best iron sights for indoor range use ?

[socalbeachbum]

what do you think are the best iron sights for an indoor range, at say 20 yds?

considering dim lighting on the sights, hazy atmosphere, etc.?

I shoot my S&W 22a 7" using stock black target sights about as well as I can with a red dot. I don't have 20-20 vision anymore. I just purchased a S&W 686+ 7" and it has factory white outline rear, red ramp front.

I'm wondering if the gold dot front that Smith puts on some of their revolvers would be a good choice? Usually I'm using an all black bullseye target or one with orange center.

or maybe one of the colored 'fiber optic' front sights? or ???

what's your suggestion??

 

[rcmodel]

Black square notch sights (Usually smoked with a carbide flame to stop any glare) have won more NRA Bullseye trophy's over the last century then would fit in Donald Trumps Swimming pool.

White outline & red ramp, and all that stuff was invented for speed shooting out of a holster, and better sight visibility under stress.

They don't help at all for target shooting.

rc

 

[socalbeachbum]

well, black on black certainly has worked well for me over the years.

 

[huntershooter]

A gold dot works well IF you have ambient light from behind-highlighting the bead.
Fiber Optic front sights are the way to go in subdued lighting conditions.
The green optic rod in particular stands out distinctly.

 

[mdauben]

For indoor target shooting, I think the classic black on black, square notch rear, undercut front sight are the best. For undoor tactical use, I like dot front, bar or outline rear sights. Either all white, or tritium. I think a gold dot front should work well, but I've never actually used one.

 

[BCRider]

In dim lighting the brass dots don't show up well either. And there's often not enough light overhead on the firing line to make the fiber front sights do much either. So all in all I like the plain black sights.

If the eyes are getting old, and I refuse to admit that any other part of me is following the lead of my eyes , then something that can sharpen things up a little is a shooting glasses peep aperture. There are little suction cup stick on ones but I couldn't find them. So I came up with a way to make my own stick on peep patches. They really do help in dim indoor range lighting situations.

Here's the thread I started on the topic. If you have electrical tape and some way to make clean holes it's not hard to come up with a new way to do the same thing.

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=712731&highlight=electrical+tape

 

[Canuck-IL]

The variable aperture "stick-ons" can sharpen a target by increasing your depth of field but they necessarily do so by reducing the ambient light - it's always a trade-off and not likely useful in already dim conditions.

I find them useful for outdoor Bullseye. Merit are probably the best known:
http://www.meritcorporation.com/products.html

/B

 

[BCRider]

Yes, they do reduce the light even more. But that's why I made up two sets of the cheapies using the smallest and next smallest punches on a leather punch tool. I found that the larger of the two worked out best at my club's dimly lit indoor range. The smallest one cut out too much light as you're saying.

For those that may be wondering the smaller size comes in at around 1/16 or maybe a hair bigger. The next size on the Dial-A-Punch tool is 3/32 give or take a few thou. I tried a few at the roughly 1/8 size but it was way too large and didn't give any appreciable sharpening.

 

[CraigC]

Black square notch sights (Usually smoked with a carbide flame to stop any glare) have won more NRA Bullseye trophy's over the last century then would fit in Donald Trumps Swimming pool.

White outline & red ramp, and all that stuff was invented for speed shooting out of a holster, and better sight visibility under stress.

They don't help at all for target shooting.

What he said and I prefer all black target sights for ALL purposes.

 

[MrBorland]

White outline & red ramp, and all that stuff was invented for speed shooting out of a holster, and better sight visibility under stress.

They don't help at all for target shooting.

Factory red ramps are a Jack-of-all-trades sight, but they're a pretty lousy compromise, IMO. For target or speed shooting, there are much better specific sights.

My preference is for a fiber optic front sight. It's easily picked up quickly so it's good for speed and for indoor work, and it is perfectly fine for informal target work, so long as you focus on the top of the sight, and not the fiber optic itself. I'd go with a standard black Patridge for more formal target work in good light.