it's official: no more iron sights

[fish280]

shot my handi .45-70 today, trying out a transplanted T/C rear sight that cranked down lower than the factory williams slider. low and behold, it bottoms out just right for the 405-grain remington load, dead on at 75 yards. trouble was, my ability to focus gave out just when as i was trying to zero the 320-grain leverevolution load. aperture sight no good either. there's not even a ghost of a ghost ring in which to center thefront blade.
i shot up about $45 worth of factory ammo, trying anyway. can't do it any more fellows. i have installed a weaver mount on the little rifle, and will mount a scope tonight or tomorrow. i am bummed ... 
by the way, in strong sunlight in the woods, the "firesight" dots on the T/C sight really blossom, cutting the clear space on either side of the sight picture to a point it just about impossible to see if the blade is center. astigmatism must be getting a tad worse, but i don't really need glasses to drive ...

[Mike in Virginia]

Fish, I know exactly what you're feeling. Been there. But I'm staying with iron sights, beause I've learned a few things via experience in the woods, when the backgrounds are gray brush, when the sun is too bright, or the angle of light is wrong. It can be overcome. This past season, I was looking through peeps at a deer at dawn in the brush. Couldn't make him out at all through the peep, but I could see him plainly when I lowered the rifle.  The fix was to move my head toward the peep hole, really pulling the gun it tight and moving my head forward, which in effect, made the peep hole "bigger," and there he was, plain as day.

Another problem with peeps is that at my age: a rear firesight is just too bright, and floods the hole with light and color to where I can't see the front sight clearly.  The answer to that is firesight on the front only.  It easy to focus on a firesight that's way the heck down at the other end of my barrel. 

What works at ther range, will probably not work in the dappled light of the woods. Light is coming in from different angles in the woods, and a little larger hole is needed for the rear peep. 

Of course, a scope will erase any sighting problems. You will always have a clear sight picture, it's magnified for better bullet placement, and you have only one item (the crosshairs) to center on the target.  But is that really what you want with a 45-70?  Maybe so, and that's okay, but not for me.  I've been tempted, but have yet to give in.

[Mitch in MI]

That's a relief. I read the subject and thought you were talking about the factory, not your eyes.

[Lazermule]

That's a relief. I read the subject and thought you were talking about the factory, not your eyes.

I was thinking the same thing!!!

LM

[peternap]

I understand your problem...
I'm using scopes, peeps and iron sights.
I have old eyes too.

All three have their uses. The iron sights are pretty much a recent thing on non ML's for me. I have a 45/70 that was a pain to carry with the scope so I took it off. It turned out to be such a neat little gun without all that baggage on top, I started carrying it everywhere.

No, I can't shoot MOA groups with it, but I can shoot 4" at 100 yards and that's enough.

I'm in the process of  putting a 4 leaf sight on my 12FH.
Never know when you need to stop a charging Elephant in Virginia.

[dwalk]

i hear that...i'm in the "old geezer" category, too...getting very near 70.

i prefer open sights for the ranges within 50- 100 yds myself.

have you considered a red-dot? or some other sort of HUD sighting device.

[fish280]

fellas, i appreciate all of the advice. i've been fighting this for years, because i so do not want to scope my .45-70. it just doesn't seem, oh, legal somehow. i make a point to sight in at my son's back yard precisely because it is open woods with strong side light, which yields the toughest conditions for me. flat light on cloudy days really isn't a problem. nor is strong daylight on an open shooting range, but man, that strong afternoon light, the shadows, the sun moving a degree every few minutes' ... so, i've got to go with a solution that works in all cases. aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! 

[petemi]

At 68 with a bad right eye, I found the red dot works best for me.  You keep both eyes open and never loose sight of your target.  The dot doesn't have to be centered in your field of view.  The bullet goes where the dot is.  The lower the light, dusk or dawn, the lower the setting used.  Bright light, bright setting.  It works great for me, especially in dark woods.

Pete

[peternap]

At 68 with a bad right eye, I found the red dot works best for me.  You keep both eyes open and never loose sight of your target.  The dot doesn't have to be centered in your field of view.  The bullet goes where the dot is.  The lower the light, dusk or dawn, the lower the setting used.  Bright light, bright setting.  It works great for me, especially in dark woods.

Pete

The biggest complaint I have with Red Dots , is that you have to turn them on. I don't understand why they can't fit them with a remote switch like a laser.

[fish280]

what's a good red dot run?

[fish280]

any rugged ones for $50 or so?

[peternap]

any rugged ones for $50 or so?

