Peep Sights

I have them on all my rifles but varmit calibers. .22, 30/30, (3).45/70. I used to have one on my 30/06 but I finally put a scope on it for a visual aid. But that was after my wife slammed a drying rack against so hard that it bent it.
The eye tends to see in a circle. It is easy to center the bead or post on your target quickly, and if you are looking through the circle centered, if you have the bead or post on the target, you will hit it. Much faster to align for me.
Knowing the trajectory of the load you are using is helpful also.
Most of the coyotes I have ever killed, could have fallen to any of the tang sighted rifles I have.
Scopes allow me to shoot around objects that would turn a varmit bullet, and to identify targets more easily.
 
BUIS only on my new M4 banging around rifle..a scope can go South on you at the worst possible moment..or so I've been told.

Older now I enjoyed using peep sights for the fast target acquisition they offer when my eyes were young.
 
I have a receiver sight on my Ruger 10/22, thats the way it came into my possion. I found it to be extremely handy when rabbit hunting on a running rabbit. I installed one on a Marlin 1894p as a hog hunting back up gun, thinking it would be used in short distances.
Jim
 
as a quick handling fast target acquiring sight system it cant
be beat I was thinking of making a peep mount for my .308 just in case the scope fails or for ultra close bear over the baits kind of shooting where the 6.5-20x50 Mark 4 Leupold could actually be a hindrance.
I utilize picatiny base and tactical quick release mounts on my scope ...I was thinking peeps or a Burris speed dot or the likes with quick release mounts as well.
 
I have one on my Rem 742 in 308 and one on my NEF 22 hornet. A lot of my hunting is in the thick woods so a 50 yards or under shot is the norm. Quicker for me to gt on target and a lot friendlier to hall threw the brush.
 
Thanks guys. I too was contiplating it for a couple of my short range guns. Had one on a pellet gun 20some years ago and it worked great back then.
 
My 7mmm Rem 700 was fitted with a Redfield one piece scope base in about 1982... Came with a "peep" to install if the scope got whacked or screwed up... I still have it in a small pouch and it goes into the pocket whenever that rifle goes hunting.

In the early 1960s I bought a Mossberg .22 with factory installed receiver (target) sights. That .22 made me a very good shooter.
 
Appeture (peep) sights are amazing.

Most folks that don't like them (barring eye issues) are people who either have NEVER tried them ....... or have not used them enough to get used to them.

The secret to using a peep is to IGNORE IT .........

....... just focus on the front sight and relax!

The rear sight ...... takes care of itself because it's a biological fact that one automatically seeks the most light through the appeture and as such, you are automatically centered.

If you "fight it" ...... it won't work ...... just relax and enjoy the finest iron sight available!

I grew up with peep sights 40+ years ago with Dad's 141 Remington in .22 lr. ......

......... lots of dead ground squirrels ..... lots of practice.

I have long since turned to scopes but have never regarded Peep sights as second fiddle where they are adapted.

I have a Marlin 94, 1917 Enfield, AR-15, HK-91 and a M1 Garrand ........ all wear peeps either as primary sights or secondary back ups.

Besides quickness, there are two other attributes of using peep sights:

1) longer sight radius ..... much longer

2) a peep does not cover up the target ..... you have clear view of the front sight

Three 44s
 
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I ordered up a Skinner peep for my 1895 after shooting with my factory iron sights just wasn't working for me, groups were bad. I also ordered up his front blade sight, it is just a black blade. When I asked why no contrast or illumination to it, he said "all military rifles use this same set up for the fact that it is the most accurate and easy to use"

Couldn't argue with that logic
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My groups improved drastically and I haven't even tested different makes of ammo yet, or got it zeroed in for the height I need. Front blade needs to be taken down a bit for that.

I anticipate great things, earlier posts talking about sight acquisition and natural eye positioning I have found to be quite true.

Hoping to call in and kill myself a mountain lion with this rig, in the event of a charge, a guy needs all the advantages he can get.
 
Yrs ago when the mini-14 came out. I bought one. Didn't really care for the peep. 2nd season, I got mighty comfortable shooting with it, even @ long range. Bad thing about the mini peep was the thick tip of the post.

I went to scoped rifles since then. Aim/shoot much farther.
 
Changing the front sight can be crucial to make a peep sight work at it's best.

Just don't get it so small that you lose it in low light if it's a field gun.

Three 44s
 
another +1 for Three 44's.

Having your eye centered behind the peep is critical. This in turn requires the correct cheek weld to the stock to be consistent (very important). Having the butt in your shoulder, or cheek on the stock (the latter is dependent on the former), in a different place from shot to shot will mess up your sight alignment. Consistent correctness in these contacts is important.

Having the peephole too small can be troublesome. A small hole helps center the eye better than a large one, but a small hole reduces both the light available to the eye and the total field of view. Once you get your consistent correct cheek weld down you don't need the small hole for precision, and the bigger hole lets you see the whole world through the peep, even in dim light.

A really large peephole rear aperture with a thin rim is called a ghost ring. The rim seems to disappear when the front sight is sharply focused on by the eye. It is extremely fast, almost like a bead on a shotgun, and gives the most light transmission, but is still precise enough for 'normal' usage.

Front sights are another story. I always replace a bead front sight with a post, since the square top of a post gives a much better and more precise aiming index than a round bead does, especially for long shots on small targets. On a bear or hog at bad-breath distances, it's not an issue.

Aperture sights are great when you get to know them. If you can see your target with your naked eye you can clobber it. The one-MOA elevation/windage clicks on an M1 or M1A/M14 will sure spoil you.
 
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Colorado Pete,

Yes, I forgot to bring up cheek weld.

In fact, it's not appreciated enough with scopes either.

If your head is just floating around over the stock with any sighting system you're gonna have trouble.

You mention the M1. My wife's first rifle she ever shot was my then recently acquired M1 Garrand.

No .22 practice for her ...... straight to an unscoped '06 it twas!

I had a steel plate about 6" in dia. hung at 80 yds. I had not even thought she would like to fire it so soon. And she asks to have a crack at it.

Well, the first shot missed ....... and from there she went SEVEN for SEVEN.

The enblock went flying ...... undaunted ....... she asks me if the ammo for that gun was "expensive or hard to come by" ...... this was six years ago so it was'nt .......

I asked if she wanted to shoot it some more ....... YUP!!!

So this round she starts trying to hit the plate while it's still swingin' ........ getting a little complacent by then.

She had one more handicap though because by then I am so taken and surprised that I am just cracking up at the whole image.

It's a wonder she married me after that ..........

(She's confirmed that if the Garrand ever goes ...... I'm a gonner!)

Three 44s
 
I pretty much learned how to shoot with peep sights one of the first 22 lr's i ever owned had peep sights when i was a kid but since then my eyes have gotten so bad that i have to use scopes on all my guns which right at the moment is just one!
 


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