Deer hunting with iron sights.

[N80]

I've deer hunted all my life. Killed lots of deer. Don't hunt as much as I used too. And when I do I don't shoot unless it is real big. Mostly I go with my daughter. She got this one a few weeks ago with me sitting right next to her at the base of a tree (185 pounds, 19" spread....proud Dad):


Anyway, I've got a number of nice (as in functional...but not fancy) deer rifles. Recently inherited my Dad's deer rifles, about five. A few are nothing special and I'll sell them but a couple have sentimental value or are interesting guns and I'll keep them.

One of them is a Sears J.C. Higgins 30-06. Despite being old, and from Sears and in a fairly plain stock, it is actually a nice rifle with an F.N. Mauser action and a chrome steel barrel made by Hi-Standard. It is quite accurate and I've got a 4x Zeiss on it.

I got to thinking that it might be interesting to use it with iron sights to hunt deer and hogs. I'm not into bow hunting or black powder but iron sights might make things interesting. Probably wouldn't ever take a shot over 75 yards and only easy shots.

Problem is.....I know nothing about iron sights. The front sight is still on the gun and chances are the rear sight is somewhere with Dad's gun 'stuff'. I can research to find out what came on the gun if I can't find it. Right now there is an open 'dove tail'(?) where the rear sight goes. I don't know whether to start with the original sight or go aftermarket. I don't know how to mount or adjust iron sights. I know I can do some legwork on Google but I also know you guys can point me in the right direction and save me a little time. Any of you guys have experience with iron sights? Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[bcp]

Finding the right sight height:

Sight Height Calculator | World's Largest Supplier of Firearm Accessories, Gun Parts and Gunsmithing Tools - BROWNELLS

 

[vtsnowedin]

If you can find the original sight or one of the same model it is not too difficult to tap it into the slot using a light brass hammer. Once you get the base as centered as you can you can begin to sight in the rifle from scratch. The site might be just one piece or two with the top movable with a set screw. Ethier way take a couple of shots off a rest at twentyfive yards with the proper sight picture (top of post level with the sides and target setting on top of post usually) Move the rear site in the direction the bullet needs to go either with the set screw or by tapping the base with your brass hammer. Once you get it on line left to right you can worry about up and down. Some of the old fixed sites were pretty crude with a ladder type device that made several inches of adjustment with each step , these may need filling the notch deeper to fine tune if (on target ) happens to fall between the step above and below it. Others have a smooth ramp and another set screw that lets you adjust as needed. Once you get it right on at twenty five yards move out to one hundred yards. With an 30-06 you can sight in for three inches high at 100 and be good from zero out to 225 or better with the same sight picture. If your eyes can see a deer at 225 you can hit it with open sights but as we get older it gets harder for our eyes to focus on both the deer and the front sight. I have a Ruger M-77 with good fixed sights. It wears a 2X5 Leopold and I have never used the fixed sights on game.

 

[RobertBrown]

Your scope is worth more than your gun, and that's fine. If the gun shoots well I would not mess with it.
If you must try iron sights, get another rifle. Either borrow one or buy one.
I suspect that you will regret your choice to abandon your optics.
Typically ones eyes get less pliable as one gets older and it becomes difficult to focus on things close to your face. That's why you see older people holding text further away to read it. You may be like most of us and find it's hard to focus on the rear sight while acquiring your target and placing the front sight properly.
I would hate to see you spend a lot of time and money only to find out you can't shoot it accurately.
I suggest you find a way to try iron sights first, then decide what kind you want.

 

[N80]

Thanks guys. Robert, the nice thing about all this is that it won't cost me anything. If it turns out that I can't shoot it, I'll put the Zeiss back on it....I've had this scope for 30 years. And I'll keep it so no loss there either. And I've got other guns to hunt with if this one is out for re-scoping anyway.

And you are right about the eyes. They're going south....but several shooters have told me that with the right glasses they shoot iron sights just fine. I've got an appointment with the eye doc in January.

I've gone through all the gun stuff and can't find the original rear so it was probably not on the gun when Dad bought it....because he kept everything else. I'll do some browsing at Brownells and see what I can find. Chances of finding an original rear sight for this particular model of gun are probably low.

 

[mikehaugen]

I have not gun hunted for quite some time, but when I did I was using a 20ga shotgun with slugs since rifle hunting is not allowed in my state. I did fine with iron sight up to 50 yards with a shotgun. I am sure I could have gone farther but never saw the point so I never tried. If your goal is 75 yards, I would say you would be absolutely fine with iron sights.

I have seen a lot of people get very caught up in scopes and don't think they are always necessary. Of course take this with a grain of salt since I am still pretty young (relatively) and haven't shot a gun in probably 8 years. I have noticed my eyesight already degrading and maybe it's a different world now. I am still fine with a bow though as far as focusing.

 

[N80]

I did find a rear sight that went with a S&W .308 (made by Husqvarna) and it fits. It is very simple. It is like a spring with a sight at one end and the dovetail at the other end. There is a separate little notched piece for height adjustment. Seems very crude in terms of height adjustment as there are only 4 notches for adjustment.

The ones on my modern Remington 700's are ramp style and they look much more precise.

Brownells has several flip up type sights with dove tail mounts made for Ruger and Browning rifles. They are cheap and look like they would fit. Might give the S&W sight that I have a try.

BCP, thanks for the link for calculating sight height. Will have to take the gun out of the stock to do that. No big deal but if the S&W sight works will probably skip that.

 

[westcliffe01]

N80, if you are interested in shooting with Iron sights, maybe I could interest you in a Remington 700 "Classic" which has iron sights from Williams ? It is an 8x57. I am on the cusp of "bubbafying" the rifle, but if someone wanted it as it was, I may not feel bad about it...

In the picture below, it had a Nikon 4-16x50 scope on it, but you can see the front sight and muzzle break and the rear sight is just behind the scope objective and is fully adjustable.

 

[Egon]

Iron sight, older eyes, get a peep sight.

The old Lee Enfield .303's have a nice one.:thumbsup:

 

[texasjohn]

Agree totally. I used to hunt with iron sights, proud of it. I began missing because I couldn't see well enough to sight properly. Went to a scope. Killed two white tail bucks last week, 1 shot each.

Your scope is worth more than your gun, and that's fine. If the gun shoots well I would not mess with it.
If you must try iron sights, get another rifle. Either borrow one or buy one.
I suspect that you will regret your choice to abandon your optics.
Typically ones eyes get less pliable as one gets older and it becomes difficult to focus on things close to your face. That's why you see older people holding text further away to read it. You may be like most of us and find it's hard to focus on the rear sight while acquiring your target and placing the front sight properly.
I would hate to see you spend a lot of time and money only to find out you can't shoot it accurately.
I suggest you find a way to try iron sights first, then decide what kind you want.