Thoughts on the pleasure of iron sights

For me there is nothing better than a peep sighted levergun. my .444 with a williams aperature will make 2" 100m groups all day from a bench, 6" offhand, and 8" at 200m using a tree or post for support.

I tried using a scope twice now on two different guns and didn't like it. i want my guns to be tough, lightweight, and knockaround capable. until they invent a low profile scope that dosent interfere with the handhold on my .444's action or increase it's weight, and is as tough as my marlin i'll be sticking to irons.
 
Greg_VP said:
Are you commenting on quality, or design?

Because the M14 iron sights, originally seen on the M1 Garand, are (arguably) the finest iron sights ever installed on a combat rifle.
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definately a comment on quality

my norc carbine sights come loose every time i take a shot.. set it to 200m, fire 1 round, and its 2 clicks back ( yes ive tried tightening it )
 
I generally shoot better within reason at shorter ranger with iron sights. I grew up shooting a good oldschool .303 with full wood, and the flip up iron sight.. I have a few rifles now, all scoped and I got to play around with my fathers latest find. an 8mm Mauser, with the off the shelf light loads I was shooting 2.5" groups at 100yards with the irons. Same day I couldn't shoot a 4" group with my .270 handi rifle with bushnell elite 3200... Gonna probably pick up a good iron sight rifle soon.
 
I learned to shoot iron sights on an old Daisy BB gun at age 4....Now I've got a collection of the real ones, and not quite all of em are scoped. I LOVE the Zeiss on my BLR, but my old Savage Enfield with the afore-mentioned flip-up peep sights will still shoot MOA groups with hand loads and it's great fun doing so! I'm also planning on a Marlin 1894 in .357 soon, which will undoubtedly remain UNscoped.

Funny story about the SMLE...

I was out at the range a couple of years ago with said rifle, shooting at 200 yds. The guy beside me pulled out a scoped Norc M14, all set up for service-rifle-competition. At the next ceasefire we walked out to our targets...when we got there, the M14 owner's friend looked at his target, then mine, and quipped, "He's got a canoe paddle with a barrel strapped to it, and he's out-shooting you!"

I'll always have at least one gun with irons!:)
 
I recently got a set of Williams FP peep sights c/w a set of front firesights, wow what a difference from the iron sights on my 1894 Winchester 38-55..the iron sights were ok, but the williams products made the shooting very much easier for my old eyes, and also i was very much able to aquire the target faster than the iron sights. i still have a couple Winchesters that have iron sights but just today i ordered another set of the Williams product for my model 94 Winchester 30/30 with a 26" barrel. Can hardly wait till they get here to get the 94 to the range. It is so relaxing to be out at the range sighting the new gun in with a different type of sight that i have never used before.

Gord
 
I shot peeps on everything after discovering the accuracy potential. I owned the only reciever sighted Rem 700 I ever saw. A ruger Tropical in 375 H&H, numerous hunting rifle and my 444.

Then I installed a 2.5X Leu Compact on the 444. Wow, I could bench rest and enter into "the size of my group" brag sessions. In the end I went back to my peep. Even the little low power scope was usless in thick swamp or tracking in heavy cover. At distance scoped one can shoot both eyes open but up close it is too confusing. I always shoot with both eyes. I don't lose the target during recoil and see my hits and the games escape routes. I also think it helps with flinch reduction.

If your a good iron sight shot and want to frustrate your buddies. Put a pop can on a post or shoot rocks safely across a canyon and first guy to hit it offhand wins a prize. The way small targets dance in a scope offhand is angering to me and I find irons much more accurate for single hits. I gotta get some gongs and practice ringing them. 6" offhand groups at 200 yards is minute of trophy all day long. Kirk's peep hole on the glasses gets tried immedieately. Didn't I see somwhere a gadget that clipped on glasses with an adjustable iris for sharper sight focus?
 
Iron sights are great when it's a nice sunny day and you're shooting popcans. But when it's right at first or last light, a good scope can give you extra hunting time. I can understand that shooting with iron sights is fun, but I would never use them for hunting big game. A low powered (1 x 4) scope is faster to get on target than iron sights. I wait all year long to go and hunt deer for 5 days. I'm going to take the package that works the best for me. I don't care if you want to hunt deer with an old iron sighted Enfield or Winchester, but I prefer a scope for hunting. My 2 cents.
 
