HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

thought i would throw in a little advice after seeing some cant see target or game with open sights after 75 yards. here is way we were taught from good ole dad. DONT put front sight on bullseye.put it just under and sight gun in that way.this way you will see the deer or target out beyond 75 yards, so, you should be aiming just under the point of aim.this is way i shoot my pistols also.take care.

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

Some shoot with a full cover sight, meaning what the front site covers is where the projectile will hit, other use a modified 6 o'clock hold where the front sight covers part of where the target will be hit. Normally they like the bullet to hit right at the top of the sight. Then as you describe, there is the 6 o'clock hold where the bullet strikes right on the top of the front sight.

I normally like a modified hold but have been shooting many with aopen 6 o'clock hold and it is working real well... Good advise sproulman.

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

cayugad

I guess I am in the boat with you - I normally use the modified during hunting season but with targets I am trying to master the 6:00. Since I shoot so much with scopes it is really hard for me to aim at a place I know the bullet isn't going.... does that make some sort of sense?

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

I use what I was taught as "Pumkin on a Fence Post" It is like what sproulman uses. I you line up the front and back sites then put the target (pumkin) right on top of sights (fence post).

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

I remember in Navy boot camp our great shooting experience :)was with target .22 rifles at an indoor range (due to weather). Fired a total of around 50 rounds from various positions at a target that was probably 25 yards or so distant.
All my shots were in a neat, large ragged hole situated just on top of the bullseye. When they pulled in my target the instructor told me it was some good shooting but I hadn't hit the bull once. I told him the sights were off. :D He then told me about the 6 o'clock hold and assured me I was ignorant.[:o]

I still think those sights were off.

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

:D:D:D funny how them range officers always had an answer for a simple problem and it never made you feel like you were right!! great post.

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

I have my open sights on my 1100 slug barrel set up 75 yds. cut the bull in half ( kinda like the horizontal line in a scope) the cover at 100 yds center of the front bead. But what I found hard was going to a scope after so many years using iron sights...

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

I "cover the target" with the front site. If I'm hunting with open sights - I expect shots at moderate distances and its generally not a problem.

If I'm hunting long distances - I use a scoped gun.

I learned the 6 o'clock sighting - but never was really comfortable with it.

FH

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

* I vary my sighting depending on the sight. If it is a blade front sight – bullet will hit at the top of the blade. Kind of like the crosshair of a scope for horizontal. My WWII sniper stamped 303 British with a Winchester proof steel barrel has a blade front and a rolling yardage rear sight. 3 inch groups at 200 yards isn’t any different than shooting with a scoped rifle.
* If the front sight is a bead then the bead covers where the bullet will hit. For years I used a 8mm Mauser vintage WWII with a rear peep and a front bead. I’d unscrew the peep sight for quick close shots. If I needed to make a 200 yard plus shot I would screw it back in. My favorite rifle, a Winchester 30/30 lever top eject has a bead front and a ramp back. Popping a coyote in the head at 150 yards is no problem if you use the cover-up method. Bullet will hit at the bottom of the bead. 200 yards bottom of the blade. Cover up the bottle cap at 100 yards. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
* Fiber optic is the same as a blade. My NEF Sidekick .50 caliber muzzleloader is sighted in at 150 yards with all three dots lined up. The 240 grain Dead Centers hit at the top of the center dot. There is no way to see below the sight. Aiming high is achieved by Grandpa Haggard’s technique. Raising the gun past the target to your aiming point on an object above the target.
Grandpa was born in the hills of Kentucky in 1893. He died at 102 years old. Every shot had to put food on the table or you didn’t eat meat. He taught me how to shoot 40 years ago with open sights. .50 caliber rabbits = head shots if you want something worth eating. Meat cost $ 2 a half pound is expensive enough. I know, 22’s are cheaper, but not as much fun.

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

So, when you are hunting with a blade style front sight with a bead and a dovetail (at least I think it is a dovetail, it is the sight that forms a V)rear sight, do you drop the bead all the way into the notch so that none of the post is visible. I dont shoot much with open sights, but want to start to shoot them more and dont really have anyone to give me any direction.
Anu suggestions would be great.
Thanks again

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

The sights on my flinter are fiber optic and the front bead is pretty big, thus giving me a blind spot of fairly good size at 100 yards. Your post is probably prompted by my recent comments here concerning this. I was never in the military so I am not so privledged with sound shooting training as some of you guys are. I appreciate your insight. I sighted the gun in at 50 yards and the bead was no problem there, so I centered it in the bull. That's some real good advice which I will usethe hell out offrom now on

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

I don’t have any V shaped rear sights, but I do have a U. I’d put the bead with the bottom of the bead just touching the inside edges of the V. You should still be able to see the whole bead.
On my U rear, the bead sets in the U with ½ of the bead in the U and the top half out above the U. There is an equal sliver of air space around the bottom of the bead as it sets in the U. The same thing might happen with your V. The bead might not fit all the way into the V, but be divided at the top with the bottom just barely not touching the V.
The bullet will hit behind the bead. Play with it and see what makes sense to you. At the proper distance for your rifle, try a couple 3 shot groups and see where it’s hitting. If it doesn’t make sense, adjust it until it does.
See post above about the snowman style of aiming. Your gun might be sighted in with this style. I personally don’t like it, but have shot a rifle sighted this way. It’s the way my buddy learned to shoot and he’s a good shot.
Sight the way it makes sense to you. You’ll be the one doing the shooting. Good Hunting.

RE: HOW TO AIM OPEN SIGHTS
 

my peep sights on my high poweredrifles are real small.you can aim at deer or target and not cover it with front sight. i was out todayhunting and doe walked out. i dont shoot doe now do to lack of deer here in pa. on state forestlands. so, i got to practice with sight on this deer. deer was about 60 yards away. i put the v-peep sight from RMC on deer. the front sight is real small too for a muzzleloader sight. guess what, that front sight almost covered over half of the deer. if that deer was at 100 yards or more, i think front sight would have covered deer mostly. so,i then used the sight over 6 o clock at cayugag said, and i could see a lot more of the deer. when shooting target i can see bullseye after 50 yards if i DONTcover the point of aim. when i use 6 o clock, i can see target real good out to 100 yards. we cant use scopes here in pa. in late season and most of shots from hunting here in late season are between 60 yards to 125 yards, i feel. take care.