red dot sight

[ZUG]

I find that a peep sight like Eric shows on his rifle works very well for me but the only draw back is the amount of light it lets through to the eye. In the woods and at certain times of the day it would be hard to see the front sight / game.

 

[ohio ramrod]

While many would say it is not traditional , It is your gun, and you only want to use it hunting, not in matches . So use what ever you want to keep shooting!

 

[Eric Krewson]

The hole on my sight is 3/32", I paint my front sight white and can see it way past what would be legal shooting hours. I always hunt evenings and almost always in the deep big woods, I don't like a white front sight if I am out in the open on a sunny day and blacken my front sight in these conditions.

 

[doubleset]

I find that a peep sight like Eric shows on his rifle works very well for me but the only draw back is the amount of light it lets through to the eye. In the woods and at certain times of the day it would be hard to see the front sight / game.

One thing you could do is to drill out that aperture, tap it, and then use replaceable inserts for Lyman, Redfield, or Williams sights. You could even drill out one of those to your own preference. Williams, for example, has an aperture with a 0.150 hole size called, oddly enough, the "twilight aperture". Look on places like Champion's Choice, TOW, Midway, Apertures-N-More, etc. for a range of possibilities.

 

[morehops52]

I am truly glad to see all of the support for "whatever it takes to stay in the game. " With old eyes and progressive lenses factory sights don't work quite as good as they used to. Peeps are an improvement but fail me in low light. Went deerless for two years as the deer were only coming out at last light. Could see perfectly good with binocs but not sights. I finally came to the conclusion that I either adapted or remain handicapped. The solution? I JB Welded scope mounts to my Deerstaker, added a long-eye-relief pistol scope. After 100 shots the scope is still anchored. The scope is a modest 2-7X and with 9 in of eye relief I can see around it easily for good target acquisition. Most here were appreciative of my efforts to adapt but there will always be a few naysayers or traditionalists who consider anything they don't like as blasphemy. I like traditional ML'ers and would never own a new-fangled pellet smoke pole but I don't berate people who do. It all adds to our sport.

 

[R Ellis]

Yep. Actually, the reason was my eyesight is getting progressively worse. I had ordered and paid for two peep sights for my wife's and my Hawken rifles, but our vaunted customs are being pineapples and we still don't have them. My anger and frustration are getting the better part of me. I mounted the red dot because I WANT to enjoy our sport. BTW, if you're getting emotional because I mounted a red dot sight on my barrel, you have a problem, not me. It's time you find a new hobby. I'll stay with mine as long as the Lord allows me to.

Last time I checked it is OK for you to do whatever you like with items that belong to you so just outfit your gun the way you want to its historical correct or not if it lets you see your target or game keep shooting and enjoy

 

[Bill M.]

I will fess up. I put a cheap dot type sight on my main hunting muzzleloader while I was trying to work up a load. And I have never removed it. It sure does shoot good. At 80 now I appreciate all the help I can get. Got one on my handgun too.

 

[user 34300]

I made a base, and modified a flip up sight off a scrap 10-22 barrel. It is there if you want it, or not. The base being very short does not require a second screw and tapping the tang.

 

[Stantheman86]

Although they were made in the middle of the 20th C, these two scopes would not have been out of the ordiany by 1862, when the first Whitworth rifles were arriving in the Confederacy. They are both VERY similar to those Col. Davidson scopes side-mounted on some Whitworth rifles by Confederate sharpshooters.

The front slider - here the left-hand - adjusts the focus of the target - the right-hand slider adjusts the focus of the crosshair. Azimuth and elevation on these more modern scopes is carried out by twiddling the knobs. When fitted to the Whitworth rifle the front of the scope would have been mounted on a swivelling mount to allow the tube to rotate about its axis.

View attachment 140778

I'd love to find some of these for my Pedersoli Hawken rifles

 

[Stantheman86]

There is 0 problem in my opinion with anyone doing whatever they please with a weapon they own.

I feel that with something like a T/C, it's almost asking to have an optic on it because a T/C Hawken, or Renegade, etc is purely a hunting and sporting muzzleloader and doesn't try to be "traditional". I had a Renegade with a modern Redfield on it and that rifle was amazingly accurate.

Putting a Tasco or a red dot on something like a custom made Kentucky rifle or a Hawken made by a high-end maker would be kind of a crime but if someone pays for a rifle they can do what they want with it.

