Regular iron sights- fine tuning and preferences

[BCRider]

Hey all. I'd like to start up a discussion for the benefit of all about what are some preferred options for front and rear sights of all sorts and what most folks prefer if they have played around with some options.

OK, so I'll start out. I'm fortunate enough to still have enough decent eye sight to still enjoy using plain iron sights. But being 62 I'm well aware of how lucky I am and that my case of "old guy eye'tis" is relatively mild.... for the moment. Still it is far from perfect and I'd like to share what I've learned and ask for suggestions from the peanut gallery for improvements and options.

In my case I use 1.25 readers for general work within arm's length and keep a few pairs of 2.5x around for serious close up detail stuff and I've also got a touch of astigmatism that was discovered back in my early teens but which has stayed relatively constant.

I quickly found that the shallow small "v" rear sights as found on militarly surplus rifles and some rimfire rifles I've gotten are strictly for young'uns that have sharp vision. Instead I find that a more handgun like stronger "U" notch works a little like a peep aperture to sharpen up my view of the front sight. But a "U" notch seldom or is never paired up with a front bead. However when it is, or after I file or otherwise cut out the useless shallow "v" to be a "proper U" notch I find I'm better off using it as a round top handgun style front sight where I put the top of the bead up even with the upper line off the "U". This avoids the issue I've read of and found for myself where the bead is larger than the spot on the target that I'm aiming for. And in general I'm more than happy when the front sight is a simple square topped blade or flat topped round pin so it's more like a handgun sight.

So much for what I found works in good light

Now all this is fine when I'm looking out towards good lighting conditions. But I also shoot black powder where a bit over half our trail is under deep woods cover. Targets included. And on a dull day it's DARK in there ! ! ! ! At these times the front sight tends to just go away as it camoflages itself against the target and the general mottled brush. I'm casting around for ideas other than painting (I'm not sure there's a rule against paint but it sure makes those with it the receiver of a lot of ribbing and referred to as blind and baby like )

My other particular case that I'd love to read about other options is my cowboy action rifle. It started with buckhorn sights on the rear but I quickly cut off the "horns" and went with a flat pistol like setup. But I still find that much of the targets is hidden behind the rear blade and front bead. To try to make getting a sight picture quicker I added a 3/32 bras front bead which is coarsely filed to try to catch any light that is around. So now I'm considering reshaping the rear blade so I can see more of the target more easily and quickly. Or perhaps I need to give up and put on a rear tang ghost ring/peep sight?

SASS rules do not allow painting or marking of the sights at all. And fibers are right out. But many other options are kosher.

I'm looking forward to reading about suggestions and experiences. Especially the non standard ones.

 

[mainecoon]

My 100 yard target sits in the shade of a few trees and there's no way I could hit it with irons if it weren't painted. And I have 20/20 vision with contacts.

 

[wanderinwalker]

I've found for sights to be used in less than ideal light, I prefer a gold or brass front bead over anything else I've tried. This includes the fiber optic sights so common lately.

As to rear sights, you sir are a better man than I for sticking with the notch type leaf. For me it almost has to be a receiver sight, preferably with a removable aperture. I can leave the insert in for target shooting and zeroing, and switch over to a ghost ring-esque setup for the woods.

Lastly, some target colors and lighting conditions conspire to make everything kind of blend together. The only solution I've found for those situations is a... *sigh*... scope...

 

[Corn-Picker]

I'm a relative novice, but I've found the rear apeture with a brass partridge post in front to be my favorite traditional open sight. Relatively fast to target, and relatively accurate.

Regarding your black powder gun, are you sticking with irons due to some regulation or law, or is it an artificially imposed limitation? Have you considered a 1x red dot sight? They are faster than peeps, better in low light, insensitive to head position, and just all around better. A good aimpoint clone (e.g. primary arms advanced micro dot) can be had for around $180, which is only about $60 more than I spent on my rear apeture and front partridge post.

 

[wanderinwalker]

I'm a relative novice, but I've found the rear apeture with a brass partridge post in front to be my favorite traditional open sight. Relatively fast to target, and relatively accurate.

Pet peeve of mine (not directed at you specifically Corn Picker): aperture sights are NOT open sights. All open or aperture sights are iron sights, but they are two distinct subsets of the genre.

 

[BCRider]

Corn Picker, I'm a target shooter only. I stick with the iron sights on the black powder guns because we're SUPPOSED to be shooting historically correct guns and sights. So it's fixed iron sights because that's what everyone used back then.

On my SASS and fun target shooting single shot rolling and falling block rifles I've got Soule style rear aperture sights with Lyman globe style front sights. In this case it's partly stubbornness and partly the SASS and MLAIC rules that I'm trying to follow. If more of the folks around here used Malcolm scopes I might be tempted to follow along. But they don't so I don't. If I'm going to beat them I want it to be on common terms.

But to aid me in doing load development I want to make up a temporary clamp on mount to let me use a scope for the single shot rifles and perhaps with the muzzle loaders as well. But that's a whole other topic....

Mainecoon, what you found with that shaded target is EXACTLY what I'm trying to get around. In some cases the target and sights are just too close to each other in luminosity level to where the colors just don't matter. Dayglo paint on the target helps but sometimes even that fights with the sights.

I'm going to try making up a rifle length stick where I can switch sight options rapidly to try out a few ideas. I'm going to include a camera mount to try to show the results.

Some good information from all of you. Keep those cards and letters coming please! And just say "NO!" to scopes....