Fastest sights / Moving Targets

[kmittleman]

Hi all,


My father and I got into this debate about which type of sights are the fastest to use on game that's moving / what are the fastest to get on target. We were thinking about doing a hog hunt down here in TX and the guide said we might be jumping them up at close range ( not that that would be ideal ). What do you all think would be better on a levergun : regular iron sights, a peep sight, or a scope ( for that matter )?

-Kevin

[Travis Morgan]

Irons, though there is a sight available from Midway or Brownells that looks like an OEM Winchester sight that works like a ghost ring. I'd still prefer plain irons, since they're what I've used most, and what I prefer. The ghost ring just doesn't do it for me, and I hate peeps.

[FWiedner]

I've found a ghost-ring type of sight to be the fastest on target for the way and terrain I hunt, and after that a low power scout set-up. Both of these for daytime hunting in good light.

If you're hunting hogs in Texas this time of year, you will probably be hunting in low light or at night because that's when the hogs move when it gets hot.

You might look at a red-dot setup for dawn/dusk hours, and a good scope and some feeder lights if you hunt at night. some guys even go with night-vision optics.

[El Chivo]

Weaver 1-3x scope set to 1x. On target in 1 second (3 seconds for iron sights).

I did some testing when I first got the scope.

You might also try a red dot scope.

[Tycer]

I put an XS 24/7 Tritium BIG Dot on the front of one of my Win 94 Trappers with a vertical "I" inlaid with glow in the dark powder/clear acrylic on the rear. It's very fast, pie plate accurate to 100 yds, and low-light shooting is easy.

[Hobie]

For ME, the ghost aperature is fastest because I can see the whole target. Second is a LOW powered, 1-1.5X, scope with duplex reticule. I can't reliably see the red-dots but they should be faster for those that can.

[Malamute]

All can be quick when you practice with them, including a scope at low power.

Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but I don't "aim" at moving target for the most part, but "point" like shooting a shotgun. I look just over the sights, either open or peep, and not conciously looking "at" the sights, focusing my attention on the target. Practice 6 or 8 bricks worth with your .22 lever, and hunt running small game with it, you can get fairly consistant. If hitting things thrown in the air and regularly hitting running small game is consistant.

[BwanaDave]

Ashley (XS) ghost ring. I find the day glow and glow in the dark stuff distracting and extremely ugly on a traditional firearm. The thin white line on the Ashley front sight is all you need in low light.

Dave

[Modoc ED]

Open iron sights -- especially against a dark background.

[Old Time Hunter]

XS Ghost Ring with the .191" aperature.

[piller]

I kind of like the fiberoptic open sights. They gather enough light to use in low light, but not total darkness, are accurate enough for up to 100 yard shooting, and are relatively cheap. They came factory on my Puma .480 and it is a better rifle than I am able to shoot it.

[Blaine]

Ghost Ring. Red dots are GREAT, until you lose it in the sun.

[Streetstar]

Bushnell Holo-sight, or something similar

[AJMD429]

Bushnell Holo-sight, or something similar

That, or for a less bulky setup, a FireSight front with a ghost of some sort in back. The Williams FP's with aperture removed work pretty well for me, but I want to try one of these sometime - only $14.99 at MidwayUSA!



(www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productnumber=132532)

[Haycock]

Tandem peep sights.

Mojo makes a nice set for milsurp use called SnapSights, and I have never used a sighting system that is faster re: target acquisition in decent light.

HOWEVER...... it is only super-fast if you remove the threaded inserts they supply and work it like a tandem ghost-ring, and though fast it is NOT AS ACCURATE as a rear peep and front post/fiber-optic/brass bead/etc., since the speed relies on clear visibility through both rings which forces the reverse of an "aim small hit small" effect. In other words you get on target reaaaaaly quickly but you are sending a bullet ROUGHLY at the center of the forward ring.

If you wanted to try this on a lever gun I'd suggest a Williams FP and a match-style globe front sight like the Lyman globes but without an insert.... that would replicate the effect of the Mojo SnapSight.... probably improve on it, really, since the Mojo rear is forward of the receiver and thus has a shorter sight radius and blocks more of your FOV.