Personally, I think every rifle should come equipped with a good set of iron sights. For me buying a gun without irons sights is like buying a car without
any wheels: pretty much useless until you accessorize it. Unfortunately, it seems to be more and more difficult to find rifles that come factory equipped
with irons these days, which really is a shame. My ideal is to buy a rifle with a set of irons, get used to them and set them up for 100 yards, then if I choose
scope it, I can and I have the comfort of knowing that should the scope ever get damaged, or knocked out of alignment, the iron sight are there as a backup.
My 358 BLR and my Marlin 1895M are both open sight affairs. The browning comes with an excellent set of irons and I can keep my groups within a 6 inch
circle at 200 yards off the bench. As much as I love the Marlin, I hated their factory sights and I've installed a ghost ring set as a replacement, although I
wouldn't call myself 100 yard proficient yet, I'm sure I'll get there with practice. And having the time to practice is another hard thing to find these days. :D
 
iron sights these days are kind of like a standard transmission in a car, lots of people don't know how to use them.

iron sights are alot more effective than many people realize, i was at the range one time shotting a model 94 30WCF with a peep sight on it at the 200 yard range, the general comments from the others there was "no way", lots of stunned looks when all my shots were in the black.

it depends on what and where you are hunting if scopes really buy you any extra shooting time, where i live there are point restrictions on elk and mule deer, the animal might be plainly visible (and shootable with open sights even) but if it is too dark to count the points, it is too dark to shoot.
 
MiG25 said:
iron sights these days are kind of like a standard transmission in a car, lots of people don't know how to use them.

iron sights are alot more effective than many people realize, i was at the range one time shotting a model 94 30WCF with a peep sight on it at the 200 yard range, the general comments from the others there was "no way", lots of stunned looks when all my shots were in the black.

it depends on what and where you are hunting if scopes really buy you any extra shooting time, where i live there are point restrictions on elk and mule deer, the animal might be plainly visible (and shootable with open sights even) but if it is too dark to count the points, it is too dark to shoot.
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This is why all hunters should have a readiy available binocular with them.
I am in full agreement with you on iron sight capability. I should be, I have a cabinet full of trophies won with pistol and rifle, mostly won with iron, aperature sights.
I have shot more game, large and small, with aperature sights, than I have shot with rifles with scopes.
The Model 70 Winchester, one of the worlds most famous rifles, was drilled and tapped for a LYman 48 aperature sight, for many years before they were drilled and tapped for a scope.
 
I love open sights especially on a lever. Sadly some days my eyes are a bit fuzzier then others. I'm really starting to notice it more and more, and soon I fear I may need a scope on most of my rifles. But for now, I can still make do. ;)
 
I like iron sights especially peep sights with a large aperture. But the vast majority of guns today are not stocked for iron sights, the stocks are way too straight. Like a few guys said a " good " scope is better in low light, emphasis on the good part but a fast handling gun with good irons will give you a few opportunities you might miss with a scoped rifle especially at really close range or in bad weather. "The ####ing scope was full of snow!!" Ever hear that one?
 
i'm planning on using irons this deer season. all summer i've been practicing up on my 336. i found last year that i was too acustomed to the bench and my shooting off hand suffered. also where i'm hunting most of my shots are from 50-100m so using the my irons should be easy enough.
 
H4831 said:
This is why all hunters should have a readiy available binocular with them.
I am in full agreement with you on iron sight capability. I should be, I have a cabinet full of trophies won with pistol and rifle, mostly won with iron, aperature sights.
I have shot more game, large and small, with aperature sights, than I have shot with rifles with scopes.
The Model 70 Winchester, one of the worlds most famous rifles, was drilled and tapped for a LYman 48 aperature sight, for many years before they were drilled and tapped for a scope.
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i never leave the house without my binos (hunting or not). unless the animal is standing still in the open, i can shot with open sights later than i can count points and i have a decent binocular.
 
Now that we're on the subject I'd really like to become more proficient with the iron sights but I found the one on my rifles (Old Savage 22 bolt and SKS) to be pretty hard to use (though the sks aperture is a little better IMHO)

I'm pretty much self-taught so I might just be missing something here but I found the groove in the back sight to be impractically small. To the point I'm considering "opening it up"...

I do however continue to practice with it and I have no plan to scope the said rifles but it's sometimes frustration to miss more consistently than my buddy who has scoped all his rifles...
 
agite12 said:
Now that we're on the subject I'd really like to become more proficient with the iron sights but I found the one on my rifles (Old Savage 22 bolt and SKS) to be pretty hard to use (though the sks aperture is a little better IMHO)

I'm pretty much self-taught so I might just be missing something here but I found the groove in the back sight to be impractically small. To the point I'm considering "opening it up"...

I do however continue to practice with it and I have no plan to scope the said rifles but it's sometimes frustration to miss more consistently than my buddy who has scoped all his rifles...
Click to expand...

Those open iron sights that come on most rifles are a very poor excuse for sighting a rifle. OK, OK, I will now hear from those droves of people who will say how many deer/moose/elk/caribou/bear, etc, etc, have been shot with the Model 94, plus other common rifles with the sights they came with. Please spare me from this.
An aperature is a far superior sight. The aperature, or peep, should be mounted as close to your eye as is practical. For hunting, the aperature should be quite large. Experienced shooters remove the disc that has the hole in it, for hunting, and use the much larger hole. People who have never used a peep sight think they have to conciously centre the peep. Not so. Look through the peep, place the front sight where you want to hit and let fly. Your eye will have automatically centered the hole in the peep for you.
The fastest, most accurate front sight is a post. It should have sharp, square corners and a flat top. Sight it in to hit on the top of the post, just as you would sight in a scope that had a post for a reticule.
 
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