Peep Sight or Scope

[Golddollar]

I've had some eye issues over the last few years. First it was a retinal hemorrhage in my right eye and then cataracts. One day I was checking out an AR-15 that I had but had never shot before. Just out of curiosity I decided to look down the sights and found that with the peep sight I had a pretty good focus on the front sight. With that encouragement I went to a match in Lancaster County that had pumpkins and bowling pins set up on the backstop at 50 yards or so. I loaded up and found that offhand I could hit pumpkins and a bowling pin. It was good to know that at least at short range I could hit something with the iron sights considering the vision issues I had been having.

 

[Rustyt1953]

 

[LostintheOzone]

I have both on rifles. I can hit an 18'' plate at 220 yds with my M1 carbine and aperture sights. That doesn't mean I want to hunt with those however. I'm a bigger fan of LPVO scopes. I have 1.5x4 on a Ruger Mini and I can close the groups down to 3 MOA consistently with that optic. The limiting factor there is the rifle, not the scope. I haven't hunted without a scope since 1972.

 

[pantannojack]

After age 40 my eyes started going soft. Now over 70 If I must focus on a bedside clock or some thing other I form a circle with my thumb and index finger (the old scuba diver's OK signal) as tight as necessary and look thru closely. It works. That is the peep sight principal. A tighter aperture increases depth of focus as anyone from high school photo class may already know.

 

[sandog]

Hunting with a peep sighted lever in .45-70 was my preferred method of hunting over 40 years living in Montana, Alaska and Idaho.
But my eyes were better then, now I'd want an LVPO.

Maybe ten years ago I noticed that the front sight was no longer in focus,so I went to a smaller aperture as patannojack mentioned above.
From a .090" to a .040" or .050", it made the front sight appear sharp again.
Lately I was noticing that even with the smaller apertures, my eyes have further weakened to where the front sight isn't so sharp anymore.
I happened to try a pair of low magnification safety glasses and wow, it's like I have the eyesight of a 20 year old again.
The glasses are Foster Grant Ironman, $15 at Walmart.
With the aid of the 1.5x glasses, I went back to the bigger apertures.
The larger aperture is easier to pick up quicker, more light comes through and a less restrictive field of view.

Others have said that a scope ruins the looks of a classic lever, I agree.
But more importantly, it affects the handling and balance and not in a good way.
I saw a guy who had a BL-22 Browning lever, a very tiny receiver on those .22 carbines. He said he had to have a scope due to his vision, but had a cheap 4-12x he bought off Amazon, it looked huge, like the space shuttle carrying a 747 on it's back.
Talk about a top heavy rig.

Some levergun pics:

 

[StrawHat]

…
I happened to try a pair of low magnification safety glasses and wow, it's like I have the eyesight of a 20 year old again.
The glasses are Foster Grant Ironman, $15 at Walmart.
With the aid of the 1.5x glasses, I went back to the bigger apertures.
The larger aperture is easier to pick up quicker, more light comes through and a less restrictive field of view.
…

When working construction, I was doing a lot of work above my head. Normal bi-focal caused me to crane my head back and gave me neck pain. Eye doc had new lenses ground with the regular correction and the same Rx in the upper quadrant. Worked great for hinges, door closers and such but, it also made the front sight of my revolvers crystal clear.

I never tried it with my aperture sighted rifles.

Kevin

 

[OutAtTheEdge]

IMHO

Personally, I've always felt that a vintage rifle needs vintage sights. I love the benefits of a good quality modern optic for hunting purposes, but the aesthetic of a modern scope on a vintage rifle just pushes the wrong buttons for me. If aging eyes start getting too demanding, you might want to think about finding and mounting a low power optic of the appropriate age. I personally have a few old Weaver K-series in 1.5X, 2.5X, and 4X on some old guns.

And since you mentioned the Model 81 Woodsmaster equipped with a Redfield peep that I picked up last year. This would be a beautiful combo for the hunting you described.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

I love the look, simplicity, and ruggedness of aperture sights, and have several rifles so equipped - my Winchester 71, a Marlin 1894 .44 mag, and a .303 British jungle carbine. I can shoot them well enough in good light for hunting out to 100 yards or so. I do hunt with them and have killed multiple deer with all of them, but for me they are not the equal of a good quality scope in the woods and especially in fading light. I have had the experience of having a deer well within range at dusk and not being able to see him through an aperture sight. A good appropriately powered scope solves that. I still like to hunt with iron sighted rifles at times, I just assume I'm giving up a little edge by doing so. Many times I'm OK with that trade-off - but if i "need" to kill a deer on any particular hunt, I'm taking something with a scope on it. My favorite woods rifle is my old first-year Belgium Browning BLR .308 with a 1.5-5x Leupold on it, 180 grain roundnose handloads.

 

[Capt. F.]

I have a Winchester Model 71 Deluxe with a factory peep and Redfield Sourdough gold blade front sight.
I use a pencil eraser to polish the gold insert on the front sight when I head out hunting.
This setup works perfect for my 75 year old eyes!

