iron sites

jcbruno

jcbruno

CGN Regular
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Location
Edmonton Alberta
i get upset when i find rifles in europe/australia all comming standard with iron sites but here in north america they wont ship ie sako quad,browning a-bolt,tikka etc etc all come with iron sites every where but in north america, i guess i am old fashiond i like having see through rings on my scope mount so i have the option of iron sites i just add a cheak rest for better allingment with the scope as a primary means of shot prediction but love having the good old iron sites for back up but in north america we have few option's:mad:

does anyone know a ball park price to get iron sites put on a standard comercial bolt rifle?
 
Me too, I only buy rifles with irons. IMHO, a rifle without them is as good as a club if your scope breaks in the worst case scenario, or you could practice shooting from the hip. :p It is strange how NA has turned to rifles without irons. Wonder why?
 
yeah its a real shame... i wish all guns came with the factory option of iron sights - unfortunately the wait time, expense and hassle of adding aftermarket iron sights guns means many in my cabinet still dont have them and some never will.

what gets me is that lack of iron sights is advertised as a 'feature' these days. on the remington site, you look and in their bullet points listing the main selling features of their guns they have 'clean barrel' and even mention it in their promo text like its a good thing or some new value for the customer.

get used to it though - the way market trends are going youll be seeing less and less factory guns with iron sights :(
 
Give David Henry a call. He's in Bentley and does fine work. He also has many sights in stock to choose from. He refitted these on my Ruger 35 Whelen that had been removed by a prior owner. The front sight band, a raw Ruger casting, needed to be reamed to fit and the rear sight had the screw holes filled and filed smooth (i.e., no screw slot remained). I provided the parts and David installed them and bead blasted and blued the gun for $275 or so IIRC. This was just 6 months ago or so. The Ruger parts are not a bad way to go on any rifle IMO. They are stout, look decent and are pretty inexpensive too. The rear blade below came from a "boxful of sights" David had and the front sourdough is from NECG.

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I had a Williams set installed on a .300 Winchester that cost me right around $300 by the time I got it back. Great sights though. I think the going rate is $20-30 per hole for drilling them and tapping them out. That's about $100 right there, plus the cost of your sights and taxes/shipping.
 
I like rifles with iron sights as well. It's too bad that with a great value gun like the Stevens 200 you have to add a scope. If it came with iron sights there would be one in my cabinet.
 
North Americans seem to have had an epidemic of Scope-itis.

I know 'cause I had it too for a while. Lots of big magnification scopes.
Now, my 1 target gun has a 10x scope, and all the hunting guns are 8 and smaller.

But less than half have irons on them.....
 
Generally speaking, it more commerce driven in the first place than anything else. Since it has quickly become a "fashion" on part of the consumer to own/use long guns with optics installed (some seemingly larger than the firearms themselves :D)....this is simply enabling the manufacturers to rack in profits :) Sure, sell a barrel with clean lines so that the customer can buy an expensive (or less expensive) scope to go with it - win win situation for both firearms and optics makers.

IMHO, majority of folks (more specifically in their prime :) ) and with no issues with eyesight + regular practice should have no trouble connecting with big game targets using irons out to 100/150 yds +/- .....the usual range most game is taken.

A scoped rifle is very justified if one is planning on reaching out to longer distances be that at a rifle range or in the field - but what is the % of hunters in general pursuing big game really get to do that deliberately?
 
My deer rifle has no iron sites, but that's not a big deal. I hunt on the section around my house, or perhaps 2-3 miles from it. If the scope craps out, it's maybe half a day missed out since we always have extra's kicking around.
When I went hunting for a moose gun, one of the most important peice I was looking for was iron sites. We fly out of Thompson, MB and there isn't alot of room on the little Cessna for spare parts. Before I mounted the scope on a well taken care of BDL, I made sure I could put a considerable amount of holes in the paper at 100m. Both these scopes are almost always set on the lowest power.
I have one .22 without a scope, and feel I'm pretty good with it, but my .17 and .223 are both scoped with out sites, as they didn't come with them from the factory. However, due to the amount I've shot with scopes, I certainly am more comfortable with glass than irons. Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. I feel the risk associated with not having back up irons, or even just irons I take out in the field is justified. Those squirrels rarely charge, and they can't run as fast on slippery sh*t as I can on dry ground, if indeed the scope on my .17 fails and I wing one.
 
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