First, I have some experience with peep/ghost ring style sights on various milsurp and hunting rifles and like them and shoot them fairly well but I am not sure about some of the details and choices available when it comes to aperture size, sight height, and front sight bead diameter. I get the basic idea of them but am looking for recommendations based on more experienced users.
Second I guess is the rifle and it's use. It's an unmodified Ruger Alaskan in 416 Ruger. I am currently shooting Hornady 400gr Interlocks but do plan on fooling around with some other 400gr bullets at some point. 90% of its use is for spring black bear over a bait. I do, on occasion, carry it hiking for both bear and moose though. For hunting over the bait and close in shots, the factory sights are great. They are very fast to use and the white bead/line combo makes aiming on the dark hides of bear and moose, easy right up to the end of legal time. What I don't like about them is the lack of adjustment available. With my current load I have the lowest front sight and highest rear sight on it and it still is about 4" low at 100yds. I know I could fool around and find a different load combination that might shoot to the sights but I'd rather just be able to adjust the sights to the load.
So I guess the first question I have is in regards to the aperture size. The sight comes with a .093 aperture. Is this a good all around size that would allow for fast acquisition of close up shots while still allowing accurate shot placement out to 150yds or so if I ran into a situation when out hiking that requires a further shot?
Second question I have is what about the front sight? Keep the white bead? Go with a red or green fiber optic front? Which size of fiber optic, 1/16 or 3/32? Also, NECG states that some Ruger rifles tend to shoot high with the rear peep installed and that the highest front sight might not be enough to compensate for that. Anyone have any experience with this? If this happens to be the case with my rifle then I'm not really any further ahead than I am with the factory sights.
Second I guess is the rifle and it's use. It's an unmodified Ruger Alaskan in 416 Ruger. I am currently shooting Hornady 400gr Interlocks but do plan on fooling around with some other 400gr bullets at some point. 90% of its use is for spring black bear over a bait. I do, on occasion, carry it hiking for both bear and moose though. For hunting over the bait and close in shots, the factory sights are great. They are very fast to use and the white bead/line combo makes aiming on the dark hides of bear and moose, easy right up to the end of legal time. What I don't like about them is the lack of adjustment available. With my current load I have the lowest front sight and highest rear sight on it and it still is about 4" low at 100yds. I know I could fool around and find a different load combination that might shoot to the sights but I'd rather just be able to adjust the sights to the load.
So I guess the first question I have is in regards to the aperture size. The sight comes with a .093 aperture. Is this a good all around size that would allow for fast acquisition of close up shots while still allowing accurate shot placement out to 150yds or so if I ran into a situation when out hiking that requires a further shot?
Second question I have is what about the front sight? Keep the white bead? Go with a red or green fiber optic front? Which size of fiber optic, 1/16 or 3/32? Also, NECG states that some Ruger rifles tend to shoot high with the rear peep installed and that the highest front sight might not be enough to compensate for that. Anyone have any experience with this? If this happens to be the case with my rifle then I'm not really any further ahead than I am with the factory sights.
