Does anyone still use open sights?!

[andrewM]

It seems everyone uses telescopic sights these days but I still have a nostalgic hankering for open sights. Some manufacturers don't even bother to produce them on their models these days, which I consider to be a glaring omission.

Deteriorating eyesight is clearly a problem for many - especially on this section of the forum, I suspect! However, there were those rifles that were only really designed for open sights, such as the early Airsporters and Webley Mk3s, along with all pre-WW2 rifles.

There is also a discipline in using open sights and it is particularly satisfying to master it. The same applies to despatching vermin, rabbits and pigeons - it introduces a sporting aspect, rather like fly-fishing, perhaps.

In addition, there is a considerable difference between the various open sights, some providing a sharper image than others. In this respect, the pre-War BSA Standard's sights were hard to beat, notwithstanding the absence of an adjustment wheel for windage.

I wonder what others think. Am I alone in still enjoying the use of open sights? Are there many who still use open sights here and, if so, at what distances? Producing a 1inch group at 30 yds is easy with a telescope on a good rifle; it is not so simple with open sights but it is much more satisfying. If everything must be made easy, one might as well use a PCP and be done with it!

[45flint]

Even more difficult after cataract surgery when you have a clear but fixed lens. Still worthwhile and the best rifle I have for it is a 1923 BSA Standard? Great irony that these open sight have not been improved upon in all those years.

[Hsing-ee]

I have a Williams/Beeman aperture sight on my HW30S and it will easily shoot into 1" at 30 yards. I also have opens on my BSA Meteor. Apertures are easier to use and more accurate than ordinary open sights, and are erm, easler for the Senior shooter to use.

I mostly buy Weihrauch rifles and most HWs can still be had with open sights. PCPs are another issue of course, but you can sort them out with open sights for a reasonable sum. A HW77 rearsight will fit on most scope ramps, and a AA200 foresight unit can be persuaded to fit most barrels.

There are open sight comps at most clubs, and of course the formal 6 yard, bell-target and 10 meter fraternity never stopped using open sights.

Open sights are more commonly enjoyed in the USA, which is not what you would expect, but there it is.

The PCP and the telescopic sight go together hand in hand, and in these islands that is the usual thing.

[grantb]

I use open sights on all my air guns, except for my Webley service rifle. I prefer the aperture sight on that.

[ptdunk]

I prefer open sights on pistols and hope to get a FWB 124 sport so I can compete with open sights in some Classic rifle HFT competitions.
I've tried Pistol HFT with a FWB 90 and found it very satisfying to hit the targets with open sights, I imagine a rifle will be just as fun.

Matt.

[andrewM]

I expected your response (), 45flint and, whilst sympathising with your eyesight these days, I agree with all you say. I have a Standard just a year or so older than your own. The trigger is crisp, the sights are first class and the groupings are sub 1inch at 30 yards. As you say, there are few open sights as clear and as sharp nearly 100 years later.

Hsing-ee, I was interested to read what you wrote and I agree with you that apertures are so much better than ordinary open sights. At school, we shot in competitions with apertures on re-barrelled .22 rifles, which had previously been .303 Lee-Enfields, at 25yds. A good shot could obtain 1/4in groupings quite easily. A pity, really, that more manufacturers did not copy the Webley Mk2 and introduce apertures on their models; probably the cost made it beyond consideration.

[craig9mm]

blimey 1 inch at 30 yards...if only I could do that
I like iron sights on my HW30, please advise an aperture rear sight
Do you still keep the HW front sight?

thank you

[Hsing-ee]

Hsing-ee, I was interested to read what you wrote and I agree with you that apertures are so much better than ordinary open sights. At school, we shot in competitions with apertures on re-barrelled .22 rifles, which had previously been .303 Lee-Enfields, at 25yds. A good shot could obtain 1/4in groupings quite easily. A pity, really, that more manufacturers did not copy the Webley Mk2 and introduce apertures on their models; probably the cost made it beyond consideration.

The cost doesn't seem to be the issue. The BSA Meteor and the BSA Buccaneer were offered with a rear-sight that could be moved to the end of the cylinder and converted to a peep-sight, and neither rifle carried a premium price for the adaptor. The Sharps Innova and Ace pump-ups were also sold with peep-sights, as were some of the Sussex Armoury springers. This was in the late 70s and 80s. That they were not fitted to more rifles might have something to do with their poorer performance in low light, but more likely the average customer did not understand how they work. The BSA Meteors made for the Army Cadet Force contract ONLY had the rear aperture sight, the barrels were not threaded for the rearsight mounting screws. People who have been in the military will have come across aperture sights, civilians look at them with suspicion - what do you mean 'your eye/brain automatically centres the foresight?' - it seems too simple.

Anyway, if your rifle has a front sight then the Williams sight for airguns is an ideal match and they cost about £40 including post from America - the price of a rubbish scope.

Try googling 'Williams-Diopter-Rear-Sight-for-11mm-Dovetails'

[Hsing-ee]

blimey 1 inch at 30 yards...if only I could do that
I like iron sights on my HW30, please advise an aperture rear sight
Do you still keep the HW front sight?

thank you

Yes, I use the interchangeable foresight with the square post element, and a Williams/Beeman Sport aperture. This is in good light with an aim-point under the black on a 1" aiming mark at 30 yards.

[Joncaddy]

44 guns, 25 of which are rifles. Only 3 have scopes. I have a few spare scopes but no guns i want to put them on to. My interest is collecting and simple plinking, which I find more enjoyable with open sights.

[Shed tuner]

I enjoy opens, but my eyesight is losing some sharpness, and peepsights are defo easier to use now. I find thin tapered foresights especially tricky - e.g. my BSA "L"... whereas the wide, flat FWB sport foresight is great.

Got a couple of PCPs with opens too - a Sumatra and a Career - great fast fire lever action fun, which just needs to be done with opens.

[gingernut]

I usually start a session at the range with an open sighted rifle.

Then move on to pistols.

When I am tired I sit down and use a scoped pcp.

I feel much more connected to guns without scopes.

I bought a Career last year and took off the silencer and scope it came with, which returned it to what it should be ,as Shed says.

[Shed tuner]

I bought a Career last year and took off the silencer and scope it came with, which returned it to what it should be ,as Shed says.

yeah, silencers are the last thing you want - need some noise

[Fronteria]

Most of my Air Rifles cannot have a scope fitted on them like my first batch L.J rifle No. 1319 although I have quite a few modern air rifles that do have scopes.

[eyebull]

Anyway, if your rifle has a front sight then the Williams sight for airguns is an ideal match and they cost about £40 including post from America - the price of a rubbish scope.

Try googling 'Williams-Diopter-Rear-Sight-for-11mm-Dovetails'

Worth noting there are two types of these - the better sort with twiddly knobs, and the less good one that uses allen keys. The better one is not easily obtainable in the UK, and few - if any - places that stock it in the US will ship to the UK.

By all means if you find a supplier that will ship to the UK, please let me know.