The Preferred Sight Picture?

[N.Y. Yankee]

OK, so we are all on the same page, I'm shooting a Great Plains Rifle with the fixed rear sight and a silver blade front that I installed, somewhat incorrectly. I want to change out the front again to another blade because I need a higher front. I'm curious as to what is the preferred way to hold a sight picture at 100, 75, 50, and 25 yards with this type of fixed sight arrangement. I have been of the opinion that open sights would be held at the 6 o'clock position at your sight-in distance and then adjust your hold for longer or shorter ranges. Is that how you see it or is there a better way that I'm not aware of? Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time to go to the range and wring out loads and sights so I'd like to understand as much as I can this time about sighting and do it right the first time. Just wanted to see what you all say about it.

 

[Larry (Omaha)]

OK, so we are all on the same page, I'm shooting a Great Plains Rifle with the fixed rear sight and a silver blade front that I installed, somewhat incorrectly. I want to change out the front again to another blade because I need a higher front. I'm curious as to what is the preferred way to hold a sight picture at 100, 75, 50, and 25 yards with this type of fixed sight arrangement. I have been of the opinion that open sights would be held at the 6 o'clock position at your sight-in distance and then adjust your hold for longer or shorter ranges. Is that how you see it or is there a better way that I'm not aware of? Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time to go to the range and wring out loads and sights so I'd like to understand as much as I can this time about sighting and do it right the first time. Just wanted to see what you all say about it.

You don't say if you are shooting critters or competition targets. A 6 o'clock is good for one reason only in my way of thinking. You can view all the target. I do not like that type of hold when you are shooting at multiple size targets, just won't work. I try to sight in all my guns for dead center hold. You will need to get groups at your intended range first, then adjust sights.
Flinlocklar

 

[Nameless Hunter]

Some do 6 o'clock low. Some hold dead center. I'm a dead center shooter. My GPR 54 is set to zero at around 75 yards, which puts me around 1-1/2" high at 50 and about 3" low at 100. YMMV. It all depends on your rifle and powder. Best recommendation is to spend as much time at the range as possible.

 

[Phil Coffins]

Depends on what clock your shooting at. A deers clock is at a different spot then a rabbit then what size of a bulls eye target are you shooting at? I prefer to hold dead on at a given range then compensate for the rest.

 

[user 48679]

 

[Yewbender]

Dead on hold for me as my main use is for hunting.

 

[renegadehunter]

I grew up shooting my open sight BB gun a ton. By a ton I mean that we lived in the country, mom went to "town" once a week for groceries and always bought me a 5000 carton of Copperhead BB's, and I was always out about a day before her trip the next week.
I always held the top of the front sight even with the top of the rear sight notch and then held the top of the front sight over where I wanted to hit. Like "C" in Pietro's picture.
I shoot pistols with the same hold.
When first starting with a muzzleloader years later I decided to sight in with a six 'oclock hold. I put the top of the front sight at the very bottom of the intended POI. It was much better at the range for trying to get small groups during load development and I told myself I preferred that sight picture. I sighted in for a 50 yard zero with the clean bore 1st shot, fouled bore shots become a 75 yard zero.
The very first deer I shot I hit several inches higher than I wanted to. I was already holding higher than I normally would to clear a branch. The deer was 54 yards, so pretty darn close to my clean bore zero. After the shot I realized that I had instinctively reverted back to holding the tip of the front sight over where I wanted to hit in the heat of the moment. I found the deer but the high hit resulted in no blood trail and I had to find it by grid searching.
Rather than fight my ingrained hold instinct I simply changed my sight-in to that hold.
I never change that hold perspective for closer or longer range shots, I just hold low or high as needed with that same sight picture.
At the range I just hold right on and let the impacts land where they will. It gives me grouping info as well as what my hold will need to be at different distances.

