Frustration.... What Ever Happened To Iron Sights???

The only long guns I own with irons are my two lever actions.
These are equipped with Williams FP on the rear and Firesights up front.

I have been hunting with scopes since 1961, and have never had one fail in the field.

Had a Banner shake loose at the range once, but my fault, mounting it on a "light" 338.

I have no desire to put opens on my bolt actions, but to each his own.
Regards, Eagleye.
 
Buy an older used bolt rifle with "good" iron sights. The vast majority of iron sights offered on todays bolt guns are very crude with a short sight radius and ugly to boot. Plus the modern offerings are not stocked for use with irons but so they fit the shooter who mounts a scope. My thinking is to purchase a bolt rifle manufactured in the 1940's or 1950's, mount a good aperture sight(Lyman, Williams etc.), throw away the front sight hood(blocks light badly) and you have a fast handling woods rifle that is stocked for irons and better quality than anything made now(at least for a comparable price).
 
Well, looks like I will be closing a deal for this guy.....

Winchester M70, with the irons installed. No scope. ;)

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im a firm believer that iron sights are a must, you drop your rifle and break that nice $500 scope and you dont have irons your kinda F#cked!! good luck hittin anything in a pinch if you need to. I refuse to own any firearm that doesn't have irons, As a matter of fact, when i go to buy my new savage axis in .308 im prepared to spend the extra cash to have irons installed. just my two cents........
 
My eyes aren't what they used to be and the average shot where I hunt has gotten to be about 200 yards so a scope is kind of mandatory but I keep a marlin 444 with a Williams peep for a camp gun.

A 760/7600 with irons sure is a pleasure although mine sports a scope now.
 
I'm getting back to the sport after years of hiatus, and my eyes are not what they used to be. Scopes are now a fact of life, yet all my rifles are "older," with iron sights. I learned to shoot with iron sights, and I still like to shoot with irons. To me they are like the spare tire in your car - you hope you never need it, but if you do, you're sure glad you have one.

The problem is that once the rifle is scoped, it's difficult to access the irons. I'm not a proponent of see-through rings, so good quality quick-detach mounts were the answer for me. Thanks to my dummy-proof (or at least dummy-resistant) iMac, here's a clip to show what I mean:

 
most irons were getting pretty cheap anyway... now you can slap on a picatinny, then go nuts with whatever aftermarket sights float yer boat..

I hear you though.. would be nice for manufacturers to put on some really fine sights :)
 
I shot irons at 500yds in the service 20 years ago, well. Those of
us over 40 can't see like we used to. Perhaps you will
be less scornful when you are in the same position.

You learned and still know how to use them...your just more "limited" with their use now so to speak. I am talking about the younger generation, MY generation who think nothing but ill of irons.
 
I'm getting back to the sport after years of hiatus, and my eyes are not what they used to be. Scopes are now a fact of life, yet all my rifles are "older," with iron sights. I learned to shoot with iron sights, and I still like to shoot with irons. To me they are like the spare tire in your car - you hope you never need it, but if you do, you're sure glad you have one.

The problem is that once the rifle is scoped, it's difficult to access the irons. I'm not a proponent of see-through rings, so good quality quick-detach mounts were the answer for me. Thanks to my dummy-proof (or at least dummy-resistant) iMac, here's a clip to show what I mean:


LOVE that set up. What gun/caliber is that?
 
I have been leaning more and more towards rifles with irons.

You can find used Rems and Rugers with iron sights still in very good shape for around $500, no problem.

Mausers with sights are pretty puch everywhere, too.
 
LOVE that set up. What gun/caliber is that?

Yes, I'm very happy with the rifle (Tikka M55 in .308 Win; I've had it since 1981) and the new mount system... The mounts are MaSi QD mounts. I have my M55 and my M07 combo gun equipped with them, and I'm still blown away by the quality and the design of the mounts. I ordered mine directly from Finland, but Reliable Gun in Vancouver has the contact info for the manufacturer as well.
 
I own several rifles with iron sights and love all of them. While not abundant, there are several very decent modern rifles with iron sights. My Sako Bavarian Carbine has excellent iron sights. I purposely purchased quick-detach Sako bases/rings for close-up shooting or in the event of a scope failure-- far more probable. Lebaron also carries Sako Bavarians (not the carbine) with iron sights. Tradex, as mentioned several times, carry some exceptional rifles with sights. I own a beautiful custom small ring 98 Mauser with irons, it also wears a 2.5x scope.
 
Maybe consider a sporterized Swedish Mauser. Not the caliber you wanted, but capable of big game gun, good iron sights and a very reliable rifle.
 
I sympathise with the OP's frustration.

I'm 64 years old. When I was 16, my dad gave me my 1st rifle - a sporterised .303 Enfield with iron sights. To me back then, it was the finest rifle in the world. My dad only ever used iron sights. He was born on, and grew up on a homestead in northern Manitoba. His dad fed the family using a Winchester 1892 .44-40 with iron sights; my father inherited that rifle and used it in his job as hunting outfitter and guide before and after WWII. I once asked him why some other hunters used scopes; his answer: 'Maybe they plan to go to Alberta or BC and hunt bighorn sheep in the Rockies".

All that was a long time ago. I now own Sako bolt action rifles. Only one of them has iron sights. The others have scopes that cost almost as much as the rifles! The scopes look great. But really, I only hunt blacktail deer on Vancouver Island - that is, in thickly forested rough country where 100 yards is an unusually long shot. My one rifle with iron sight? - at the range, I can hit the 300 yard gong with every shot. So, do I NEED a scope? No. In fact, for 90% of the shots in the field , iron sights would be ideal.

Today, I live in a world in which at least 1/2 of the things I buy I do not really need.
 
The Ancastor gun show is coming up, you should be able to find something there, at least you can fondle before you buy.
 
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