Would anybody, who has used them, have problems with only using a Peep/diopter sights on their main hunting rifles. Instead of a scope?

I am thinking of species of deer and up, inside 150m.


And, for those that have used them, did eyesight ever deteriorate to much, to use them?

I shoot a Gehmann rear peep with an adjustable iris and a Gehmann front sight with an adjustable iris and a .3 diopter on rifles for High Power competition.

The set-up is extremely accurate.

The toughest thing about hunting with this set-up is light conditions early and late in the day.

At 150 yards with enough practice you should have no problem with deer size game.

I like iron sights, especially a peep, and I have no problem in using them for hunting. It adds a bit more challenge and requires more practice to be proficient than does a scope. Be careful to really learn the rifle with the irons and shoot a lot, especially in varying light conditions and against dark colored targets. For hunting in the woods I like a rather large diameter peep and a post front with a contrasting insert to stand out against the target.

Jerry Liles

I favor a scope on my hunting rifles.

Although my eyesight is excellent and I have shot match rifles in iron sight competitions with a peep and opens over the handguns, drilling and shotguns a scope offers advantages.

Some places require the buck to have a 3" tine on it's antler or more. The background (what is or is not behind the quarry) might be seen better with the scope.

Thinking about it I don't have any hunting guns with peep sights. My match rifles have them only because that match requires irons.

The back up sights are all opens.

All I hunt with are rifles with aperture sights. I make my own sourdough front sight as well. Since I hunt, which means I get close to an animal I lack nothing. If it's too dark to follow a blood trail it's too dark to shoot. Front sight focus takes practice and more practice

Here are some of the hunting rifles I have used for 50 years or more. My most used scope had been Lymans of 4X but since variables are out now most are Leupold variables with some Zeiss, etc.

The Brno on top has a 2-7 Kahles, Steyr 3-9 Leu, 99F 2-7 Leu and the Steyr 2-7 Conquest.


Those slip on pads are only for the range.

For years used a Merit adjustable that attached to my eyeglasses. The only hunting I used it for was for squirrel but I used it for all targets and plinking. Some one asked about them some time back and I found they are still made though a slight difference in attachment. They are ,to me, fairly expensive.

If a person has the eyesight for it, I think a peep/Sourdough combination is a good one. By leaving the scope off, one can save over a pound in weight and the rifle suddenly feels good in your hand as you carry it. The drawbacks are: low light performance is poor and the more mature shooter may not be able to see the front sight clearly. For myself, I have to have at least a 26 inch barrel to be able to see the front sight clearly. Over the years, there are very few shots I could not have made with iron sights and quite a few I did make with iron sights. The last was a coyote at about 150 yards which I shot with a Lee Enfield which wears a Lyman peep and Sourdough front. Regards, Bill

Open sights or an aperture sight of some variety are all I use. I have one scoped rifle and it's never seen the woods and I've owned it for over 20 years. Out to 200 yards I have no problem with an aperture sight, given a rest. Open sights, 100 yards with a rest although I have taken quite a bit of game offhand near 100 yds. with open sights....but I have to admit, not in a while.

Early and late I remove the screw out aperture and use the threaded hole as a ghost ring...very commonly done in years past and inside 100 yards accuracy suffers very little. I prefer a small bead over a post but I believe that's because I've used a bead for a great long time. For me it centers in the aperture easier and quicker. Their use will cut back a few minutes early and late due to light but after 55 years of hunting that doesn't bother me much. I can't answer your question regarding deterioration of ones vision as mine is still more than adequate for aperture use. Last time I shot long range I could still shoot MOA out to 600 yards with my Shiloh Sharps and MVA sights, benched with front and rear bags.

As Bill said, the rifle carries and feels a lot better without a scope.

If you can't tell, I like aperture sights!

Everybody wants a scope on their hunting rifle!

Irons are not even put on them anymore.

I prefer open irons on my handguns.

I recommend people take off the scope and install irons on their favorite hunting rifle. Doing so totally transforms the balance and weight of the rifle. I installed a Lyman 48 on this pre 64 M70 in 270 Win, and it is a very light, handy rifle and the difference in handling characteristics is startling.








I shot two deer with irons, one with a slug gun, very close, and another with a Finnish M27, also very close. The second was early morning, shaded light conditions. Irons were not the best choice in that condition, in fact, I pretty much centered the front post using the sight protector wings.

In terms of accuracy, a well trained iron sight shooter will only shoot a slightly lower score over the long run than a scope shooter: the difference is subtle. As everyone can attest, the greatest advantage of the scope is visibility. You are better able to see in low light conditions and better able to pick out an aiming point with a scope. However, irons are extremely rugged, lightweight, and will do the job adequately if you can see what you are doing. It is too bad that iron sight marksmanship has so declined that it is very hard to find good rear sights like the old Redfield or Lyman 48’s.

I have taken this hunting, never felt I was handicapped out to 100 yards.



