Iron sights

[Poodleshooter]

What kind of iron sights do you shoot well?
Which do you have trouble shooting accurately with?
I've found that I can't hit beans with a bead front/rear shallow "V" notch combo. I can hit well with a ^ front and "V" rear, or any variation using a "U" rear blade, and nearly any peep sight, but unfortunately one of my muzzleloaders has the shallow V and bead combo. I can't seem to get a consistent sight picture when the top edge of the rear sight isn't completely level.

 

[Stinger]

Poodleshooter,

I guess I'm weird, but I shoot normal battle irons pretty well. I can consistantly shoot 2" groups with my Czech Mauser (sewer pipe for a barrel), and 2 to 2 1/2" with my M44 Nagant (average barrel).

My Rem 700 has better sights, but I can't shoot it nearly as well. I guess I need more practice.

Just some random thoughts,

Stinger

 

[cratz2]

That's some fine shooting, Stinger. Best I can claim is about 6-10" off hand and maybe 5-8 off an informal rest. Of course, I've never been 'trained' properly on shooting a rifle with iron sights. Just sort of figured it out for myself. I'm sure I'm doing things wrong.

For sights, since I'm not a great shooter with iron sights, I tend to prefer long radius peep sights. The sights on an Enfield No 4 Mk 1* seem to work pretty well and very quickly too. The flip sight on the AR15 is very workable but not super precise. They serve their purpose. The Williams sight I put on my Marlin 30-30 has a fine hole that allows for a bit more precise work than the Enfield or AR. If I end up keeping my long barrel 1895CB, I'll probably end up putting a tang sight on there.

 

[Stinger]

cratz2,

Thanks. I should mention that is with a couple of sandbags. Off hand, I SUCK! I'm still a newbie on rifles, and I am trying to focus on trigger control. Very deliberate trigger control.

After I become adequate with that, I will start practicing a LOT more offhand. I usually shoot 15-20 rounds with the rest, and then take a few offhand shots. But oneday, if I keep practicing....................

Stinger

 

[Dave R]

Its all about a consistent sight picture.

I have the crappy AK fat post and fat notch with short sight radius, Rem700 small bead with shallow V, CETME aperture with narrower-than-standard front post, and Romanian .22 with slightly-better-than-AK post.

When I am careful, I can shoot all of them pretty much as well with the iron as I can with a scope. It just takes more concentration. The CETME will give me 4" groups at 200 yds with the iron. I just a target with a nice black bull that I can "dot the I" with at that distance.

Scope makes it easier, but not necessarily tighter.

Others report similar results. Any serious Garand or AR-15 shooter can do 2" at 100 yards with the iron sights. I'll bet Tamara can do 1" at 100 yards with her Schmidt-Rubin. (Edited to clarify: I'm talking from a bench here, not offhand.)

Don't get me wrong, I like scopes. I have scopes for the all but the CETME, and I'll get a scope for that eventually. The scope is better at long distance because of magnification. But a consistent hold will get you a small group, even with irons.

 

[cheygriz]

I'll second Cratz2. A good long radius aperture sights. I like the Lyman rear sights. A disc with a tiny aperture for precision work, a disc with a larger aperture for general purpose work, and no disc. (ghost ring) for fast close work.

 

[Art Eatman]

The hardest thing for some folks is getting that same sight picture every time. With irons, I've found it works best for me by setting the sights up so the top of the front sight is exactly even with the top of the rear sight, with the target sitting on top. For me, this sorta cuts it down, then, to centering the front sight in the Vee or the U of the rear sight. Then, all that's left is to ensure the front sight doesn't "crawl" up into the target.

("Gosh, Art, is that all there is to it?")

A peep or a ghost-ring sight is easier, seems to me. Center the front bead or the top of the post in the peep--and then put this picture onto the target.

It's like anything, though. Heck, it takes a bit of practice to learn how to make a bridge when you shoot pool, right?

Art

 

[bad_dad_brad]

Large aperture AR-15 A2 peeps. I like iron peep sights.

 

[PATH]

I am older now so I need scopes. I just plain can't see like I used to!

 

[Sactown]

I shoot just fine with the peep style sights like the ones on my M1A, Enfield and Garand. Can't shoot worth a hill of beans with the Mosin Nagant or SKS U-notch type sights.

 

[cratz2]

Can't shoot worth a hill of beans with the Mosin Nagant or SKS U-notch type sights.

I've shot my Polish Mosin Carbine and a friends Msomething/something full length Finn Mosin and I do OK with both of those. The SKSs I've shot... man, I couldn't hit anything with those things...

 

[hps1]

Iron sights and aging eyes do not go together well.

There are, however, some things that can be done to help the older shooter. A rear aperture sight is much easier to
use than the v notch and Merit makes an adjustable rear sight insert which uses an iris, similar to a camera lens. It
can be opened or closed to fit your individual eye and the available light conditions. These are available in target size
(approx. 3/4†outside diameter) and a smaller one for hunting rifles. They sure help sharpen up your front sight.

Not too much can be done for front sights on a hunting rifle, but for target shooting, try a front aperture sight. When
you combine the proper size front and rear aperture, iron sights can be nearly as accurate as scopes, capable of
shooting 1-1.25 moa groups if the shooter and rifle are up to the task.

Regards,
hps

 

[T.Stahl]

The first real rifle I shot was an HK G3 in the army. Since then I'm used to the HK-style of open sights with the rear aperture and a corresponding round front sight hood with a post. The circle inside a circle is much easier to center in vertical and horizontal direction than the front sight of my Enfield in its rear aperture.
I'll leave post-and-notch sights to handguns.

 

[Poodleshooter]

With irons, I've found it works best for me by setting the sights up so the top of the front sight is exactly even with the top of the rear sight, with the target sitting on top.

That's the worst thing about this sight setup-there is no flat level surface on the rear sight blade, and the front is a rounded bead! The rear sight is a shallow "V" leading to a tiny rounded out hollow. You're supposed to set the round bead exactly in the round hollow of the rear notch, but there is no way to align for vertical movement. I can hit within 3" horizontally out to 100yds, but the vertical strings-oy!
My favorite targets are 2 liter bottles-they give me room to work with!

 

[Peter M. Eick]

The only irons I have are peeps and blade fronts. I generally shoot my M1A's "stock" to give you an idea of what I am thinking of.

Buckhorn or tangent rear iron sights like on a 30/30 winchester I never do very well with.