 

[Howie1968]

WHY!!! does everyone seem to give a guy so much flack about a simple question??? gee wizz men not everyone has perfect eye sight why knock a man for a small question. what i tried. a couple wise men on this forumn reached out to me and said if i abolutre needed one to try a scope first. me being hard headed i did reviews on shotgun red dots and bought a tru glo 2x42 red dot. did it work? yep sure did for 60 its hard to beat. if i went back to scopes or red dots id go scopes. all my hunting guns has either lyman 57 sml sights or the weave sights

 

[appalichian hunter]

Go for it Howie if it keeps you hunting great, and like previous posts its your gun do as you please.

 

[Old Hawkeye]

I think there should be a shooting division at the ML target matches for "old" guys that allows a Reflex sight, or "red dot" as some say. No eye relief, no parallax, allowing "older" eyes to actually see the target. Don't understand rejecting people that "want" to participate, but can't because of eyesight issues. Who cares who "wins", it's about getting together & sharing some fun. Shouldn't there be a law like the Americans with Disabilities Act for us old muzzleloaders? Can't think of a better sight for hunting with vision issues. Do it Trooper & report back.

 

[new2bp]

Only reason I'd say not to put a dot on something so you can actually hit what you aim at would be if your area's hunting regulations didn't let you use a front stuffer during primitive season if it had anything but irons.

(And why yes, I am considering putting a dot on my new-to-me .54 as well... for the same reasons the OP did... so I can see and hit a target)

 

[appalichian hunter]

Check your states regulations, some states do not consider the red dot as a opticaly enhanched sighting device such as a rifle scope, it is considerd just a sight.

 

[Rod Man]

I have a top shooter friend that JB Welds a scope mount on some of the competition B/P guns he builds while he is working up a load, he says the JB Weld scope mount pops right off with heat.

I can't see sights worth a hoot either with my 74 year old eyes, I did make a peep for my deer rifle that works so

well I feel like I am cheating after seeing blurry sights for the last 5 or 6 years.

This works for me but was a pain to make and adjust to work just right, I had to re-bend it a dozen times. I adjusted it to put the front sight blade perfectly centered and level with the notch of the rear sight.

View attachment 140749

I’ve thought about this. I’m going to push my rear sights forward until it looks stupid. Then we’ll do something like that peep.

Something to consider for sure.

RM

 

[bud in pa]

Some years back I had eye surgery, the start of glaucoma. I am now 78 and can still see the sights! The best part is one eye is for close up and the other is for distance, go figgure!

 

[smokepolehall]

I know this thread was old, but getting roasted for a red dot by some isn't nice. Just think of all of us older guys that have to wear eye glasses to see. Hello sounds like some would think that isn't right for us to use too see the sights !
I also have a reflex red dot on my .45 Hawken, i can keep my REAL conicals in a 4" group at 75 yds. Past that i can't see well enough even with my glasses

 

[64Springer]

My eyes have really gone south in the past couple of years. So much so that I sold off 75% of my rifle collection. I sold off the plain iron sighted pieces first and kept my military peep sight pieces. Then I couldn't see peep sights and sold those off. Trying to carry three different reader magnification glasses to the range was getting just plain old.

I started putting red dots on guns that had a mounting area for them. Then the red dot reticles became blurry. The red dots got switched out for scopes. Now every serious rifle I own has a scope. Some receiver mounts. Some scout mounts.

Failing eyesight stinks for gun owners. In six decades, I swore I'd never mount a scope on a muzzle loader. Mostly for looks. Partly because there's no stock bolt hole placement for a mount. But I have a drill press and bits and taps and I'm not afraid to use them.

Scopes on American Long Rifles I believe is a crime for which you go south when you die.

But on short, dedicated deer rifle, mount away I say.

 

[smokepolehall]

My eyes have really gone south in the past couple of years. So much so that I sold off 75% of my rifle collection. I sold off the plain iron sighted pieces first and kept my military peep sight pieces. Then I couldn't see peep sights and sold those off. Trying to carry three different reader magnification glasses to the range was getting just plain old.

I started putting red dots on guns that had a mounting area for them. Then the red dot reticles became blurry. The red dots got switched out for scopes. Now every serious rifle I own has a scope. Some receiver mounts. Some scout mounts.

Failing eyesight stinks for gun owners. In six decades, I swore I'd never mount a scope on a muzzle loader. Mostly for looks. Partly because there's no stock bolt hole placement for a mount. But I have a drill press and bits and taps and I'm not afraid to use them.

Scopes on American Long Rifles I believe is a crime for which you go south when you die.

But on short, dedicated deer rifle, mount away I say.

LOL, i am from the South, i must be there