Iron Sights?

Okay, so I'm old school. Grew up in the era when you had to be well heeled for optics and the rest of us used iron sights. Noticed for some time that modern hunting rifles (bolt action and semi-auto) usually come without iron sights. I was thinking of a Remington 750 in a 30-06 specifically because it had an iron sight, while a Browning BAR, not all that more expensive, didn't.

My thinking: Local hunting is usually in brush, with typical distances 50 - 60 yards. Iron sights seem like they would be quicker sighting, but having hunted with both iron sights and optics (uncle's 30-30), I'm not so sure.

Comments?

Not an expert here, but a low power scope (1x4) while not necessary at those ranges, would give you the best chance at achieving a clean kill and not getting lost trying to find your target.

I grew up using a Stevens 30-30 with iron sights. Last year I harvested a doe with the Stevens. At a distance of 50 yards or so, the irons would be better for me. What an individual is used to shooting makes a difference. It would be difficult for me to scope in a running deer at 50 yards.

Owen

Light conditions may make a difference for some and older eyes having difficulty focusing on the front sight would give optics the advantage, but if you can do it with irons, why not?

I will be 70 years old then end of Oct., and can shoot iron sights as good as with scopes, under good conditions. I grew up shooting iron sights, and refined my use on an ROTC smallbore rifle team in college. Back in those days dad had gotten me a Win 70 and I put a Leupold 4x on it, variables were rare and expensive in 1963 and I could shoot it better than the irons at long range, nowdays with a eye problem that resulted in thousands of little floaters, not so much. I find I prefer aperature sights more than any other kind nowdays.

I will agree that for me iron sights are certainly faster then my scope. When I'm in a quick shooting situation, driving, standing at a short spot during a drive etc, I use my Model 94. I have a hooded sight on that and anything withing 50 yards is generally down. I've been in similar situations with my BLR and the 9x30 scope and cannot get the shot nearly as quick, though I will admit the .308 is a whole lot more accurate at 100+ yards

What are you looking to spend?

At 50-60 yards a red dot would be your fastest option, IMO. If you ever want to open up the range, though, you might want some magnification, so a 1-4x or a 1-6x scope might be better for you, and a good variable scope wont slow you down much on the 1x setting--Variables are commonly used for gun games like 3 gun where you need to shoot fast at a variety of ranges.

They also have scopes where you can mount a mini red dot on, so you could get a fixed power scope and put a mini red dot on it for closer quick shots.

Either way, I'd recommend checking out primary arms if you're thinking of going down the optic route. Their lines of scopes and red dots are highly recommended for the money. Vortex also makes good products for a relatively low amt of money.

Only problem with iron sights is if they don't provide much contrast with the target and there's not much light. A red dot is really nice for those pretty close range low light situations.

I have a Remington 7600 that has a 3-9X scope on mounts that allow you to look under the scope and use the iron sights if you choose. I don't remember the brand of the mount off the top of my head though.

Pete_T said:

Either way, I'd recommend checking out primary arms if you're thinking of going down the optic route. Their lines of scopes and red dots are highly recommended for the money. Vortex also makes good products for a relatively low amt of money.

Click to expand...

+1 on Primary Arms. I've got a 3x red dot from them that is good bang for the buck.

I am not very experienced but I like the idea of iron sights for backup and cowitnessing. I currently use iron sights along with a red dot sight since my primary use is for self defense. I could always change out the red dot for a scope if I wanted to do a bit of hunting.

Get one with iron sights...and add a scope on the '06.

Oh, sorry. I was too copious on my text.

In my experience, the best "compromise" between the two is a set of ghost ring sights.

I learned to shoot with my Marlin 1894P, and the factory iron sights are pretty bad. I had a low-power scope on it for a while, but it never "felt" right. I now have XS ghost ring sights and it has made a huge difference -- balanced, easy to use, and intuitively accurate.

My Marlin 1895G also wears an XS rail with ghost ring sights, but I have an Aimpoint Micro T1 mounted. Wicked hog medicine, and I can take it off easily if I have to and revert to the ghost ring.

OkieDave said:

My Marlin 1895G also wears an XS rail with ghost ring sights, but I have an Aimpoint Micro T1 mounted. Wicked hog medicine, and I can take it off easily if I have to and revert to the ghost ring.

Click to expand...

Sounds like an ideal set up!

Most of my Marlins have Lyman receiver sights mounted. I zero with a small aperture disk installed, then if hunting or needed for quick shots remove the disk and have a large ghost ring type aperture.

I do have a couple of AR types with Aimpoints and folding aperture sights that will cowitness through the Aimpoint.

I'd like to put some of these on my Marlin carbine in .45LC:

http://www.skinnersights.com/3.html

I loved the practice shooting out to 500 yards with iron sights in the Marines. I do appreciate a scope for what they do, but I love the purity of shooting off the iron.

Being a geezer, I wouldn't be without my RDS; it's made me a better rifle shooter. Have BUIS, too.

Then again, I don't hunt.

But I think an RDS is practical at the ranges you mention--I can comfortably make head shots at 50yds offhand with one. A modest scope would probably be more accurate while an RDS would be faster. Perfect for varmints, it seems to me.

nortac said:

I'd like to put some of these on my Marlin carbine in .45LC:

http://www.skinnersights.com/3.html

Click to expand...

I have a set on a little Marlin 1894CL in 32-20. They are good but not the easiest things to adjust. You also will most probably need a higher front sight. Although not as pretty I still prefer my old Lyman click adjustable sight.


My first centerfire, a Win Model 70 featherweight in 30-06 dad got for me when I finished high school back in 63, came with iron sights. I did not weight too long to mount a Leupold 4x, and put it in a set of Weaver pivot mounts, so I can simply swing it over out of the way and use the irons. The set up has not changed in the 53 years I have had the rifle and it has always returned to zero when moved.