I do not understand how anyone could have used the 1873 Trapdoor sights in combat. I don't have a picture of the front post, but it is about the thickness of a pencil line. Look at the small aperture holes and tiny rear notch, this rear sight would be difficult to use in low light conditions.

Here is the latest rifle that I got. It's a 257 Wby on a Mauser action with a handsome octagon barrel.

Irons would spoil the beauty.

All of my hunting rifles are equipped with receiver or tang sights- M1899 Savages, Mausers, Krags, Springfields. Only a couple are also scope adapted, with Griffin&Howe QD sidemounts, whereby the scope rides along in a leather tube slung over my shoulder. Rarely does a scope get attached, so more often than not it stays behind in the truck.

My 62 year old eyes are as bad as anybody's. I use the Merit diopter on my shooting glasses but in the field I either use an adjustable Merit Iris in the sight or do the reading glasses trick (especially when using v-notch barrel sights). (A cheap pair of 1 or 1.25x drug store 1/2 frame glasses, perched on the end of my nose. Push them up in front of the eyes with the thumb that grasps the wrist of the rifle when shouldering the gun. The low power lens focuses the front sight just dandy and doesn't distort the target out in front of you. Try it. It works.)

I have shot in competition with peep sights for a lifetime. I have them on match rifles and schuetzen rifles.

The peep sight is obsolete for rifle hunting.

We use scopes on all of our modern rifles.

Here are a few of my hunting rifles.



Top 2-7 Kahles, 3-9 Leupold, 2-7 Leupold, 2.5-8 Conquest.

I grew up in the iron sight generation and in a iron sight family of hunters and ranchers who packed a rifle in a saddle scabbard most days of the year..I like to shoot irons, but it does make a difference in how I intend to use the gun and the circumstances of how I intend to hunt.

My favorite irons are the large hole ghost peep or the shallow V, both with a NECG gold face partridge post. I use the post and V like you use a pistol sight picture, its as fast as a peep and as accurate IMO...

I use irons in the thick stuff, horseback, and where shots will usually be 200 yards or less with an ocassional 250 to 300 yard shot, again depending on caliber. I use the irons when stand hunting, DG in Africa, also and when I'm not trophy hunting..

If I'm trophy hunting, I prefer a low power scope such as a 3X Leupold. I have a 2x7x28, a 3x9x33 if the need temps me. For most big game hunting I have never seen the need for more power than 2.5 or 3...not even once. May not be the perfect scope for the job, but it always worked.

quote:

Would anybody, who has used them, have problems with only using a Peep/diopter sights on their main hunting rifles. Instead of a scope?
I am thinking of species of deer and up, inside 150m.

I prefer peep sights for use out to about 100m. If I am going somewhere where I know that shooting distances will be within 100m or so, like in the woods, I will take the scope off if I can. Peep sights can be used further than that, and I have done a lot of shooting got surprising groups with just a peep sight. However, for hunting you need to be able to place your shot. So you need to be able to have a good view of the animal and the front sight can't be too big in relation to it at the distance you are shooting. To 100m for sure, and perhaps to 150m depending on the size of the animal, peep sights are no problem.

quote:

And, for those that have used them, did eyesight ever deteriorate to much, to use them?

One BIG advantage peep sights have over open sighting blades is that the aperture acts like a lens and improves focus. The smaller the aperture the better the focus but if you go too small you can't see much of anything. You can find adjustable apertures that work like the iris of a camera. You then alter the opening to give you the best possible in-focus image. You can even find some adjustable apertures with magnification built in.

The only thing I don't like about aperture sights is that you have to blow the water out of them if it is raining.

Iris:


Iris & 1.5x magnifyer:

Not everyone wants a telescopic sight on their rifle and while often not installed on a bolt rifle they frequently are and are installed on many others; levers, pumps, semi-auto's, double rifles and combination guns and drillings. Frankly, I wouldn't be without iron sights of some kind on a rifle, even if scoped.

Aperture sights are not obsolete for hunting. If they were those on here who attest to still using them wouldn't.

I used to have several scoped rifles but as my tastes changed all but one are gone. Along with Atkinson I've never seen a need for more than 4X for hunting medium and larger game, not even on the plains or in the mountains and I've never owned a variable, never needed one, just one more thing to go haywire.

I have an old Springfield 35 Whelen that I hunt with, mostly Peep and bead, using cast bullets. 250 yards on Deer no problem so far. Haven't missed one yet.
I also have a Mauser 98 30-06 that I clamp a XS backup peep on it's Weaver rear base and a handmade Square post front is wonderful. I enjoy hunting with this setup and the handling of the rifles are improved when leaving the glass behind. I have shot several deer with this one as well using the 220 RN bullets. Just works kind of rig.

The peep sights found on an M-1 Garand or Springfield 03-A3 are wonderfully accurate and easy to use. At the ranges specified in the OP I'd have no qualms about hunting with them. My hunting has almost all been in areas where the 300 yard shot may be the best I can get so have used scope sighted rifles.