Iron sights options

[rbros]

What are guys preferences for iron sights as both a backup to qd scope mounts and a primary on a dg rifle? Seems like a aperture style ghost ring and a front sight would be a good choice but looking for opinions. On the scoped rifles the rear sight could go on the qd mount when the scope was off. Seems fast and accurate on the lever guns I’ve used them on.

 

[Andrew Short]

I’ve never used a peep sight so I can’t weigh in on that. I personally prefer a double leaf rear sight (rarely use the double) and a single blade front sight with flip up ivory bead (no hood). You can get these from NECG and have your smith fit them to your rifle.

 

[IvW]

Ghost ring is excellent, peep sight is useless for DG..

 

[WAB]

I have a barrel mounted ghost ring on my .375 and a receiver ghost ring on my .458 Lott. Both are excellent. If setting up a new rifle I would likely go with the bbl mounted sight to avoid having to keep track of the loose sight when the scope is mounted. I was initially concerned about the accuracy of a bbl mounted ghost ring but it is not an issue at all.

 

[spike.t]

Are you going to stick the aperture on after you have removed the scope?..sounds like a complicated procedure after taking a shot......with the aperture I have on couple of lotts I unscrewed the peep part and use it as ghost ring....if knew where the part was could screw it back in...but long gone...but quite happy with classic shallow v back sight if scope needs removing on others.

 

[Randy F]

I have a barrel mounted ghost ring on my .375 and a receiver ghost ring on my .458 Lott. Both are excellent. If setting up a new rifle I would likely go with the bbl mounted sight to avoid having to keep track of the loose sight when the scope is mounted. I was initially concerned about the accuracy of a bbl mounted ghost ring but it is not an issue at all.

Do you have a photo of that?

 

[WAB]

Do you have a photo of that?

I will post one tomorrow. I assume you are referring to the bbl mount ghost ring?

 

[Randy F]

I will post one tomorrow. I assume you are referring to the bbl mount ghost ring?

Yes. Thanks!

 

[Scrumbag]

On my 9.3x62 I have a cocking piece sight.

Rear peep is where you want it, at the back of the receiver. Should work under a scope.

I am also tempted to try and get one for my .404 Jeffery.

https://mclaughlincustomfirearms.com/products/cocking-piece-sights/rigby-peep-sights/dangerous-game/

Scrummy

 

[GuttormG]

Aperture can be permanently mounted on the rear scope base.

I choose a red fiber front sight, not tested on game but works very wellon the range. The red dot is easy and quick to position. One solid rear sight.

 

[GuttormG]

Made by Norwegian gunsmith Rafdal.

 

[Shootist43]

What kind of rifle are you intending to use? The old style Rigby Ghost Ring on a Mauser type action might be just the ticket. Here is a link to consider. https://mclaughlincustomfirearms.com/products/cocking-piece-sights/rigby-peep-sights/original/

 

[WAB]

Yes. Thanks!

 

[Randy F]

View attachment 418775View attachment 418776

Thank you. I like that, might be just what I need.

 

[Nevada Mike]

What kind of rifle are you intending to use? The old style Rigby Ghost Ring on a Mauser type action might be just the ticket. Here is a link to consider. https://mclaughlincustomfirearms.com/products/cocking-piece-sights/rigby-peep-sights/original/

John McLaughin's cocking piece is identical to the Rigby Ghost Ring sight... In fact, he makes them for Rigby. They are available in several heights to suit requirements. John is a great guy and delivers a quality product.

My Mauser .404 has a Jeffery folding peep mounted on the cocking piece. It easily flips up when the scope (on Buehler QD mounts) is removed.

 

[calling4life]

Had a skinner peep on my 45/70, you could easily remove (unscrew) the smaller peep and then you had a big ghost ring, you could also install smaller or larger peeps depending upon use, all as easy as simply unscrewing one and screwing the other on.
Sold that gun several years back.

Have a shallow V rear with white bead up front on my 458 lott.
Also have the shallow V rear with white bead up front on my 500 S&W and my other carry handgun, my 1911.

Peripheral vision, still dead quick, precision at stopping distance definitely there, but sight picture (peripheral vision and the like) being the main for the shallow V vs a peep style for me now.

Both have worked great for me though, I'll tell you, I do like that I matched all my sights now, from the handguns, which I shoot more often, to my 458 lott, same style sight and thus sight picture on targets, it's nice.

Only gun I have that is different is my 20ga. Citori for ducks and geese, to be honest, if the reliability of function wasn't questionable, I wouldn't mind having a Savage 20ga. turkey bolt gun setup with the same Shallow V rear and white dot front and I'd use it for ducks and geese. Love the idea of the moving target practice one would get doing this.

 

[crs]

There are at least as many answers to the original question as there are types of rifles to be used in the field. This is confused by the fact that many "peep" sights can also be "ghost rings" . Another interesting complication is the manner in which the rifles are constructed - that is to say that not all SxS doubles are made the same. The same goes for bolt actions, lever actions, and single shots. Whether a custom rifle or a factory rifle also complicates matters. The telescopic sight adds another level of complexity to available options. And possibly the most important is the shooters capability with one or more types of sight. Then you add in the type terrain and type of game to be hunted and the puzzle is even more interesting. Here are some that worked for my rifles in the USA and Africa.
1. Scoped .308 Winchester M70 for all plains game in Africa and USA
2. Scoped Ruger 77 .338 Win Mag Africa and USA all plains game
3. USA truck gun Custom Winchester M92 .357 Magnum with receiver peep, 20 inch barrel
4. Winchester 1895 .405 WCF with extended chamber, 210-400 grain bullets, receiver peep, 24 inch bbl,
USA and Africa all plains game and large and dangerous game.
5. Winchester 1886 TD .45-90 (.458 2.4) with 26 inch BBL, with tang peep and flip up barrel sight, all USA and Africa plains game + Bison, elephant, Cape Buff, leopard. 450 grain solids at 2150 fps.
6. Beretta .45-70 DR for USA plains game
7. Simson and Co Suhl .405 WCF DR regulating 300 and 400 grain bullets-for USA and African PG and DG.
As an example of how a custom double rifle can be configured for different sights, read on:

 

[crs]

In the above, the sunken rear rib is the key to the attachment of the accessories at a level low enough to sight through the standing leaf express sight. This allow sighting the same as with the standing leaf, but with the Talley Peep, or the low mounted Leupold scope.
And it works!

 

[Whitebear995]

Many of my early deer kills were taken with a shotgun with iron sights. I like your thought process but I do think you're over thinking it. If you can can hit baseball accurate at 100 yards with a rifle using irons, then fire away at that deer.

When I bought my 280 Remington model 700 BDL the first five shots I took with it were using the iron sights at 100 yards and I shot a 2" group.

 

[nztimb]

I found after a lot of experimentation that the aperture sight is an easily used and accurate sighting system but within certain size paramaters. The rear portion on the bridge being the aperture (or peep for those who prefer to call it that) has an overall OD of .4 and an inner aperture of .150 and having a square post front sight being .125 wide. Easy to see and accurate to use even now with my progressive trifocal glasses. The rear aperture dose not become a peep as the outer band is still visible to guide the centering of the front sight but has the appearance of being about the same rim size (in use) as the front sight so just enough to define it without dominating in any way.