Henry Rifle Forums

March is not going out like a lamb, up here in the north country; in fact, a bit more snow, overnight, and temps have been in the 20s and 30s all week. Still, it takes more than a little touch of winter to keep a cowgirl from shooting, so we made two range trips, this week.

First range trip was all guns with iron sights and, frankly, it was a disappointment. Given that it was a typical dark, cloudy day - much more the norm for us than sunshine - I should have expected it. Iron sights and poor light are not a match made in heaven. Still, I do love iron sights and had to try. Okay, can't say we shot, poorly, but definitely below our usual level when the light is decent. Was not a confidence builder of a range trip, though. Pretty bummed out, in fact.

Returned, yesterday, for another try. Still cloudy and, if anything, even a gloomier day, but this time we came prepared with guns better suited for shooting in poor light, namely, guns with some optical sights.

First up is one of my favorites, not just for its accuracy, but it's versatility. It's our Ruger Single Six Hunter, 22LR/22Mag. What I love about these Hunter series of Ruger revolvers is the way you can go back and forth between iron sights and optical sights in a matter of minutes. When the light is good, it's a great gun with iron sights.


When the light is not so good, switching to a scope or a red dot, only takes a minute and, best of all, leaves the iron sights undisturbed. Those Ruger rings really do a great job of repeatability. I can't remember ever having to readjust the sights when switching back to a scope or, in this case, a red dot (Ultradot 25).


What a difference a day makes or, in this case, a red dot makes. Pretty amazing, in fact. Soooo much easier to shoot with a little optical help on a gloomy day or when the eyes are not at their best.



Next up is one of my all time favorite lever guns in our 1997 vintage Marlin 1894 CS in 357. In the past, this gun has mostly worn a Williams peep and it's done a great job when the light is decent.


Unfortunately, even in the summer, we get more cloudy days than sunny, so more and more of our rifles are wearing red dots and scopes. Hate doing that to lever guns, but I hate waiting around for a good sunny day to shoot them, even more. Scopes and red dots take the weather out of the equation (not to mention old my eyes, too). They let us shoot whenever we want to shoot. They maximize our shooting opportunities. Besides, a nice low power straight tube scope like this old Leupold Vari X 2, 1-4x adds very little weight and bulk to the gun.


Apologize for these tattered targets, by the way. We arrived at the range, yesterday, only to discover that there were no paper targets available (our range usually supplies the paper). Luckily, we had some left from our previous range trip so we patched them up as best as possible. Looks like I forgot to patch one 22 hole, though, in the upper part of the bull in this, my best group of the day.


Yes, that was from a standing position, but with a scope, you say? Let me explain that by saying that I now use a scope for almost all of my offhand rifle work. The secret is my offhand air rifle shooting using scopes, which I do on an almost daily basis and I have been doing it for a long time - long enough to the point where my offhand scores are significantly better with a scope than with irons. Iron sights are now a handicap for my offhand shooting. I only occasionally shoot irons, these days, because I still enjoy shooting with irons. When it's time to get serious about accuracy, I grab a scoped rifle.

Let me also say that I am not gifted with any special steadiness. Just takes a lot of practice to use a scope without a rest. Anyone can do it with enough practice (and a little patience )

I spend a lot of time practicing my offhand rifle stance. Holding a rifle steady is important but for me I concentrate more on getting the shot off when on target than trying to stay on target 100%. But I'm all talk and can't come close to your shootin'.

Seeing more of your reports with a scope is going to be different. The Malcolm Scope and Henry Rifle both came out within three years of each other so scopes have been around as long as lever actions.

Another great write-up, and even better shooting NCG.

Thanks, guys.

Yeah, scopes aren't exactly some new fangled gun gadgets, but, hey, the Duke never used one and all that stuff. Funny how some of our notions as to what is traditional and what is not on a lever gun originated. Have also seen criticisms about a tube style red dot on a lever gun as looking out of place from the same folks that think a scope looks okay. So a scope on a lever gun is acceptable, but this is not? Go figure. Just looks like a mini scope to me.

Personally I like the looks of a tang sight on lever guns better then Scopes . Normal under 100 yds I do better with peeps then a scope , Plus I can shoot running targets with peep far better then a scope .

At the end of the day, I always think "My rifle, my rules". If I want to put a scope on something, I'm doing it for a purpose, not for looks. Having said that, I have just taken the scopes off my two target rifles - an Anschutz 1613 Match 54 and a Vostok CM-2 -and fitted aperture sights to them both. I can't hit the side of a barn from 3 feet with normal open sights, but with aperture sights I have really surprised myself.

Oh, I do quite well with a good peep sight setup at 50 yards and even 100 yards IF the lighting is good and IF my eyes are having a good day and IF the target is large enough and IF it is against a high contrast light color background and only IF my eyes are not too fatigued, yet, because fatigue does set in quicker with these sights. Have shot groups with a peep sight and even a good set of open sights that rival what I can do with a scope when all of those IFs are met. (TGR and Sir Henry and Seabee have seen them from previous postings on another forum.)

That's the beauty of a scope or a red dot (when used for the appropriate targets). They outright eliminate some of those IFs and greatly minimize the other IFs. As I've mentioned, I still love shooting open sights and peep sights, but I'm now at an age with my eyes that the only way I can consistently shoot at my best, day in and day out, is with scopes or red dots. They're keeping me in the shooting game, shooting up to my skill level. Most days, as much as I love shooting with iron sights, they are a handicap and I suspect the day will come when they'll just be too difficult to use. Not crazy about it, but that's the reality, now. For sure, I NEVER judge anyone on what sights they choose to use on their guns and I know most of us here don't, either. Very personal decision.

Strong lighting is critical for me with peeps. I have specific NRA targets for specific peeps and with bright lighting I can use a Mackie line effect for critical aiming. And yes I have seen your targets.

I like the single six in 22

Thanks.

My husband love it, too. He shoots it great. It's actually very accurate, surprisingly so for Single Six with its 22 mag bore size. Have shot sub 1" groups with it at 25 yards off a rest when scoped using CCI SV, which it loves. Keeps right up with a good semi-auto target grade pistol.

tx gunrunner wrote:Personally I like the looks of a tang sight on lever guns better then Scopes . Normal under 100 yds I do better with peeps then a scope , Plus I can shoot running targets with peep far better then a scope .

You are going to love what I'm going to do with my new Frontier Model Long Barrel.

Aging eyes are a challenge some days for sure. So far I do ok at 50 yds off hand standing with factory iron sights, but the clock is ticking. I am very curious to try out the new 1860 ladder sights at 100+ yards when it arrives next month. I'm sure it will be like lobbing a baseball with a 45 Colt lead bullet, but we'll see how it goes.

RanchRoper wrote:Aging eyes are a challenge some days for sure.

ain't that the truth .... well in my case it isn't just on some days .... I wear trifocals which can present a challenge .... while I like open sights, I've moved to mounting scopes (of various types) on almost all of our rifles and most of our revolvers .... I haven't reached that point with shotguns ... if/when I should purchase a slug gun or slug barrel for one of our shotguns it will have some sort of scope

Sir Henry wrote:Strong lighting is critical for me with peeps. I have specific NRA targets for specific peeps and with bright lighting I can use a Mackie line effect for critical aiming. And yes I have seen your targets.

A what?

The black target and black of the front globe and rear peep allows a bright ring of light around where they meet.