Oh! Wow..... Sighted in the peep sights... Nice day at the range.

[G. Blessing]

Good Evening All!

When I put the williams 5D,(the one without the easy adjust knobs). on my 30-30, I centered the windage when I mounted it. Almost to the end of the adjustment to that side.... but eye-balling it on center of the action was perfect, I didn't have to adjust it any at sighting in.(big surprise there)

Only had to make two changes, 2 marks each, up in elevation, between a couple groups at 25 and 40 yards. Then made 3 shots, 3 clay pigions, a shot each at 60 yds, 80yds and 110yds.... WOW.... didn't know I could shoot like that. Gonna leave it there and call it sighted in. :-D That was from a cushioned arm resting on the bench, forgot the sandbags. Only took ten shots!

Its great to have the field of view around the front sight, not blocked by the buckhorn, you realy can see what your doing.

I made it within an inch or so of the same 110yard shot off hand with my buddies 45colt trapper with the buckhorn sight.... I'm filing that under sheer luck :confused: , since I had never shot that gun before, also the front was too dark, hard to tell the diference between the target, front and rear sights. One of those "oh what the heck, I'll try" and you get divine intervention or sumtin' and do it.... [smilie=1:

Funny part of the day, My buddy was shooting at about 45 yards, having a bit of trouble seeing the front sight on the target color, so I was spotting the target hits for him while he shot. Just slightly looked down range after a shot, and there stands a moose on the range at around 90yds... Aparently the shootin' didn't bother him, he just walked right in. We waited about 15 min before it got far enough off to the other side, to shoot again. It flinched at the first shots(we made sure we would miss by a LONG ways, last thing we need is to shoot one 2.5 monthes early) but it just kept eatin' and standin for a little while.... :confused:

No surprise seeing the moose, its a public range 10 miles into the heart of the state rec area.... 90% pure wilderness. Was just surprising that the shooting didn't bother it.

Have to be careful who I tell this to around the area, or on opening day this fall, everybody and their brother will be out there to "sight their gun in" ;)

All in all a nice day, got to test 2 hand loads, 1 of which is cast, burned 20 rounds of factory so I have more brass for the handloads. :drinks:

Only bad thing is, 20 factory hunting rounds, 20 of my hunting rounds and 8 medium experimental rounds, plus 20 out of the .45, my shoulder is bruised and aching... need more than just the factory plastic butt plate. :)

G.

[waksupi]

If more people tried aperture sights, fewer people would think they need scopes. Good shooting, and sounds like a good day on the range!

[Boomer Mikey]

Aperture sights are great! I get sick to my stomach every time I see a scope on a lever gun. Scopes are for bolt actions but bolt actions work well with aperture sights too.

Try one of the Merit adjustable aperture disks, they work great for changing light conditions.

Boomer :Fire:

[Buckshot]

..............Good apurture sights are basicly a 1X scope :-)!

.............Buckshot

[Maineboy]

My hunting rifles either have peep sights or scopes. I hunt mostly in the big woods and the only advantage I see in a scope is at early or late light. A rifle with a peep sight is also much easier to carry.

[Jon K]

I have Marbles & Williams on my Levers. Works Great! I also like the Merit Aperture. Old eyes can't use the Buckhorn sights.

Jon
:castmine:

[G. Blessing]

Well, I'll tell you, my mod 60 marlin is going to get some, and so is my muzzle loader!


Thanks for telling me about the adjustable aperatures, I was about to order a few different sizes... BTW, does the brass ringed twilight aperature actualy help in low light?

G.

[waksupi]

To me, a brass ring would reflect light in bright conditions, possibly causing flaring. The outside ring really doesn't matter, as you are just looking through it, and shouldn't even really be aware of it when shooting. Dark or light, it doesn't matter as far as shooting in low light.Having a good, visible front sight is more important, than what the aperture ring is.

[Bob B]

when you gentmen get around seventy years of age most of you will have to use scopes.Bob B

[G. Blessing]

I don't plan on living that long. :)

G.

[jh45gun]

Oh I don't know my dad died at 69 but hunted right up until then with OLD Model 94 Winchester with a Redfield peep sight on his carbine. Stock front sight and if it ran in front of him it was dead.

[MakeMineA10mm]

Just to confirm, I took my Marlin 1894 (44 Mag) and Ruger 44R (original model from the 60s w/ factory peep sights) to the range last week.

