Open sight accuracy?

Ike

Ike

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Hi all,

I am wondering what level of accuracy one can expect to get out of a standard open sight Hunting Rifle.

Criteria are:
- Open factory sights
- Benched but not using a lead sled or return to zero rest
-100m distance

You may see I have also posted in Black Rifle and Battle Rifle forums, I am trying to get an idea of what the benchmark is for open sight guns. Most everyone uses scopes these days but I am curious about how the different types of firearms do with open sights.
What group size do you get?

Thanks and Cheers
 
I have a Sauer combination gun with a 7x57R rifle barrel. Using the open sights, and a sandbagged rest, I was able to keep most groups inside 3 inches. The factory open sights were not very good, and neither is my vision. Later I mounted a scope on the gun, and could get a MOA from the gun.

I personally believe that with good open sights and good eyesight, one should be able to get just about the same accuracy with open sights as with a scope, at least within 100 yards. I would expect results with open sights to deteriorate as ranges lengthened. I don't have a lot of experience with open sights, however, and would be interested in other opinions.
 
If your name is David Tubbs on a good day you will get MOA accuracey with an iron sited rifle that is up to the task.

For the rest of us mortals - different story. I've practiced quite a bit with buckhorn and aperature sites as I have a few lever guns and I'm pretty happy when I get 2 " groups and can't seem to do any better with any rifle. If the rifle is up for the task I probably average more like 2 1/2 or 3 MOA.
 
Ike IMHO the rifle is as good as the shooter.

A few years back I showed up at the local range to see an old timer blasting golf balls he had vertically strung up in a row on a string at 50 yards...offhand. :eek:

And he was using nothing more then an old win 94 30/30 with original blade front sight, and a Williams rear aperture sight.

He said he hunted Deer, Bear, grouse, Rabbits, Moose, etc with the same rifle every year for longer then he could remember.
And yes he was shooting a rifle before he could walk. :D

Made me rethink what I was doing at the time rifle skill wise, that's for sure. :D
 
Ya C. we've got an older dude at our club that makes the rest of us look silly when he wants to. We've got a 3" gong at 100 that he happily wacks again and again and again. And again - with various lever guns and single shots. Offhand.:redface:
 
I can do 2-3 inch 5 shot groups groups with my k31 and k98(s) at 100 meters of a sandbag

My ar15 m16a1 clone I can hit a clay birds and pieces of clays at 100 meters standing

I prefer open sights I allmost never use scopes
 
Two inches, if your eyes are good, you are using a fine sight, (like an aperture) and you (and the rifle) are up to the task.
As you and your eyes get older, the groups get bigger. That is to say that 3" is more the norm for me now.
 
I have tried XS Ghost rings on my 336XLR, I didn't do very well with them. So I went back to the factory semi-buckhorn sights and shoot approx. 3"-4" at 100 yds. Off hand without a rest, other than that provided in the seated position and using my knees, I do hit the 200 yard 10" gong, 50% of the time. Shooting that little 30-30 opensighted is one of my favourite past-time. I used to be a much better at it when I was 18 :)
 
If you have 20/15 vision, good musculature, a resting heart rate under 55 beats per minute and shoot 100 rounds a week you can probably hit a 6 inch circle consistently at 100m. Otherwise you are just dreaming.:nest:
 
I am 53 years old, short-sighted and wear wide-view, graduated lenses in my glasses. I shoot a variety of old Winchesters in a variety of calibers and all of them have open iron sights with the exception of the 30-30, which has a receiver peep sight. I probably only shoot 20-40 rounds per week in the spring, summer and fall. I develop my own loads, and once I have an accurate load, with the forearm resting on a block of wood with a pad on top of it, and holding the butt to my shoulder with my left hand, I can easily and consistently get 5-shot groups that are between 2 and 3 inches. Anything over 3" I consider to be poor shooting on my part. With some of my guns, if I'm shooting in the morning when my eyes are fresher and the sun isn't shining on my target, I can get 5-shot groups as small as 1 & 1/2 inches. I have occasionally gotten 3-shot groups of slightly less than 1" at 100 yards, but I consider a 3-shot group to be cheating .... a five shot group is more indicative of shooting ability. All of these groups are with cast bullets. Offhand, it is another story. I can regularly get 1.5" 3-shot groups at 50 yards, but I find 100 yard offhand shooting much more difficult. I need more practice here, but I can get five shot groups of 4.5 inches, but not consistently. This is not so much a matter of the sights, but of practice.

Here's a typical 5-shot group from a 104-year old 45-70 shooting plain base cast bullets at 100 yards, using my most accurate load for that rifle. The rear sight is an open leaf sight, with a very wide notch, which I find more difficult to shoot accurately with. Forearm was resting on a block of wood with a pad on it and butt was held to my shoulder with my left hand.
4759target.jpg


Here's a 5-shot, 100 yard group shot with an old Winchester 44-40, semi-buckhorn sights. This is one of my more accurate rifles:
2nd-group-TP.jpg


Here's a 5-shot group, 200 yards, with an old 38-55 with semi-buckhorn sights, shooting undersize bullets. This is not an accurate load, but you see what iron sights will do with a under-performing load at 200 yards. The vertical string is probably also exaggerated by the front sight, which someone sharpened almost to a knife edge and I'm never exactly sure where the tip is.
38-55-200-yds.jpg


Here's a 4-shot group shot offhand at 100 yards with my 45-70.
4570-offhand.jpg
 
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