 

[mtgianni]

It depends on the rifle. I have a scooped BLR in 308 that has always had a 2x7 scope. Longest shot on game was 425 yards. 94 Winchester does well with a receiver sight at ranges you mentioned. I have two 92 Rossi's in 357. One has a receiver sight and the other a 4x scope. Sisters-in-law seem to shoot the scope best.

 

[Drm50]

I know from experience that a lot of people don’t realize how to use a peep sight. They are using it as a standard rear. If you are using it right, you are looking through it not at it. It’s hard to explain. Years ago before glass lens it was realized that vision could be improved by looking through a small hole. One of first was made by pin holes in a rib bone of some critter. That is suppose to force or strain your eye to round, which is suppose to be the optimal state of eye. Once shooter realizes how the peep is used he will have much better results. I used peep sights as a kid without thinking about it. Not realizing why others didn’t like peeps. It was because they weren’t using them right. I didn’t figure this out until training in Army. It’s similar to those who don’t understand the basic use of pistol sights. Once they get the hang of concentrating on front blade it’s game changer.
I can think of no circumstance of light conditions that would make standard sights better than aperture type peeps. Again you are focused on front blade. With size of aperture geared to job at hand, you can’t beat it. It only makes sense that on same rifle the front blade is the point of focus. The principle of your eye drawn to center allows complete concentration on front blade. Another mistake is using a small target aperture to hunt with.
They are fine for target but opposite of what is needed for hunting.

 

[raljr1]

I might lean towards the aperture sight on a lever. My great uncle sporterized this '03 Springfield in the 50s. Dad didn't do anything with it for 40 years and it sat in my safe for another 20. I put in one of those scope mounts that uses the magazine cutoff. Hated that. Took it to a local smith who mounted a Lyman aperture and a nice front sight. He bore sighted it and I shot a 3" group at 100 yards with 60 year old eyes.. i like it..that is what I would use on a 150 woods gun.

Robert

 

[Hair Trigger]

I love Skinner Sights (ghost ring) on my old Ruger 44 carbine. Out to 100 yds they work for my eyes. What part of WV do you hunt? I hunt Greenbrier Co.

I'm a fan of peep sights ever since I bought a M1A. I have a Skinner peep on my Henry lever gun and love it. For short range hunting I think it's better than a low-power scope; the eye goes naturally to the front post through the aperture, it's quicker than getting the scope aligned on target and no eye relief to worry about or scope getting knocked out of alignment, less weight to hump through the woods.

 

[diyj98]

Peeps are great, but I generally prefer a scope for hunting. A scope with even a little magnification allows me to better judge antler quality when looking for more mature bucks. Especially when hunting in lower light or when the buck standing in a thicket.

I don't worry about looks. I use whatever makes my hunting experience more efficient and enjoyable.

 

[Drm50]

A sight with micro clicks is a precision instrument. The use to be machined from steel, now most aircraft aluminum. The popular models in steel sell for premium money and the new aluminum ones aren’t cheap.
The ghost ring types that use opposing wedges or revolution of the threaded shank of the aperture are not that much of a precision implement and over priced for what they are.
The receiver sight with click adjustments can be used just like a target scope. It can be cranked for a long range shot and then returned to 0 on the witness plate. The ghost ring type are to sight in and leave alone. Any adjustment made is hold over or Kentucky windage.

 

[Tom K]

I will point out one advantage that peep sights have over normal open sights. Normal rear sights are generally mounted somewhere on the barrel, in the middle of the gun. Usually, a rear peep will be mounted on the receiver, or sometimes even as a tang sight. This has the effect of lengthening the sight radius, and reduces errors in alignment for increased potential accuracy.

 

[hardluk1]

Doug 627 Hitting meat at 150yards with any kind of stock sights does not make for quality accuracy if you can't drop a deer with in a couple steps unless you get a bit of lucky . So make your own choices and learn from it . I would use a LPVO on any shorter range hunting rifle 1-4 up to 1-8 or 10x24mm can make for a far more accurate shot over peep sights and give you a far better chance on game over your 150 yards . I walked out of creek bottoms and spotted a nice deer at 300 yards . Roll up the power sit down and make a shot that requires no tracking .

Age of a firearm or how cool it might be matters very little to me if you use that firearm for hunting .

I'm a aim small hit small type of hunter and prefer to use a scope on my hunting rifles since '73 for deer & hogs for shots out to 300 yards on occasion and only a well placed bullet matters to me . I hate tracking game some one made a poor shot on .

 

[Doug627]

I never take a shot unless I am confident of a clean fast kill. Regardless of the sights.

 

[rockquarry]

I never take a shot unless I am confident of a clean fast kill. Regardless of the sights.

I like peep sights and scopes both, but for hunting purposes, that's probably the best answer so far.

 

[Valmet]

I like peep sights on vintage guns like you describe. Not that scoped can’t work well but on some cartridges with “football ish” trajectories (.35 Rem, .348 Win) I feel peeps are aesthetically cool for the vintage and practical. I hunt timber in VA mostly and I use a .35 Rem with a Lyman peep as the majority of my shots will be 120 and in.

For work much beyond that I have a .270 Wby which glass really lends itself to.