Hunting with open sights.....

[tx-hunter]

This will be my first year to hunt with black powder. I've been taking it to the range to get used to were it shoots, but for the life of me i can not get it right. At 50 yards the front post is as big as the target. The best i can do is get it close and hope for the best. Sometimes it's on and sometimes it's not.

Should I file the sides off my from sight to make it thinner? What can I do to increase accuracy? I'd like to be able to shoot to atleast 100 yards.

Thanks,

 

[nchawkeye]

I'm not sure what type front sights you have, I'm getting older and might have to make mine wider!!!

Two things....Go with a 6 o'clock hold and sight your rifle to hit 2 inches high at 50 yards, this will put you dang close to dead on at 100 yards and with deer hunting you will never notice hitting 2 inches high...I used to use the dead on hold but as I got older I changed...

If you have a wide front blade, sight in to hit in the middle of the width of that blade...I learned this shooting a Ruger Mark-II .22...It has about a 1/4 inch wide front sight...I sight in at 25 yards to hit just at the top of the sight and for the bullet (windage) to be centered...I can still hit a squirrel with the open sights to about 25 yards.

 

[rabjr]

When I had Roy build my Smoothy, one of the first things I told him was that I needed a front sight of at least 1/16 width so I can see the dang thing. Having always used a 6 o'clock hold with open sighted guns I find it no problem at all at a 50, 60 yard target.

 

[tx-hunter]

my front blade is probably 1/16" wide.

i guess i just need to practice more.

do yall practice from the bench or standing shots?

 

[tg]

I would go with a set of fixed sights and consider 100 yds the max range not the min. then practice a 6 Oclock hold of a bench till you find a good load, try to get your shots within 50-75 yds if possible when hunting.

 

[rabjr]

I always shoot from the bench, never off hand shots. When hunting I always shoot from some sort of a rest.

 

[Vaino]

My squirrel rifle has a blade thickness of .100 and when sighting -in, I use a 6 o'clock hold at 50 yds. and adjust the sights for a POI at 6 o'clock. With the .54 cal. "Hawkens" w/ a .100 thick blade, a 6 o'clock hold is nearly mandatory at 100 yds. and the POI is again at 6 o'clock. IMO, a 6 o'clock hold enables me to see the bullseye/front sight relationship a lot better, but younger shooters w/ better eyesight might aim at the center of the bull to best advantage....Fred

 

[nchawkeye]

TX...I sight in and determine what powder charge, patch thickness, etc from a bench...After that I might shoot from the bench to verify sights, etc. But I prefer to use a rest, like a post to steady my gun...I started squirrel hunting here in NC with a .22 before I was 10 and my dad taught me to always use a rest...

I don't know if you have trees in your part of TX...If you don't use your favorite position in the field when hunting.

 

[paulvallandigham]

You haven't told us the length of the barrel, the actual thickness of that front sight, or the caliber, or what you want to hunt with the gun, so its a bit of a mystery about what you want from us. However, assuming you have a rear, OPEN sight, and a post front sight, a wide front sight is only a problem for most shooters if the notch in the rear sight is too narrow.

If you are new to shooting an open sight, think of an open sight as the lower half of a peep sight, and look over it, and " through it" NOT at it. Focus on the front sight, always. Let your eye center the front sight in the rear sight. Stop trying to look at both the target and that front sight. Focus on the front sight only. The rear sight is located closer to your eye, and is there mostly to help you index the stock and front sight so that the barrel is aligned with the front sight and target. When you have shot round ball out of a shotgun or fowler, with NO rear sight, you will begin to appreciate the rear sight for what it is, but not get so excited that you spend your time looking at it, rather than the front sight.

How to Fix a narrow rear sight notch? Use a jeweler's file to open up the notch. I have found that widening the notch so that there is an equal amount of daylight on both sides of the front post, seen through the rear sight when holding the gun to your shoulder normally, so that the notch is equal to 3 times the width of the front sight in appearance in the rear sight notch.

A wide blade is no problem, if you use the 6 o'clock hold already mentioned. You can Imagine a thin line down the middle of that wider post, and hold the target centered on top of that thin line. That is how I learned to shoot pop cans at 100 yards using an open sighted revolver.

If you need it, you can scribe a line down the back of the rear sight notch to indicate the middle of the notch, or paint or draw a diamond to do the same. You can even scribe an actual line on the back of that front sight, if you must. I found that unnecessary, after shooting a lot of long range revolver at small targets. The lines became a distraction for close range shooting, although they didn't hurt accuracy at all.

