A lot of the old rifles apparently had sights with leaves for ranges out to 300, 400 and 500 yards. Did anyone actually use these on game or were they just an affection in the days before everyone put a 6-18X scope with Mildot reticle on their .458 WM?

I have done a lot of reading of hunting literature, much of it written in the 19th century.

My sense is that, after the development of metallic cartridges, and especially after the use of smokeless powder became prevalent, there was a lot of shooting at game animals at what we would today consider to be very long range.

Hunters would shoot at animals hundreds of yards away, of course using open sights only.

I think that there was less concern about making one shot kills and much less worry or concern about wounding animals, or even losing wounded animals.

Often, a hunter would intentionally fire his first shot to wound, in the hope that he would slow or bring down the animal, for dispatch at closer range.

It is almost unimaginable nowadays for a hunter to try intentionally to wound an animal anywhere on its body, with no chance of the shot being fatal, except by pure luck.

Why? Motives, attitudes and ethics were much different in bygone days. For many hunters in those days, game was nothing but food, and all was considered fair in filling one's belly.

For others, hunting was a commercial enterprise. Ivory or hides or meat were the goals, and again all was considered fair when it came to filling one's pocketbook.

So, it's my impression that those long range iron sights were used, that's for sure. The gunmakers put them on the rifles of those days because the hunters wanted them and used them.

But can you imagine shooting at game at such long range that the front sight bead is larger than the entire body of the animal! I have to think that hitting was as often as not a matter of pure chance.

God only knows how many animals were wounded and lost in those days.

This will reinforce your idea of the lengths of open sighted extremes.
I have posted this before but it is worth seeing here.



Very often my grandfather mentioned shooting into a group of deer and watching to see which was wounded and then following up and killing later. Very often with a knife since ammo was hard to come by living in the the open range. My grandfather was a surveyor and was often out and about for 3 to 6 months at a time without contact or ability to buy more ammo. Why waste another round when not really needed.
My uncle who grew up with that lifestyle learned to be much more frugal with his ammo and that a head shot was the best way to not have to follow up. His one shot killing was passed on to me which added to my angst while in Africa last year having the worst shooting
time of my life. I needed at least 6 second shots on animals.

The sights above are from an 8x60 magnum bomb brought over from Zimbabwe many years ago. The ladder sight is marked to 1200 meters.
Frank

The user of that setup must have been young and an optimist.

I can say that the flip up 200 yard sight on my 450 No2, and the 100,200, and 300 yard flip up sights on my 450/400 2 3/4", are spot on.

Frank, that rear sight (or is it rear SIGHTS) really tells the tale!

As SR4759 says, made for young eyes and optimistic souls!

On the target range, with an aperture rear sight, expert riflemen can shoot some amazing scores at extended ranges.

But as we all know, hunting is different. Ranges are not set and known, there are no flags by which to judge the wind, and shooting positions are catch-as-catch-can.

I think the modern approach, which is to live within sane limits (if only for the sake of trophy fees!), is the way to go.

Not to criticize the hunters of yore, but I shudder to think how much lead they let fly at live targets that were no more than specks in the distance - all with a coarse bead and a hope and a prayer!

I remember reading African Game Trails where TR and Kermit resorted to volley fire at some pretty extreme ranges.

While the sights might make sense on the 8x60 Bomb Magnum I was curious about the utillity of that kind of setup on a big bore.

I wonder if the sights on NE 450 No2's rifles were actually regulated at those distances at the factory or by a former owner? Somebody either had an intimate knowledge about how big bullets act down range or spent several $ on ammo.

There's some info about hunters of olde that we don't think about much. Hunting big game in the days before effective telescopic sights or fiberglass bedding, where there were only one or two available loads for your rifle and the bullets were all cup and core construction. Amazing that they managed to kill anything.

The sights on 450NE No2's rifles would have been filed in when the rifle was made and regulated.

On the bullets, that is why solids were used for a heck of a lot more game than today. Read John Taylor and he descibes softs "with a little lead showing, more lead showing, and, a lot of lead showing." Scientific, eh?

Taylor was late in the game, imagine the less scientific before him!

JPK