I do alot of shooting with open and peep sights at 100 to 300yds but most of my scope shooting is done at longer ranges than 100.
So, I' d go with open sights more than a scope at close ranges.
However there is nothing wrong with a low power scope or a dot site; as long as they are mounted so they quickly line up with your eye.

LAbushman...



this is how i look at it.. i set my guns up fro my situations i will be using them in. i hut in maine where shots are under 100yds and aot of my friends who hunt and live in maine use a lever action. most have scopes but alot of iron sights as well.
i perfer a peep sight on all my guns that i will be stalking or hunting in thick areas. i also find i can aquire a target quicker with iron sights/peep sights quickr than a scope.
but if you are gonna be in areas that you might get shots up to 150yds you might want to think about a small 3X or 4X.
but i would say use sights and not the combo cause of the high cheek wield from using both iron and scope mounts. had one on my 30-30win and even with the under over mounts i had to lift my cheek off the stock to look through the scope. unless you might want to look at luepold quick release mounts or maybe the weaver pivot mounts that the scope just flips to the side for use of sights.

The better you can see the target, the easier it is going to be to hit it in the right spot. Col. Whelen used to say that the aperture rear and blade front sight were as accurate as a scope out to 200-250 yards, PROVIDED THE TARGET COULD BE PLAINLY SEEN!! Even at 30 or 40 yards, in dense forest, it is often hard to see more than a few inches of the side of a deer or bear through the intervening branches, leaves, etc. Under such circumstances, a low-powered scope will often let you see, and hit, a vital spot you' d never even know was there without the scope! Put a SMALL, low-powered, optically excellent scope on it like a Leupold 1.5X-5X, or Leupold Compact 2.5X.

][quote] i also find i can aquire a target quicker with iron sights/peep sights quickr than a scope. [/quote

As fast as aperture sights are, a scope is the fastest of all possible sights, IF it is mounted right on a well-fitting rifle, AND you practice so you get fast!! The scope must be mounted, and the gun fit you, so that you can close your eyes, shoulder the rifle, open your eyes, and be looking through the scope!! It has to be natural, and require NO EFFORT to do this!! In addition, when using your scope, keep both eyes open UNTIL YOU HAVE THE TARGET CENTERED IN THE SCOPE' S FIELD OF VIEW. You can then close the eye you are not using, if you feel you just have to, but if you can learn to shoot with your scope while leaving both eyes open, that' s the best way!! Start practicing!!

Thanks for all the info.
I have used iron sights and scopes both in the past on lever actions.
I do not like see through mounts. I bought Leupold mounts and rings to put on my Winchester 94. Bullet extraction is tricky, but I like the fact that the scope rides low on the gun and the fit of the scope. I bought a 1.75 x 5 Burris scope off of this site and mounted it on the gun. I have never owned a Burris but have herd many good things about them. I really like the scope. I hope the setup performs as well as it feels.

My first gun was a marlin 30-30 with a 3x9 scope and see through mounts. I always like them though. We do alot of hog hunting and sometimes the scope gets wet or fogged up and we might not have time to wipe the scope before we shoot, so most of my friends also use see through mounts. But for most deer hunting they aren' t needed.

The end part of last deer season I sold my rifle and started using a shotgun with rifled slugs. I just used the standard bead front sight and it did fine out to 75 yards.

i would use a 30-30 and up with a 3x9x40 scope[>:]

I use a see- thru scope rings.That way I can use both.

I' d go with iron sights only if I couldn' t afford a decent scope, or didn' t care about shooting a buck in the first or last 15 minutes of light.

Jeff...U.P. of Michigan