THERE are few ways that the modern sportsman can show his individuality more than in the combination of sights which he uses upon his rifles, and the sights will often tell a great deal about his personality. There are a host of different combinations which can be used, but the really good ones are usually the simplest and strongest and these have become pretty well established.
The square blade, iron sight is, of course, the best for target shooting as it gives such clear definition against the bull, but this is of little value for sporting purposes. It is not caught quickly in an uncertain light or against moving game. For game shooting the bead front sight is emphatically the best. Some prefer the full Jack sight, while others speak for the semi-Jack.
If the rifle is primarily for quick snap shooting at running game in thick cover, such as we experience so often when hunting whitetail deer, the full Jack is all right, but on the all-around rifle it is too large—for long shots it covers up too much of the animal. Consequently, I prefer the small bead and, as my eyes are normal, I find it quite quick enough for me. This, however, is a point which every one should decide for himself.
The material of which it is made is of next importance. There is no doubt that the ivory bead is the best and it is not as likely to give off a glint of reflection on the side nearest the sun; but on the other hand, it is not as durable as the gold bead and I, therefore, recommend the latter for the sportsman who is liable to give his rifle really rough service in out-of-the-way places.
On the sporting rifle the complicated types of globe front sight should be strenuously avoided. They have no place except on the .22 which is used at short range or on the strictly military target rifle.
The American sportsmen were quick to acknowledge the superiority of the peep back sight, and in so doing, are to a great extent ahead of the foreign riflemen, who, as a whole, still adhere to the old fashioned folding leaf express or flattop, open sight.
There are some people who are prejudiced against the peep sight and insist that they cannot use it as quickly or as accurately as they would an open sight, but I am quite convinced that this is only because they have not given it sufficient trial to become used to it. When a man has been in the habit of drawing a fine bead into a small notch, focusing these two points upon his game, it is rather disconcerting to be handed a rifle equipped with a large aperture peep sight and to be told that all he has to do is look through it, putting his front sight on his game to make a kill. It seems too easy to be possible that accurate work can be done with what appears to be such a slip-shod method, but as the human eye naturally seeks the center of a circle without effort, one is not under the same mental and physical strain to correct the aim, when an aperture sight is used, and it is consequently faster. Also, as it is usually situated on the tang strap or the receiver of the weapon, it affords a longer sighting plane which promotes accuracy.
The farther apart the sights are placed, the better for quick, accurate shooting. For the .22 calibre rifle or any small calibred sporting weapon, and for the old fashioned Schuetzen target rifle, the tang sight is the best. In this position, the sighting plane is made as long as possible. The rear sight is then within an inch or less of the eye, where the aperture is easily found but for this very reason, it is dangerous to use upon the modern, high power, sporting rifle with its heavy recoil, as it may ruin one’s eyes.
The receiver sights are therefore the best for general use and as an all-round sight for target and game shooting, those made by the Lyman Co. are unsurpassed. Not only are the receiver sights as close to the eye as is safe with a rifle which has a heavy recoil, but because of their position on the weapon, they are far stronger and are capable of standing more hard knocks in the field than the tang sight with its flimsy support possibly can.
It is my opinion that the finest rear sights ever developed for all-round use are the Lyman No. 48 Micrometer and the No. 85 Micrometer. These are two of the strongest and most reliable sights ever made. When the point-blank range is found, the sights can be positively locked so that even a bad fall would not disarrange it, and this is a good life insurance when hunting dangerous game. These sights can be attached to practically any of the modern bolt action weapons with the exception of the Mannlicher-Schoenauer. For this weapon they provide a receiver peep sight which is equally good but, unfortunately, is not as strong, due to the construction of the rifle.
Many users of the bolt action rifles favor bolt head peep sights as provided by the same company, but as there is always considerable play in the bolt, these sights are not nearly as satisfactory. They have the advantage of bringing the sight closer to the eye until the moment the trigger is pulled, then as the bolt goes forward, it carries the sight farther away from the optic, which makes it somewhat safer than the tang sight, but they are not nearly as strong and can be very easily knocked out of adjustment. In fact, due to there being considerable play in the bolts of weapons of this type, they are subject to some inaccuracy.
If one prefers an open sight, it should be of the express type and with several leaves for range elevation with a platinum line inlaid from its base up to the bottom of the V, if the V type is used. In this case a barley-comb front sight should be attached. One of the worst mistakes commonly made is to use a barley-comb sight with a U notch rear sight or a bead front with a V notch rear sight. Either is obviously wrong, as one sight will not fit into the other, but no matter which is selected, either the V or U, it should be a flat top sight and not the atrocious buck-horn which is supplied on almost all of our stock rifles as they come from the factory and which must have been designed in the interest of game preservation as it almost completely hides a running deer from view when the weapon is properly held.
