AR Accuracy using peep sight....

[holdencm9]

A lot depends on the length....carbine, middy, rifle? The sight radius on my M4, the front sight would cover half the target at 50 yards.

I would be ECSTATIC with a 2" group at 50 yards with my carbine.

With my middy it would be a little less impressive. I'd be happy with it. I think a 2" group at 50 yards with a rifle would still be quite excellent.

 

[Welding Rod]

Vet - Really fine accuracy is about as much about the shooters eyes as anything. I am 46 and am fortunate to still be able to shoot irons OK, but personally I can not use the smaller match aperatures in the AR platform to any advantage.

The match aperatures darken the sight picture significantly for me, and I also see a spider web effect in the peep hole. I did try shooting some matches with a NM AR, but I found I actually shoot better with GI sights.

Your shooting is better than average I would say! Even with a ML gas, your shorter sight radius puts you at a disadvantage with irons. All else equal, you would certainly shoot somewhat smaller groups with a rifle length gas system.

Some HP shooters are really amazing, and shoot circles around me. It can be quite humbling when trying it out for the first time.

 

[SSN Vet]

My next build is going to have a bull barrel and glass...with no iron sights. I may go with 6.8 SPC

I wanted to learn the AR platform with the iron sights and I have no regrets...

I don't want to scare you... but 46 is when my eyes went south....

but I'm stuck at a desk staring at a computer monitor all day, 250 days a year .... and that doesn't help.

 

[Pete D.]

Your 100 yd performance is also impressive Pete... If I understand your scale correctly, the spread is ~2.5", which would in theory have halved if shot at 50 yds.

Actually, the groups are even smaller than half the size. WR's group is one MOA at 100 yards....one MOA at 50 yards is a square one half inch on a side (only 1/4 the size of a one inch square) or a circle one half inch in diameter. His group would fit inside that circle or square. My own group - about two MOA at 100 and roughly circular would fit nearly into a one inch diameter circle at 50 yards. (my eyes are 65 years old.) The top shooters do that at 100 for twenty shots.

 

[Caliper_Mi]

Two key elements to iron sight accuracy are consistent sight picture and front sight focus. Focusing on the front sight helps reduce your groups because you will tend to hold more steadily when focusing on the item that, when it moves, has the greatest effect on where the bullet goes. Most CMP and High Power shooters will used the 6:00 hold because it allows an unobstructed view of the target with the bull right above the front post. This works great if your targets are all a consistent size, but can be more challenging if you shoot at targets of many different sizes. Either way, whether you like a 6:00 or a center hold, pick one and stick with it.

 

[siglite]

Ive gotten 1" groups at 100 off hand with standard A2 sights... using handloads of course

I even got to the point where I could ring the 6" gong at 200 almost every time.

Wow. In my whole life I've only met one guy that could shoot 1MOA offhand. He mentored me as an instructor in Appleseed. He also had THREE distinguished pins on his hat. That guy's forgotten more about shooting than most of us will ever know.

Anyway, anyone that can shoot 1MOA offhand is a helluva shooter.

 

[76shuvlinoff]

The reason I ask is that all I can see is a small black smudge at 100 yds, and even the small A2 aperture is huge by comparison.

... and 100 yards I am not even sure what that "black smudge" is.

I'm nearly 53, although I hesitate to call that "old" I've been wearing glasses for nearsightedness since the 3rd grade. I have fun with iron sights up to about 40-50 yards and for home defense that perfectly fine. If I want to go longer (and be accurate) I know my just-purchased-yesterday AR is going to need something else on top of it.