 

[Rudyard]

All very sensible replies I mostly fit fixed sights & get the l know the rifle. Rudyard

 

[Marinekayak]

So I do both. I grew up as a bullseye shooter so lots of muscle memory for a six o'clock hold. For hunting I sight in on a bullseye target with a six o'clock hold but adjust sight so I'm 2-3" above my point of aim. I dont care if im shooting center if im sighting in for hunting and the bull gives me a nice clear aim point with a six oclock hold. so when I'm hunting at my sighted in range I know my impact will be just above the front sight blade. Sighting in a little high also extends my maximum point blank range a little.

 

[Art Caputo]

I sight dead on for 50 yards. Using patch LRB with my 40-58 caliber rifles with my typical loads, POI is on at 25 and 50 , 1-2” low at 75, and 4-5 inches low at 100 yards. This has worked well for most all my hunting(squirrel -whitetail in the woodlands).

 

[oldwood]

Use my rifles for hunting and years ago, competition. I always used a dead on center hold at 50 yards and learned to accurately estimate distance of my target . Once you site the gun in , then shoot it enough on the range to see where the rifle hits at various ranges , you're there. Now my eyes have changed and don't allow me to see either sight or the target , I'm using a peep sight w/ great success. The peep allows me to see the front sight and the target...................Hope this helps.......oldwood

 

[mushka]

I shot national match rifle and pistol for years using a six o'clock hold on round targets. I have come to dislike shooting at bulls eye targets here of late. Shooting my iron sighted guns now I like the bullet to hit where the top of the front sight is locate. I use the sight picture in figure six. I prefer shooting at targets, live or inert that are of different shapes. I have to physically aim into a target as Art is showing regardless of target shape.

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

Some good information here. It all sounds logical to me. I'm getting the gist of it now.

 

[Spikebuck]

I use the hold as Art's picture shows above. I sight in for 75 yards and for minute of deer from 10 to 100 yards, I hold center of lungs no matter the yardage to 100. If I were a target shooter only trying to punch small bullseyes I'd probably do it a bit differently, but in the field, I just want to work up a tight grouping load and sight in such that I don't have to do a lot of thinking about adjustments in the heat of the moment. Sometimes deer are moving and one doesn't have a lot of time to be thinking a lot and making adjustments.

 

[Sun City]

I shoot the same type sights on my Hawken rifles today that I shot on my Remington single shot .22 LR in 1948 with the exception that the front sights on my Hawken rifles are blades instead of a bead like on the .22! The system works the same! I'm often surprised by the number of people that have problems shooting the fixed barrel sights like on Hawken style rifles and I suppose the reason is that they never were exposed to barrel type sights....only scopes or aperture sights!

 

[user 49399]

I grew up shooting my open sight BB gun a ton. By a ton I mean that we lived in the country, mom went to "town" once a week for groceries and always bought me a 5000 carton of Copperhead BB's, and I was always out about a day before her trip the next week.
I always held the top of the front sight even with the top of the rear sight notch and then held the top of the front sight over where I wanted to hit. Like "C" in Pietro's picture.
I shoot pistols with the same hold.
When first starting with a muzzleloader years later I decided to sight in with a six 'oclock hold. I put the top of the front sight at the very bottom of the intended POI. It was much better at the range for trying to get small groups during load development and I told myself I preferred that sight picture. I sighted in for a 50 yard zero with the clean bore 1st shot, fouled bore shots become a 75 yard zero.
The very first deer I shot I hit several inches higher than I wanted to. I was already holding higher than I normally would to clear a branch. The deer was 54 yards, so pretty darn close to my clean bore zero. After the shot I realized that I had instinctively reverted back to holding the tip of the front sight over where I wanted to hit in the heat of the moment. I found the deer but the high hit resulted in no blood trail and I had to find it by grid searching.
Rather than fight my ingrained hold instinct I simply changed my sight-in to that hold.
I never change that hold perspective for closer or longer range shots, I just hold low or high as needed with that same sight picture.
At the range I just hold right on and let the impacts land where they will. It gives me grouping info as well as what my hold will need to be at different distances.

This is how I do it also, with flintlock rifle, percussion pistol or flintlock smooth bore