When shooting with iron sights, has anyone found a real advantage to having a front sight hood or is it just personal preference/cosmetic?

I like hooded sights with a nice bead, helps me acquire quicker. Some don't as it obscures the target a little.

I prefer a hood over the front sight to give it some protection, armer if you like. Consider the idea of having to walk or stalk through heavy brush at least the hood provides a little protection if it is not lost itself. Just my preference. Rodney.

I find them to be more of an interference and I seem to aquire a faster sight picture without one. Try a few quick shot drills with and without and see if it makes a difference. On my DGR I definitely don't use a hood.
Scott

I like the idea of protection however in practice, the hood generally makes the bead very hard to see in low light. I take them off for hunting.

For paper punching I like a sight hood, but in the field, or for fast shots, the hood comes off.

Use a windowed hood and you get the best of both worlds, protection and light to the front post.

A Hood is only there to protect the Bead from damage.
I know of an Australian Elephant hunter lost three days of a Safari due to a broken front sight which occurred during his travel from Aus to Zim . A hood would have helped.

I use them on my doubles, which are express sight only. They do protect the bead, and I find them a great help with shooting in the field. Properly installed, they can't be knocked off accidentally, or come off under recoil. In normal light, I pick up the sight picture faster with the hood on, and have never found them to interfere with field of vision on moving game. I remove them only in very low light conditions.

In some low light conditions, it's still easier for me to see the bead with the hood on. I shot a pig with one of my doubles last week fairly early in the morning. It was after dawn, but not quite full light. I had taken the hood off and couldn't see the bead well enough to get a good sight picture at 120 yards. I put the hood back on, and the shot was a snap.

Yup, they are supposed to provide protection for the front bead, but I pull them off; hate um!

A Gun Collector once told me that the "Hood" on the front sight was a military thing. This allowed greater and faster sighting.

It helps me focus the rear sight............with these old eyes, it's not nearly as fuzzy.

I use them on my rifles with blade or express rear sights. My express sights have the red fiber front bead and they protect it from damage as well.

I tend not to use them with aperture rear sights and strong steel front plades.

The folding hood sight is the answer to the advantages disadvantages hood site question.

quote:

Originally posted by MoreBS:
It helps me focus the rear sight............with these old eyes, it's not nearly as fuzzy.

I agree.As long as the thing stays on the barrel like it's suppose to. I noticed it's made to stay on my CZ.I had a load of issues with it coming off on a Steyr Mannlicher.

quote:

Originally posted by oldun:
The folding hood sight is the answer to the advantages disadvantages hood site question.

The forward folding down ones found on the H&H's are better than the Westley Richards rear folding down type as Brush can catch up on this type.

The only reason I leave them on is for protection. Not that I need it.

quote:

Originally posted by dirklawyer:
Use a windowed hood and you get the best of both worlds, protection and light to the front post.

I use a windowed hood on my scope and express sighted 375H&H. I've had a couple of hoods mangled in the field, but not the front bead, and so they served their purpose of protecting the front sight.

But for a rifle where the express sights are the primary sights, I don't like them. I also don't like them for ghost ring apperature sighted rifles. For those it seems the two rings, the ghost ring and the hood, lead to the front one being used (wrong one!) and not the rear.

JPK

I believe their main purpose is to take your mind off the aches and pains after a day of busting your butt through rough country when your realize another one went missing.

Dave

The best peep sight arrangement I ever had, used a circular hood and a rear apperature sized to center the hood. It was fast and accurate and easy to see. Oh yes, the bead was centered in the hood. This was on a 300 Win. The only reason I went back to a scope was because the distances were so great, I could hit anything with the peep sights, but I couldn't identify what it was without the magnification.

Shootaway:
Please tell me how... It is possible for a front sight hood come off a rifle that never had one !!?? Please tell me which model from STEYR-MANNLICHER has a front sight hood...

Mannlicher7.

quote:

Originally posted by Mannlicher7:
Shootaway:
Please tell me how... It is possible for a front sight hood come off a rifle that never had one !!?? Please tell me which model from STEYR-MANNLICHER has a front sight hood...

Mannlicher7.

Here is a picture of someones Steyr that is similar to mine-a model M-professional.[URL= ]model-m-proffesional[/URL]Good thing you brought back this old thread.It gives me a chance to correct myself on my last post about the CZ hood not coming off.I thought it did not come off but I was wrong.When I took my rifle out of its case at the range one day I noticed it was not on.I never found it and have no idea how it came off.I came to agree with the poster above who stated that the hood hinders the light going to the front bead.From now on I prefer my front sight naked.

Hoods protect the sight but they restrict vision too much and they are too quick to fall off. My preference is a front sight within two protective walls like you find on the M1, the M14, and the M16. It provides the best sight alignment picture and it also protects the front sight from impact. I wish someone made one for sporting rifles.

I like hoods: seem to get a better sight picture rifle, quicker. An earlier post suggested that hoods were a military item, however, I have never seen a hood on a military rifle, other than a Dominican Republic San Cristobal

quote:

Originally posted by MoreBS:
It helps me focus the rear sight............with these old eyes, it's not nearly as fuzzy.

Focus on the FRONT sight.

I have a hood on my 7x57 and it is the perfect height to center the front sight and is just inside the rear aperture. It makes for more accurate shooting out to 200yds or so. On my 404, I dont want the hood to intrude on my sight picture and leave it off. Bigger targets up closer.

Von Gruff.

quote:

I also don't like them for ghost ring apperature sighted rifles. For those it seems the two rings, the ghost ring and the hood, lead to the front one being used (wrong one!) and not the rear.

I agree but ideally it shouldn't be an issue because a proper front sight hood is perfectly concentric with the front bead. Many aren't and I've had to rework one of my rifles to make it so.

When they are it is an aide (to me) because your eye is drawn to making the two circles (apperature and hood) concentric along with putting the bead in the center without thinking. If the hood doesn't center the front bead, take it off, as it will be a distraction to intuitive rapid sighting.