For the record, I shot the SnapSight on my Mauser a bunch, then reverted to the original pyramid front to achieve greater accuracy (polished the face of it for better visibility, though).

I think the best compromise of ergonomics (especially on a svelte levergun), target acquisition speed and accuracy is the peep/post (or post-equivalent) combo.


Haycock

[Blaine]

If it rains or mists on the Holo-Sight, or equiv, you are doomed. A big glaring mess.

[RKrodle]

86er told me that these are popular in Africa now days.

http://www.newenglandcustomgun.com/



See-thru Fiber Optic Sight w/Base
This unique all-steel sight with fiber optic centerline and windage adjustment allows for a fast shot without blocking the view of the target. We find that it works well with our "Universal" front sights. Available in 5 overall heights and 4 different barrel diameters. Be sure to specify both barrel diameter and overall height when ordering.

[L_Kilkenny]

IMO, low power scopes and red dots are hands down the fastest thing going. Bad weather aside. With scopes everything is placed on one plane. Everything is focused and when properly mounted the sighting is almost instantaneous. I use scopes on everything (almost) including my smoothbore slug gun and close-in coon calling 10/22. I use "modified" open sights on my lever gun. It's virtually impossible to beat a scope/red dot for speed. That's why the open class comp shooters use em.

For anyone that uses bad weather as an excuse to dismiss scopes look at it this way. I'd guess that less than 10% of my hunting is in foul weather. But low/bad light is an every trip occurrence. And peeps and ghost ring sights downright suck in low/bad light. Scopes don't.

LK

[rjohns94]

I like ghost rings first, and then low power scout scope set ups.

[AJMD429]

For anyone that uses bad weather as an excuse to dismiss scopes look at it this way. I'd guess that less than 10% of my hunting is in foul weather. But low/bad light is an every trip occurrence. And peeps and ghost ring sights downright suck in low/bad light. Scopes don't.
LK

Makes good sense. I use both, and try to use the scopes in low/bad light and try to take the peeps in foul daytime weather. For good daytime weather, I flip a coin; whichever gun hasn't had a walk lately... (and if it is low/bad light AND foul weather - I'll be inside reading or reloading!)

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

Bushnell Holo-sight, or something similar

That is the fastest, hands down. The really fast IPSC shooter use then in the no holds barred open class.



And it can be done on a leveraction as well.


But it can be hidious looking.

I'm currently working on a mount for one of the small Burris FastFire. It's about half that size and sets down lower, no rail, directly into the dovetail there on the barrel.

If more traditional irons are more to your liking the preferred fast Cowboy Action Shooting setup is a low semi-buckhorn used in conjunction with a really large brass or white bead up front. This setup is not new. Marbles developed this setup in the early 1900's. At one time they called this setup their "Game Getter series". They are now known as the Sporting Rear Sights.
The way they work is the "V" notch tricks your eye to the center really fast much like a ghost ring but without obscuring the target. Then because the front bead is hugh you pick it up quickly. This is an ideal setup for close shots when stalking game on the move and also why it works well for CAS fast shooting at close targets.


The two rears on the left work best.

[Lastmohecken]

I have done a lot of running deer shooting, most of it before the game and fish, forced us to become trophy hunters, in my state, and at any kind of distance, espacally if the animal is in the open, my choice is a low powered scope.

At really close ranges, my choice is open irons, preferably a flat faced bead up front, and a resonably flat topped rear sight, or shallow V.

However, one of my most memorable hunts, climaxed with a close range running buck, I took with a Marlin 444 and an old Redfield Receiver sight, with the insert removed. It was tough shooting, and the deer was running flat out, and I missed him 3 times before I connected, but it ended in an instant kill, and a great adrenlin rush, thats why I remember it so well.

But frankly, I don't shoot running shots that well with receiver sights, and I have used open iron and ghost ring sights on shotguns too, shooting clay targets and I found that I was much faster with the open irons then the peep sight, in that game, too.