Favorite open sight for hunting

[erickrschaefer]

I hunt with a Ruger SBH hunter and recently took the scope off and have been burning some powder trying to get consistent with open sights. I currently have the one ragged hole rear with the firesight type front. I do pretty well out to 35 yards and would feel pretty comfortable taking a  deer with it at that range. I would like to try one of the rough country rear sights with the shallow v rear blade and was curious as to rather or not anyone had used this set up and what they though of it.

[S.B.]

I take it the stock Rugers weren't working for you?
Steve

[erickrschaefer]

I tried the factory sights and just couldn't do well with them. That was before I had eye surgery though so maybe I will give them a try again. I did have another gun in 475 Linebaugh with the shallow v and a gold bead front that I really liked and shot pretty well with so I thought the same type set up on the Ruger might be as good

[Mohawk]

The S&W open sights work just fine. Adjustable or fixed. The load I used stayed true. From a Model 28 .357 Mag to a Model 10 .38. Know where a given load will hit as to where your sights are.  Aint no magic....

[ole 5 hole group]

I hunt with a Ruger SBH hunter and recently took the scope off and have been burning some powder trying to get consistent with open sights. I currently have the one ragged hole rear with the firesight type front. I do pretty well out to 35 yards and would feel pretty comfortable taking a  deer with it at that range. I would like to try one of the rough country rear sights with the shallow v rear blade and was curious as to rather or not anyone had used this set up and what they though of it.

I use the one ragged hole rear sight & fiber optic front on a couple of my BFR's and I've found them to be about as accurate as "original" iron sights and much faster for target acquisition with my "older" eyes using their largest aperture.  Some individuals that can't change to a taller front sight on their Rugers find the ragged hole sight not to their liking.

[Lloyd Smale]

dont like a peep on a handgun. A peep works well on a rifle because it gets close to your eye. My favorite sight on six gun is a bowen target rear with a partrige (not a ramp) front sight blade that is thinned to .10 so that light can be seen on both sides of the sight blade. Make mine black too as to me colared front blades are just a gimic. I also detest front bead sights or express sights.

[bilmac]

I'm with Lloyd. I tried the peep sight and took them off again. I never have liked beads, too indefinate. Give me a nice solid square blade up front and a square notch in back. I could go with luminous dots in the blade and notch if I might have light problems, but for a hunting gun which will not be used in really bad light they are just a distraction. There is a reason why they have been the standard for a long long time, and all the best gun makers use them.

[Glanceblamm]

bowen target rear with a partrige (not a ramp) front sight blade

Give me a nice solid square blade up front

Me three. Dont know what it is about that ramp on my SBH but I hate it. Seems like the ramp screws with my mental calculator on the picture and the small bulb at the top compounds this. I would have filed a flat top on that bulb but my rear sight was bottomed out already. I do like the "cresent" front blades that I have on an old H&R and a couple more Vaquero's, fast sight picture as the top of the plane can be found much easier.

[sixshot]

  Front sights, rear sights & handgun stocks are a personal thing for all of us. When I was a younger buck & shot on the base pistol team I used black sights on all 3 guns, we blackened them often.
  Now that I'm in my mid 60's those black sights are not ideal for ME, I have to have some contrast so my front sights get painted & while it might not be ideal, its much better than black for ME. For 40 years I've narrowed the front sight to .100" (they come .125" factory) this is a big help. Black sights in good light still work if I'm standing at the range in mid day....but I'm mostly a handgun hunter & many times the light is less than ideal, thats when the black sights fade really bad for ME.
  I also like a peep sight & we make them for Rugers but they are not the best sight for long range work but out to 100 yds they work great. A gold bead is totally wrong for hunting because they fade into the hide on deer & elk, in good light they are ok. I tried one once in a USPSA match, wrong thing to do, they faded awful!

Dick

[BigMuddy]

Dick

I could not agree more. What works for ME may not work for you or anyone else. When shooting targets in good light I too like a solid black front and back, preferably a patridge front. That used to be my favorite for hunting as well. Now I want something different on that front blade.

I have seen a lot of people that don't like them, but for ME those gold bead front sights seem to be working pretty well. I cannot however see that tiny bead on a Ruger Redhawk anymore. When I was younger I thought they were perfect. I am also starting to use some of those fiber optic front blades. I don't like the way the guns look with them on there, but in those last few minutes of shooting light they sure do show up well.

The real answer is..get out and shoot and try different set ups to see what works best for you.

[Redhawk1]

The V rear sight, and a gold bead front sight work great for me on my hunting rigs.

[doulos]

The V rear sight, and a gold bead front sight work great for me on my hunting rigs.

I have not hunted with open sights on a handgun for quite a while,but when I did thats the sight I preferred on my Redhawk. I took 5 whitetails with that sight. The farthest over 80 yards. Its a good hunting sight. I found it easy to hit with.

[Terbltim]

Without question the Wide V [express sight] with white centerline and a GREEN fiber optic front sight for me!
I think 100 feet (35 yds/steps) as a good all-purpose sight-in & practice distance.
My hunting is done with 454s and 475s loaded "low & slow" (to about the power of a 44 Mag.)
Between these types of sights and the practical power level with heavy bullets we're gettin it done.
The deer don't seem to notice the difference but my aging eyes say "two thumbs up!"

If I couldn't use fiber optics I'd go for the gold (brass?) bead...and paint it white.

The one and only caveat is that these front sights stand up pretty tall and straight on the rear surface and can snag things. I'm not a fast-draw hunter so it has never been any kind of problem for me but I humbly acknowledge the existence of the possibility.