Sight setup on your squirrel/deer rifles?

[ThumperJones]

Hey fellas. Been shooting my Kibler SMR a lot here lately and I love everything about it except the visibility of the sights. They are "box stock" and unmodified other than filing the front shorter a touch to sight in. Rear has a "V" notch, and the front a thin brass blade.

I have pretty decent eyesight, but I'm finding the setup hard to see in anything but perfect lighting and background. I have been considering opening the rear sight up wider, and to more of a rectangular shape to get more light between the sides of the front blade in the sight picture. If that doesn't work, may look into a peep.

Anyhow, before I start tinkering, just thought id ask what y'all's preference is for a open sight setup? Not talking peeps just yet, but I'm not dead nuts on being entirely HC/PC either.

What do y'all have good luck with? Thanks!

 

[deermanok]

Interesting topic. I have the same issue with one of my rifles. I guess I could change the sights but would rather tinker with what I have to make it better.

 

[10acres]

My T/C’s and CVA’s have U shape rear sight and a thick front blade. I put a dab of white marking paint on the front blade to make it more visible. It helped me out a bunch, My eyesight is not the best anymore.

 

[ohio ramrod]

I use an open rear sight, and a thick steel front sight with an 1/32 ivory blade insert. The white ivory sticks out the rear of the sight about 1/8 inch and picks up the light.

 

[10acres]

Here is my front and rear sight.

 

[ThumperJones]

View attachment 60194View attachment 60195Here is my front and rear sight.

Thanks for the pics! Do you have much light on either side of the blade when sighting down it? I'm thinking that may be my biggest issue, the notch is too narrow.

 

[10acres]

There is a little bit on each side. You could always file or sand the notch out a little more. Or you could get a thinner blade.

 

[ThumperJones]

There is a little bit on each side. You could always file or sand the notch out a little more. Or you could get a thinner blade.

That may be a good place to start, thanks bud.

 

[oldwood]

Shot what I call "target sights" for years which are rear sight , vertical notch rear , and look exactly like the one on your rifle. The front sight was a steel blade with the rear of the front sight filed with the surface angled slightly back to prevent any light reflection off the leading edge of the sight. Before you change out the front sight , try a little sight black to see if light "reflection" might be ruining your sight picture causing inconsistencies . A jet black front sight w/ no glint of light from it might solve the problem. The light reflection will cause the gun to shoot low on some days and possibly ok on other days. I'm old with bad eyes , and in summer , put a home made peep sight on my long rifle. The gun shoots very well , now..Let us know how you made out..One last thing , If the front sight blade is iron , used to carry a cold blue pen w/me to keep the sights dark. If having trouble seeing the target , say at 50 yards ,put a 4" by 4 " square of fluorescent duct tape centered on cardboard , or on the back of a regular target paper ..Makes terget very visible using iron sights.............oldwood

 

[Spikebuck]

I have a .36 SMR and could not have used the sights out of the box. I open the rear on all mine so I see light on both sides of the front. I will probably install a little thicker front on it at some point. That really thin one has a tendency to be hard to see under certain conditions.

 

[ThumperJones]

I have a .36 SMR and could not have used the sights out of the box. I open the rear on all mine so I see light on both sides of the front. I will probably install a little thicker front on it at some point. That really thin one has a tendency to be hard to see under certain conditions.

Exactly what I was looking for. Wondering if it was just me, lol! Sounds great, thank you!

 

[Art Caputo]

I’m in pretty much the same boat. 70 year old eyes, good, but not great in low light. Not so sure about the sight dimensions of the SMR, but a recent Kibler Colonial build did require that I open up the rear in a “V” shape that allowed about 2-3X the light in each side of the brass front blade that was finished to bright on the shooter facing part of the blade. It was a major improvement, and worked very well for me in hunting conditions this past season. It was both visible and allowed me to maintain accuracy. Well worth a try.....

 

[Bob McBride]

Cast sights are basically blanks and I don't use any as is. I usually open the rear so I have light on either side of my front post but another thing I've taken to doing is taking the front sight and peening the rear angle until it is about +25% the starting width and then shaping it with a tiny file. It doesn't take much peen to give the impression of a shotgun bead or simply a wider post. I like to make my own sights, especially the fronts and running all sorts of 'period' mods depending on what I'm doing with the gun. Right now my SMR .45 is sporting shades, a handmade and front edge-peened front sight (I'm messing with the shape of the peen so that's why you see all the file marks on the Silver) and a tang screw mounted peep. I've been testing it's accuracy at distance. Nothing like experimentings.....

 

[MIOutdoorsman]

I hate to admit it, but I replaced my factory sites for my deer hunting rifle with Lyman Fiber Optics. Not at all PC, but for hunting purposes, I prioritize an ethical kill shot over PC.

 

[Spikebuck]

One thing I have started to do on my front sight is rather than having the whole front of the sight slope or be parabolic in shape, I leave the front vertical to the barrel and once sighted in, I just barely round the top between the front vertical edge and the top that slopes back. This tiny rounding almost acts like a bead sight in most light conditions the way it captures light. For me, brass works best for this and I can keep that little round shiny by just rubbing it from time to time with my finger or glove.

 

[Spikebuck]

I hate to admit it, but I replaced my factory sites for my deer hunting rifle with Lyman Fiber Optics. Not at all PC, but for hunting purposes, I prioritize an ethical kill shot over PC.

I'll be doing the same thing when I can no longer shoot traditional open sights. I'm still playing with ways to be able to do PC sights accurately, and have already had peeps on several rifles over time. But when I can no longer get that to work well, I'll do what it takes to keep shooting and hunting.

 

[ThumperJones]

I appreciate all the tips fellas, some real good info y'all put out there.

@Bob McBride those shades look slick! I've got a couple old airguns with globe front sights that work great with a rear peep, it would be killer to have a similar setup on a squirrel gun!

@Spikebuck interesting and good idea for the front sight. I've been taking pains to make sure that angle was razor sharp to hopefully see the "cutoff" of the front sight and to have a more precise aim point. But your idea makes real good sense. And as of now I can't hardly see the front anyway, lol. I'll likely be trying your method. Thanks

 

[deermanok]

After reading some of these posts, I went to the hardware store this morning and picked up a small 1/8 inch diameter round file.
I filed the rear sight of my rifle just to the bottom of the existing notch. What a difference it made. Now I can see both sides of the front sight really good. It's like having a whole new sight on the gun. Can't wait to go to the range to see how it works.

 

[setch]

I'll be doing the same thing when I can no longer shoot traditional open sights. I'm still playing with ways to be able to do PC sights accurately, and have already had peeps on several rifles over time. But when I can no longer get that to work well, I'll do what it takes to keep shooting and hunting.

For exactly the reasons TxFlynHog and Spikebuck mention, I run a Williams peep with their fire optic front sight on both my TC rigs. It has made a world of difference for hunting, which is all I do with these.

 

[olskool]

man i am blessed, 63 and can still see like a hawk. i don't even need reading glasses. but on a couple of my rifles i put a dab of white paint on the back of the front blade. it really helps in low light hunting. i killed a deer at about 70yds this year in very low light and it was because i painted the blade or i wouldn't have been able to do it,,,,,,,,,,,