To scope or not to scope

Scope on a M14, M1A, M305 or Irons?

  • Scoped

    Votes: 36 29.0%

  • Irons!!!

    Votes: 42 33.9%

  • Both best of both worlds

    Votes: 36 29.0%

  • I need something to press because i don't own one

    Votes: 10 8.1%
  • Total voters
    124
After 2 scope mounts and 2 scopes i decided irons, i shoot max 200 yards and while i still have good eyes its going to be irons.

I have lots of fun shooting the 305 and my sks, they are not (for me anyways) moa rifles, enjoy shooting it and don't gut hung up on how small you can make your groups, unless you want to spend lots of money.

Hope you all have a Great New Year.
 
Although I prefer irons, alot of people responding need a scope because of age and eye sight issues. When you reach 60 like me you have to give up a few things like iron sights :-(
At least I can still shoot with a scope so I reluctantly voted for scope.
p.s. the M14 is not the easiest gun to mount a scope on. Alot of mount issues recoil issues etc. have been discussed in other forums. Just get what works for you but expect to pay alot of $ for a good mount and scope.
 
Tried a conventional scope arrangement a while ago and just couldn't get comfortable with the chin-weld. Didn't want to drill my un-issued-condition USGI fibreglas stock for a riser to get a proper cheek-weld. Rifle now sports a Criterion shorty barrel with an Ultimak rail and Burris 2-7 IER scope in Warne QD mounts. The scope has a ballistic reticle and posi-lock to lock down the settings, so I'm not worried about it coming loose. Back off 2 levers and I'm GTG with irons. Occasionally mount a TRS-25 if I want to play with a red-dot. The TRS sits a bit lower than a Micro T1. So, I guess my answer to the poll would be....All of the above :cool:
 
Perforator said:
Just can't focus well enough on the front and rear sights together anymore. Scope.
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You're doing it wrong.

No human eye can do what you describe, most camera lenses can't!

The proper procedure for irons is to focus on the front sight while the rear aperture and target should be slightly blurry. Your eyes will naturally align them.

I can dig up an old school C7 service rifle PAM and give you a reference if you don't believe me.
 
I have one of each. A shorty krieger barreled, Jae stocked one with a scope and a classic walnut stocked one with irons. Unfortunately my eyes aren't so good with the peeps now and am considering throwing on a spare eotech I have lying around.
 
the question is "can you see 267 yards clearly- if you can, then go with your irons; if you can't , then you need a scope- or are your eyes good enough to focus that far- all of my m14s wear 4x12 x40 scopes- the gun was built as a dmr, so why not take advantage of it
btw, for those of you thinking of a red dot on a scout mount. DON'T do it- you'll quickly find that the dot obliterates the target at 200 , and you'll be left with holes in your barrel- you can fix that with a new handguard, but you'll still have those holes- stick with your irons
 
Jwirecom109 said:
Who does what?

Do you scope, do you go just irons, do u have both?
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I resisted mounting variable magnification optics on any of my M14s for years and shot irons, red dots and even a scout scope.
All of these are great, but a properly mounted scope paired up with a solid cheek riser makes a world of difference for the better.

Best of both worlds...

I recently installed a Leupold Mark 4 3.5-10x40mm LR/T with M2 dials and Illuminated TMR on my Mod 0
with an Insight 3.5 MOA mRDS out front on and offset mount and I'm very happy with the results.










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I scoped my M-305 shorty (done up by M14Doc before CanAm's shorties came out) and it's my go-to deer rifle in heavy bush and out to about 400 yds (longest I've shot it). It works great!

That said, what I'd REALLY like is a scope mount that doesn't use the clip guide as an anchor point (without spending a fortune on the mount) because to remove the scope mount and go with irons only, the scope must come off the mount so you can remove the allen screw that holds the mount in the clip guide. No need to say what that does to your scope's zero.
 
shredder said:
I scoped my M-305 shorty (done up by M14Doc before CanAm's shorties came out) and it's my go-to deer rifle in heavy bush and out to about 400 yds (longest I've shot it). It works great!

That said, what I'd REALLY like is a scope mount that doesn't use the clip guide as an anchor point (without spending a fortune on the mount) because to remove the scope mount and go with irons only, the scope must come off the mount so you can remove the allen screw that holds the mount in the clip guide. No need to say what that does to your scope's zero.
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Sounds like your describing a Bassett Machine mount :)
 
chalkriver said:
I havnt heard of anyone doing that to one of these yet ..any pics?
Wouldnt that put the scope too high ? And wouldnt the base of the see through mounts still be in the way of the iron sights ??
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Sorry, I have no pics. I believe you could find some in various M14 scope mount threads. Here are some I found online. First photo shows the picatinny rail with a channel down the middle. This is where you peek through to see the front sight. Second photo is the best I could find with a scope on top of the mount. It shows how the rear sight is lined up with the middle channel. The scope is a bit higher than if you mounted it with a low mount, but just high enough to clear the rear sight and give you room to peek under and through the rear sight.

http://flagaway.com/image/cache/data/FLAGAWAY/MOUNT/MTM14-500x500.jpg
http://i309.photobucket.com/albums/kk390/M1A96819/IMG_2129.jpg

Norton said:
Same here, using a Sadlak airborne mount
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Wow! NICE! :cool: I settled for an inexpensive UTG 3-point see through mount.
 
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