I've owned the Ruger for a few years and never shot it, because I hadn't gotten around to fixing a hairline crack in the stock. Was kind-of anxious to try it out finally, and had the Marlin 94 w/ me, as it's getting to be my favorite rifle. (I've told before how a buddy and I were greatly impressed with it's accuracy by hitting a 2" pipe at 90 yards in 20 degree weather a few winters ago.)

Well, the buckhorns on that "amazingly accurate" Marlin were put to shame by the Ruger's peep sights (at least that's what I'm chalking it up to). I'm getting another set of Marbles Peep sights from Midway, if they've still got them on sale, for the Marlin 1894, so it can catch back up to this Ruger.

(I got a Marbles peep rear on sale from Midway over the winter for my 444 Marlin model 1895, and I saw that they were on sale again/still in a recent flyer from them.)

All I can say is I'm MIGHTY proud to own TWO 44 Magnum carbines (one lever and one semi-auto) that shoot better than I (and most others who shoot them) can hold them. Thank goodness I (finally) recognized long ago that when I recognize a good-shooting firearm, to not let go of it (after letting go of a couple that I regret losing...). And, even though they are known for their side-ejection and ability to mount scopes low, this 44 Marlin is getting peeps, just like it's bigger brother.

[35remington]

Most older guys still handle peep sights just fine. The front sight is a long ways away and the only thing to focus on, no problem even for the farsighted fellas.

[6pt-sika]

Aperture sights are great! I get sick to my stomach every time I see a scope on a lever gun. Scopes are for bolt actions but bolt actions work well with aperture sights too.

Try one of the Merit adjustable aperture disks, they work great for changing light conditions.

Boomer :Fire:


I use a bunch of tang and peep sights as well as plain old open sights on a good many of my levers :drinks:


However .................................[smilie=1:

I have quite a few that get scopes put on them when I plan on using them . For instance all the Marlin XLR's and Marlin Guide Gun types . As well as the older 444's and hopefully soon in my possesion circa 1978 Marlin 1895 in 45-70 .

Over the last five years I have killed an average of 2 deer a year with cast bullets and iron sights of one form or another .

They are always early season deer . After I take a couple that way then I revert back to scope sighted rifles and jacketed bullets . Last season was the first that I didn't kill a deer with a bolt acton in probably 20 years . LAst year my talley was three with the ML and 10 with lever actions . Those ten were taken with 7 different rifles . All of which had never been hunted by me before :drinks:

[G. Blessing]

Ten and three.... wow, no bag limit I take it?


G.

[SharpsShooter]

Another vote for the apeture sights. Every rifle I own has them with exception to a 22-250 High Wall. Very accurate sight and less weight too. They never fog up and are virtually maintenance free.


SS

[Boomer Mikey]

I haven't seen a western with a scope mounted on a lever gun yet!

I admit I use a scope on my levers for load testing and a dot sight for some fun stuff but the aperture or standard open sight is my normal setup for my lever guns.

Many of my cowboy lever guns have both open and tang sights. I use a brass bead front and folding rear marbles sight adjusted for zero at 50 yards and a tang aperture sight set for 100 yards. I'll sight-in for 100 yards on the tang sight then count down the number of clicks back to 50 yards then write that number on a small sticky or label and place it on the underside of the lever. The folding rear provides a quick reference that my tang sight is where I think it is and a repeatable return to 50 or 100 yard settings any time.

Now Marble's tang sights are available with replaceable posts. You can setup a post for long range and another for short range or different loads (cowboy loads/hunting loads).

From the Brownell's Web Site: "Change Quickly From Short- To Long-Range Configurations

For the single-shot or lever gun shooter who wants the period looks of a traditional, tang-mounted peep sight with new adjustability features that allow fast changes from short- to long-range settings. Great for the cowboy shooter who wants to use the same gun in cowboy competition and long-range side matches, or as an alternative to vernier type sights on single shot rifles used in BPCR and other long-range competitions. Each sight kit comes with a short post for close-in shooting and a standard post for longer-ranges. Loosening the setscrew with the included Allen wrench lets you quickly swap posts. A jam nut locks the elevation, so you can change posts without losing settings. Fine elevation adjustment increments of .004" per click let you position the aperture exactly where you need it. Purchase as many extra posts, set at different ranges, as you need. Additional posts are also available for even longer ranges. Precision, CNC machined from 4140 steel, with critical parts heat-treated for extra strength to stand up to many thousands of attachment/removal cycles."

There's a new Sourdough front post I like too.


Boomer :Fire:

[G. Blessing]

That reminds me, I need to measure the frint sight hight on mine, I wanted to get a gold bead front for it.

G.