 

[Kentuckywindage]

i Just finished up widening my rear sight on my cva mountain rifle. In dim light i couldnt even see the sight alignment. Now i can see it perfectly. Time to go out and take a shot.

 

[Stumpkiller]

I have a 1/16" wide silver front sight. Not the best in open sunlit fields but a dandy thing in low light woods.

If you don't want to file down your sight you can buy a replacement from a place like Track of the Wolf. Not a bad thing to have a spare. I've never dropped a rifle but a friend did (slid off while leaning against a car bumper) and laid over the front sight blade (which of course broke off when he tried to push it back). Bad medicine in the middle of deer season. Be sure to mark the old sight & barrel with a fine scribe line so it can be repositioned in alignment.

 

[tx-hunter]

45 caliber hunting east texas whitetail deer. I had been sigting where the top of the front blade is the same height as the top of the rear V notch. Put the top of the blade on target and fire.

 

[fw707]

tx, you might be better off if you take a needle file and file the V notch into a square notch. That way you can see daylight on both sides of the front sight better and it'll be easier to center the sight.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

One of the disadvantages of store bought rifles is you dont get to set your sights to your eye.

I got to tape my sights onto my barrel before I cut the dovetails. So my sights are set for my old eyes.

My buddy has his dads 1970s CVA 45 cal. We removed the peeps sight his dad had installed near the tang, and taped buckhorns about 4 inches in front of the stock dovetail.

His sight picture improved, so we cut another dovetail, and filled the stock one.

 

[Runner]

I went the other way on my mountain rifle. I hacked out a solid brass front sight that is much wider than the silver original, and a lot sturdier too. I widened the back a little but not much. When all I can see is front sight with no light on either side, whatever is sitting center of that wide front blade is in big trouble. Now, that is for hunting, not trying to win championships and such. I sloped the front sight so light hits the entire face, making that golden yellow sight very easy to find!
If I use the more normal sight setup where you can see light on either side, I like the sides to slope slightly inwards so the blade is narrower at the top. That seems to line up automatically for me. Throw up a modern gun with the fiber optic sights on it. Ignore the front fiber bead, but center the sight leading up to it in the rear sight. That sloped profile works well when hunting.
I don't know how far back the post and bead type sights go in time, but for things like squirrel hunting, it is very hard to beat a v notch with a bead. I actually had my Dragoon modified and a post/bead on a ramp installed. Coupled with the express v groove rear sight, very fine work could be done.
There is also a rear sight that is a wide buckhorn with a small round hole open at the top in the bottom center that acts kind of like using a peep. Some folks with older eyes report good success using them also.
Hope that helps! I am no expert of any kind!

 

[Vaino]

For squirrels in a shady woods before the leaves fall. I use a steel rear sight w/ plenty of "daylight" on both sides of the blade and the blade is .100 thick steel w/ a sterling silver insert soldered into the front face of the blade and the insert has a 30 degree angle to gather light. This same setup is on all my personal rifles that are also used for deer and elk. Have for a long time placed the rear sight opposite the entry pipe tang on both my personal rifles and those for customers. Never had a complaint......Fred

 

[Runner]

For that one purpose, I prefer the v and bead type sights that used to come on 22's. A fine bead up close and a full bead farther out! I suspect much of that is because I am confident using them. My 36 has the factory exaggerated buckhorn with the notch in the bottom. I made that notch more half moon than square with plenty of room on each side. It isn't my preffered sight, but it will do good work also.
Squirrel hunting with a muzzleloader when the squirrels are cutting hickories is something that is very addictive!

 

[tx-hunter]

Thanks yall. I'm gonna try this advise at the next range session and see how it goes.

Thanks,

 

[Jac Spring]

Another thought - if this is a TC or similar rifle, there are very good aperture sights available and you can put a globe sight on the front with a very fine "dot" post or even a circle post.

 

[rickjf]

I entend to use open sights as I would not use a scope on a cap lock. However I just replaced my factory sights on my Pedersoli with Lyman Black Powder Hunting Sight Combo Set from Dixie. Should work well if I aim top of front sight with center of target circle. I read on this site that with BP rifle three inches high at mid range with be on at 100 yards??? The chart said for .45 2.2 inches at 50 yards. With these new sights I hope to get much better goups than the front blade brass sight that was on it.