I have a couple of cheap Hiney BSA's that I paid $35.00 (years ago) that I can't seem to kill. I've had them on bows and air rifles, both are scope killers. I've used one of them on a 458 mag and a 12 ga and they just don't seem to die.

I have a Bushnell Trophy that I flat love except for the on off thing. It's on one of my Slug Guns and is the only scope that I've used that you don't need a hammer extension with the stock Handi hammer. It is a little more than $50.00 though.

[petemi]

I've found I like the A1 Optic.  It is available with the remote switch for 50 some odd bucks.  Do an ebay search on "A1 Optic".  My A1s are holding up well.  The .445 Super's recoil doesn't bother it a bit.  I thought about putting one on my .45-70, but the dot would cover too much target at 300 yards or more, so for now, I'm sticking with a 3-9X50.

I had an A1 that would only turn off intermittently.  Most times I had to take the battery out.  No questions asked.  Sent it back, free replacement.

Pete

[peternap]

I've found I like the A1 Optic.  It is available with the remote switch for 50 some odd bucks.  Do an ebay search on "A1 Optic".  My A1s are holding up well.  The .445 Super's recoil doesn't bother it a bit.  I thought about putting one on my .45-70, but the dot would cover too much target at 300 yards or more, so for now, I'm sticking with a 3-9X50.

I had an A1 that would only turn off intermittently.  Most times I had to take the battery out.  No questions asked.  Sent it back, free replacement.

Pete

Without getting back on the soapbox Pete, I won't buy from Ebay...but I did find them on the net. They also sell the remote switch separately.
http://www.thehuntersmall.com/reposwforris.html
That's worth looking into. Thanks!

[petemi]

Peter, that's exactly where mine come from.  Great people, great service.

Pete

[rex6666]

Are  yall using red-dots with no magnifacation? I have one that is 1X30
thought about putting it on my 45/70

[petemi]

Yes, mine are zero magnification.  If I put one on my .45-70, I'll sight in at 6 o'clock on the red dot so it doesn't cover POI for better distance shooting.

Pete

[rex6666]

OK!
Pete you talked me into it, i'm going to try my on the 45/70

[zoner]

my 2 cents..I'm a 58 yr old geezer,started having focus problems (reading etc) at about 40,got readin glasses.Now i have bifocals...not blind but not old eagle eye anymore.When i scope my 357 handi it'll shoot a 3 shot 1" group at 100 yds if i do my part.With a peep I can't do that...but i can put every round in the black( 6" circle) at 100 yds with the peep and that will kill deer. In other words at the range that i would shoot this caliber at a deer i can get the job done easy with the peep sight. In the process i have a very handy gun to tote around...i like the way i can wrap my hand around the reciever and carry it(hard to do with a scope). Some of you guys might shoot irons better with a different front sight. For me the front sight needs to be a post. I can index elevation much better with a flat-topped front sight than a bead. I like the wgrs peep with the factory front sight(the screw-on type) of appropriate height and i paint the post white.Maybe if you try a different(easier to see and index) front sight and  re-evaluate what you really need your rifle to do you may find that you are shooting those iron sights better than you think

[petemi]

Good luck Rex, let us know how it works out.

Zoner, I used to use White Out on the front sight til I moved to the Great White North.  It worked well and removed easily.  I think it's now a relic and no longer available.  These days, I just can't see the sights well enough.

Pete

[quickdtoo]

White Correction fluid is still available, just bought some for reusing handloading cartridge box labels, I used to use it regularly on front sights for better visibility when needed, Firesights are preferable for hunting and work well for range work with the right target.  My 62yr old eyes don't work well with open barrel sights, but peep sights work fine, scopes are best, shot the target below with my 44mag Handi at 100yds, WGRS and Firesight, same setup as one of my 45-70 Handis in the Peep and Firesights link in the FAQs.

Tim

[dfletch]

I too have a problem with open sights. I went with a Millett red dot ($120.00) on my 450.

[fish280]

mounted a pentax 4x32 gameseeker i already had. boresighted by eyeball. one shot at 25 yards to verify on paper (almost dead center). 4 shots of 405-grain remington later, i was zeroed at 75 yards. 1 shot of the 300-grain remington factory load landed 1.25 inches low at that distance; 1 shot of hornady 320-grain leverevolution landed 4 inches low at that distance. so i reckon if i switch ammo, it won't take much to adjust ... 

the rascal still seems handi to me, but not quite as much ...

[Daman]

All of this red dot talk is making me want to install one on my new 7mm/08. I am going to do some looking. I will start a new thread for more suggestions.

Tim and others,
You guys are great source of info for new Handi enthusiasts. Thanks for your words of wisdom.