned something today, we'll see. ;)

'Course even if they look good I still might not like'em as I'm getting old and don't like change. :p :D
 
I've never seen a "ghost ring" like you guys are talking about, the one's I've seen are more like a little rubber cup with a hole in it. That's the one's I'm talking about, and they're just plain terrible. All the disadvantages of a scope with none of the advantages of open sights.

Next time I'm in a gunstore I'll ask if they've got one I can look at. I always shoot irons with both eyes open. Shot a gun with a peepsight like I described above once and that was plenty for me so I just never looked further.

Might of just learned something today, we'll see. ;)

'Course even if they look good I still might not like'em as I'm getting old and don't like change. :p :D

The peeps with the larger diameter disk and small hole are more for target shooting. Most peeps allow you to change the disk and select different apertures or remove it all together for a larger "ghost ring" aperture.
Lyman makes a nice receiver peep for the 94.
 
For close range, peep is an excellent choice, as would be a red dot, but the red dot is more bulky and cumbersome to accomplish basically the same thing as ghost ring and firesight front. I mount some 1.5-6X on my shotguns for 2 reasons. First, the eyesight just ain't what it used to be, but I can still use peeps pretty well. The other is that the scope allows me to magnify my target a bit to allow me to see the critter a little better in terms of rack, brush in the way, and allows me that little bit of extra shooting time.

Hope this helps add to the confusion :) After all, why the heck should you have an easy time making a decision when we all have to debate the issue ad nauseum with ourselves, and end up making a decision we will always feel was probably not the right one!
 
For close range, peep is an excellent choice, as would be a red dot, but the red dot is more bulky and cumbersome to accomplish basically the same thing as ghost ring and firesight front. I mount some 1.5-6X on my shotguns for 2 reasons. First, the eyesight just ain't what it used to be, but I can still use peeps pretty well. The other is that the scope allows me to magnify my target a bit to allow me to see the critter a little better in terms of rack, brush in the way, and allows me that little bit of extra shooting time.

Hope this helps add to the confusion :) After all, why the heck should you have an easy time making a decision when we all have to debate the issue ad nauseum with ourselves, and end up making a decision we will always feel was probably not the right one!

Very much so. Thanks. :p
 
I've never seen a "ghost ring" like you guys are talking about, the one's I've seen are more like a little rubber cup with a hole in it. That's the one's I'm talking about, and they're just plain terrible. All the disadvantages of a scope with none of the advantages of open sights.

Next time I'm in a gunstore I'll ask if they've got one I can look at. I always shoot irons with both eyes open. Shot a gun with a peepsight like I described above once and that was plenty for me so I just never looked further.

Might of just learned something today, we'll see. ;)

'Course even if they look good I still might not like'em as I'm getting old and don't like change. :p :D

:eek:

Look at any peep on any hunting rifle, make sure any insert supplied with the peep is out of it. Now focus front site on target & you won't see the rear peep at all that is basically a ghost ring.
Comparing a rubber cup long range apature site to a hunting site and calling it silly is like, shooting at a flying duck with a 40x target scope :rolleyes:
 
Originally Posted by senior View Post #18
If you can't see the front site you probably can't see anything to shoot at :D

hey my DISTANCE vision is probablly better than most peoples- it's just things that are about a yard away( which is roughly where the front sight is) i can't see- 2 or 3 miles, i can see flies- and no, they're not "floaters" from cataracts/glaucoma- really, with a handle like senior, i expected more from you

Perhaps had you paid attention to the SMILEY at the end of my statement you'd have realized it was in josh!
Smiley's are there for a reason, they are very handy to illistrate your emotion or meaning :)<--see SMILE as in friendly.
 
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For the energy and killing range of a 30.30, i'm not sure I would bother with much more than standard iron sights. If hitting a deer is a challenge at 100 yards, you might have the wrong gun. Perhaps a glow dot or fluorescent paint on the tip of the front post will allow a bit easier sighting in poor lighting conditions.
 
For the energy and killing range of a 30.30, i'm not sure I would bother with much more than standard iron sights. If hitting a deer is a challenge at 100 yards, you might have the wrong gun. Perhaps a glow dot or fluorescent paint on the tip of the front post will allow a bit easier sighting in poor lighting conditions.

There are cases a peep does amazing for a guys shooting skills!

True story: A guy at our camp hunted for 10+ yrs, always shooting & always missing the deer. On targets he was as good a shot as anybody. Turns out when ever he shot at a deer he was so, call it "buck fever" he always shot with-out bothering to drop the bead into the rear site. I have seen him shoot at deer & hit limbs 8-10' in the air:eek:
A few yrs ago I added a reciever peep to his rifle & told him to just put the front bead on the deer, same as he'd always been doing, voila...4 deer in 3 yrs with-out a single missed shot...
That is the advantage of a peep site :)
 
:eek:

Look at any peep on any hunting rifle, make sure any insert supplied with the peep is out of it. Now focus front site on target & you won't see the rear peep at all that is basically a ghost ring.

I always sight my rifle in with the insert installed, but take it out for hunting. This works best for me.

I couldn't shoot worth chit in a hunting situation with conventional open sights. When I learned to use a peep in the army reserves, is when things changed. I now use a peep, or scope exclusively, and its like night and day when it comes to shooting running deer. Would never go back to open sights.
 
Lost me here....

A peep/aperture sight is by far the best choice in iron sights. They actually obscure the target less than other iron sights, thus letting you acquire your target much faster. What makes them fast is you only have to line up the front sight, and target, instead of the back sight, front sight, and the target.

It takes very little to get accustomed to an aperture sight, if you ignore the peep, and focus on the front sight and target.

I see people make the mistake of trying to center the front sight in the peep,when your eye will automatically do this for you without any effort. When you break yourself of this it will all come naturally.

^^^^^^ This ^^^^^^
 
Exactly!! You look through the circle, your eye automatically centers the front sight in the circle.
Now onto your animal with the front sight, and you are good to go!!
I have 66 year old eyes too.
I like the firesight on the front, since it is so easy to pick up in any light.
My biggest problem with almost all conventional open sights is maintaining the proper vertical.
In shooting targets with the production sights on my 38-55 [24" barrel] I could maintian the horizontal spread to under 2", but the vertical was always about 5-6".
When I installed the Williams aperture [with the small aperture screwed out] and front firesight, my vertical spread disappeared entirely, and the horizontal was cut almost in half!
I have shot groups as small as 1" with this combination....as well as a low power scope, I'm sure]
Shot my second best Whitetail with this combo.
Regards, Eagleye.
 
I commend you webster, as a first time deer hunter, that the peep is high on your list of considerations.

I'd prefer the low powered scope as a first choice. But the peep is an excellent choice too.

In peeps I'd look at the Lyman 66 for the rear, or the Williams FP, and the Lyman 17A for the front.
 
Time for an update, if anyone's still paying attention. ;)

I did some research and settled on the Skinner peep sight. I also had to order a taller front sight since the added height of a receiver-mounted peep was making me hit a foot high at 50 yds. :eek: Andy at Skinner was very helpful in answering my questions and helping me figure out what I needed. This is a great company and I see myself buying from them in the future.

All the parts are now here and I'm hoping to get to the range soon and see if it shoots as good as it looks.

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Thanks again for all the insight guys, it was all taken into consideration.
 
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