Shooting With Iron Sights

[Steve51]

THANKS A LOT!! You just blew holes in my big excuse about my "older eyes"

Most of my rifles have iron sights - but not buckhorns

[Catherine]

I like shooting with iron sights. I always shot my rifles using iron sights.

I don't like bench rest shooting either but I know people who love to shoot that way. I like to stand up to shoot and NOT lean on anything.

I PREFER iron sights. I am a very good shooter using iron sights.

I have worn eyeglasses since I was 5 years old. I wear bifocals now. I was always very nearsighted.

I have shot other people's firearms with scopes on them, adjusted for me, and I did not and still do not like it at all. I am not knocking people who use scopes. My MT husband hunts in various terrains and HE uses scopes on 'some' of his rifles but not on all of them. I do not hunt.

I shoot well using iron sights even at 65 years old. I no longer compete and I am no longer a high volume shooter. I have not owned or shot handguns for several years now.

Cate

[Sir Henry]

I'm with you on this Cate. I have many scoped rifles but only because I collect vintage Weaver scopes. A scope at a bench is fun and can tell you how accurate a rifle is but the most fun is shooting offhand.

[holmegaaard]

Squatch,

Would you mind sharing the model number of your Lyman front globe? Am considering a similar setup (Skinner receiver rear, Lyman or other globe front) for my BB brass .357M, but not well schooled in ciphering which globe(s) will fit & be at the correct height. Would appreciate any guidance you could offer.

Good thread...

Hadn't shot open sights for a long while before getting a CZ 452 with their fine tangent/post sights. Couldn't bring myself to scope it, so after reading some good open sight advice (very similar to what is posted here), I set to work on improving that skill. Once I settled on a sight picture I liked & got consistent with it, things improved a great deal. Improvement was even more dramatic once I learned to TRUST that sight picture, fuzzy rear sights be darned.

If the BB sights were similar to what's on the 452, I'd leave them as-is. Just can't seem to get comfortable with the sight picture though, particularly the brass bead front.

[Sir Henry]

The H001 takes a Lyman 17a but the Big Boy might be different. They come in different heights so you do need to get the right one.

[RanchRoper]

I will try to leave my BB with the stock sights and "see" how I make out.

So far so good....I like the stock sights.

[Sir Henry]

I will try to leave my BB with the stock sights and "see" how I make out.

You don't have to make a lot of "noise" about it.

[Wisconsin Shooter]

Interesting read. With my good distance vision, corrected with IOLs, and still needing reading glasses I struggle with the iron sights on my 45 BBB. I agree practice is the key along with learning the correct sight picture. With the military peep sight on M1 I get good results. Love to fire that rifle but that is another story. With this in mind I would like to shift gears on the iron sight discussion and ask for experience and commentary on the Skinner peep sight for Henry. Couple things, I want to shoot good, better, but also keep the good looks of my lever gun. The receiver sight does not look to bad but a photo does leave something to be desired.

Like to hear your experience and thought on the Skinner sight system.

Nice and warn in WI today. Looking forward to heading to the range with my son tomorrow. He is an instructor and keeps saying focus that front sight.

[PT7]

WI Shooter: I have Skinner peeps on both of my Henrys. Installed a barrel-mounted one on my BBB .357 magnum, and purposely bought the SGC .22LR model because it had the Skinner receiver-mounted peep as a stock rear sight.

For both my thoughts and experience with these iron sights, it's very easy to rate the sight at an A+.
I like the Skinner iron sights also because the Henry rifle looks great with them mounted at either position.

I'd say give it a try as they are not terribly expensive. Plus if you want, as you said, "to keep the good looks of my lever gun," that's also a good reason to go for it. An easy sight adjust for your rifle. BTW, I did also get the smaller aperture sizes for my peep sights, and those are neat to work with, as well. And the extra apertures also fit on both rifles. I think the Skinner peep sight system is well thought out, and well-engineered.

Not least, loosing the buckhorn sights, my shooting has improved. I'm good with that for sure

I've posted this picture before, but it's my favorite photo of my Big Boy with the bronze Skinner peep I installed.
Enjoy, and best as you work with your rifle's sights!

DSCN1056.JPG

[tx gunrunner]

I got this gun and put the Marble sights were on it . This is the 1st 10 rds . I put 5 rds up on the target and only seen one hole so I walk up and seen all 5 were in the same hole . When back to the bench and shot 5 more and they when in the same hole too . This is my Cowboy action ammo I make for the matches .

Click on pic to enlarge