Teach me how to shoot w open sights

[Bigoledude]

My new Buffalo Classic is proving to be a lot tougher to master than I thought it would be! All of my shooting, over the years, has been from the bench with scoped rifles.

I have practiced some using a single-leg shooting stick. My results have been horrendous. I am now building a two-legged set of shooting sticks. The sights seem to cover such a large area on the target, it's incredible that anyone could shoot the tee-ninetzy groups I read of. All of my hunting will be off of sticks or off-hand.

I have only read of techniques on proper scope shooting. Is there some tips an old guy should know on using open sights?

[wonderwolf]

I've shot the buffalo classic (45-70) offhand a bit and you can't have a flinch at all. You really gotta realize that that recoil and whats gonna come with it is gonna happen whether you flinch or not.90% of my shooting is with iron sights. with open sights and peep sights you want to simply focus on your front sight. Sight your rifle using a target hold that you like. Either a "pumpkin on a post" type sight picture or one where your sight is covering the point where your bullet will impact. I personally prefer the Pumpkin on the post method.

I have young eyes and can understand if you have trouble focusing on the front sight but if you cant then you wont shoot well with irons. And that buffalo classic has a LONG sight radius for sure. If you don't like the sights that came on the rifle look at williams gun site company and pick out something you think will work better. perhaps something with a larger peep. Remember with peep sights...just like your scopes. your eye will naturally center itself and the front sight is what you want to focus on. you might want to practice shooting offhand with a .22 at 50 yards at a paper plate before you start shooting that buffalo classic a lot. I developed a strong offhand position by shooting tens of thousands of rounds offhand with all sorts or rifles. (I've shot offhand at 300 yards and out to 600 yards when I get the chance.

other notes
your offhand zero will be dif than a bench zero.
Make sure you have a good cheek weld on that stock and a good strong hand grip . Try not to grip the rifle with your weak hand but let it lay in your hand (open hand almost). Be sure to keep the stock pulled tight into your shoulder and remember you want the shot to surprise you. On the bench a jerked trigger might not be much but offhand it can be several feet at 100 yards. try dif inserts till you find one that you like and can perform with.. Also try putting a black thumb tack on a wall 10' away (or so) from you and dry fire dry fire dry fire. I do this on a daily basis with a random rifle picked out of the rack and a handgun as well. a good stance is also key weak foot forward and lean into the gun. Dunno if any of this helps.

[Onlymenotu]

Hi Bigoledude and welcome aboard...... I have the 38-55 target classic..... and hated the front sight inserts myself..... went on a hunt for the Lyman Globe 17A insert sets with a smaller bead or aim point if thats what you want to call it..... and this is what i came up with and this is the cheapest i could find them here (http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/store/productdetail.aspx?p=12372&st=lee%20shaver%20%20inserts&s=)
* hint if you do buy them they will ship in the envlope shipping method is cheaper* witch these inserts are mutch more to my liking.......then i change out the the peep dia witch u can buy here (http://www.e-gunparts.com/DisplayAd.asp?chrProductSKU=534370&chrSuperSKU=&MC=) and went to the 50 thou........ aim smaller miss smaller...... seems to have helped for me anyway

[Mk42gunner]

Like has been said before; focus on your front sight.

Step 1. Sight alignment, (align front and rear sights)
Step 2 Focus on front sight.
Step 3 Aim in, (put the front sight on target). The target can be out of focus/fuzzy.
Step 4 Squeeze trigger.

I personally prefer a flat topped post and sight in for point of aim / point of impact. The six o'clock hold works well for standard bullseye targets but not for different shapes or sizes of targets.

Good Luck

Robert

[wills]

http://www.bobtuley.com/sight_picture.htm

[C1PNR]

A lot of good information here. Take a look at the "bobtuley" example.

What I've done is to use the flat top front post and 6 O'Clock hold as it's easier to define exactly, well sort of,[smilie=1: where you are holding. The difference is that I sight my firearms, rifle and handgun, to hit right at 6 O'Clock.

That way, I just hold on the animal right where I want the boolit to impact, without worrying if I used a 6" bull and am hitting 3" high, or a 12" bull and am hitting 6" high.

Works for me, anyway, YMMV.

[AZ Pete]

You will probably do best with a 6 O'clock hold, but to make life better, make your target dot (or square) so that it appears the same width as the front sight blade, at the distance you shoot. Then just focus on the front sight blade and squeeze.

[Freightman]

The peep is easy your eye will center the front post or whatever automaticaly, just human nature to center things. the front sight will be your problem, don't worry about the rear.
I have always shot with open sights and some far more crude than a peep, and at 68 I am learning to use a scope, I think that is far more complicated than even military sights.