The sights for the pistol or revolver should be of the simplest kind, for it should never be forgotten that the main thing in the use of the one-hand weapon is speed. Slow fire with the six gun, which is distinctly a weapon of defense to be used at short range, is of little use to anybody and is not to be encouraged as it surely will inadvertently be through the use of finely made sights. I, therefore, recommend just a simple U notch rear with a large bead front sight if any departure from the factory variety is desired. While finely adjusted target sights can be used on the out-and-out target or small game pistol, they have no place upon the military, dueling or defensive weapon.
Telescope sights are only valuable for certain phases of the shooting game. As they magnify the slightest tremor, they are excellent for preliminary practice in target shooting, though it is noteworthy that almost all of the long range military records are made with iron sights, despite the fact that the scope is generally allowed. They are of great value to the squirrel or the woodchuck hunter, as these little animals are most often partly concealed when shot at and, although the range is usually comparatively short, they afford a small mark. Under some conditions, they are also valuable for the mountain sheep or goat hunter where long shots at standing game of medium size are the rule rather than the exception, but they have no place in the moose or deer hunter’s outfit, as his shots are generally at short range and at moving game which requires quick action. The scope is not fast and is really only satisfactory for a rest shot where one has plenty of time.
If a scope is adopted for game shooting it should not be one of those with complicated adjustment such as are made in this country and which are always getting out of focus at the critical moment. It should be a universal focus scope with a strong but simple mount with channeled base, so that by dropping the head, the iron sights can be used. It should never be more than four power—this gives clear definition—a wide field and maximum illumination—higher powered scopes give very little illumination—a very narrow field of vision, so that it is hard to find an object and they magnify every tremor of the shooter. The scope should be directly over the center of the barrel, with marked adjustment of the cross hairs for elevation instead of base adjustment of the scope tube and should be without windage adjustment which is not required on a scope for game shooting. Such a scope is fool proof and will stand a lot of hard knocks such as it is sure to get. For that reason, I consider the Kahles scope, supplied with the Mannlicher-Schoenauer rifles, the best. I have one which I have given the roughest treatment, generally carrying my rifle by it, using the scope much the same as the handle of a travelling bag—and I have never had the slightest trouble with it.
The idea of a sight on a shotgun is as old as the shotgun itself and all kinds of sights have, at different times, been tried out by all kinds of sportsmen and, generally speaking, have sooner or later been discarded. We have had open notch rear sights, peep sights, individual sights for each barrel on double guns and several monstrosities. The most popular are the so-called “trapshooting” sights consisting of a rather large ivory bead at the muzzle and a smaller one midway down the rib of barrel.
It is my opinion that the average good shot will shoot just about as well at game without any sights at all on his gun as he will with them, providing that his gun fits him properly. Of course, this is not equally true of trapshooting where the aim is more deliberate.
But most good shots, I am speaking of really good field shots, do shoot more or less instinctively. We must remember that we have about a thirty-inch spread in a twelve-gauge gun and, consequently, can afford to sacrifice a small degree of accuracy to gain a little more speed. We could not expect to do such quick work on game if we had to devote even a small part of our attention to aligning the sights.
Good game shots, with the scatter gun, may be divided into two classes; those who bring up their guns ahead of the game and fire the moment the butt hits the shoulder, and those who more methodically bring up the gun behind the bird and follow through, pressing the trigger as they get the proper distance in front of their target. And it is quite safe to say that, despite the fact that there are experts in both classes, the majority of the best wing shots are among the first class or those who automatically bring their guns to bear ahead of their game on the swing with it and fire almost instantaneously. This means perfect co-ordination of gun and all of the facilities which are brought to bear in shooting. Under ideal conditions, the latter class of slower shots might improve their scores with the peep sight, but I fail to believe that the first class ever would.
The great advantage that an accurate rear sight would have lies in the fact that the majority of those that hunt do not know enough about gun fitting and do not shoot enough to really learn what their own requirements are. The average man who spends a couple of weeks a year in the shooting field, firing two or three hundred shells at game, is not shooting enough to learn what his faults are and what would best meet his requirements. Consequently, a very small minority of sportsmen shoot guns that really fit them.
As a proof of this, you can take any number of sportsmen out and have them shoot at a stationary target with their own shotgun and surprisingly few of them will be able to center their loads on the plate. And if they cannot do this with a shotgun at thirty yards at a stationary target, how many can at rapidly moving game? Fortunately, for their success in the field, the spread of the charge is wide enough, if they shoot fairly well, to get their birds into some part of the pattern.
It is this type of man who will get the greatest help from the rear sight, for it will eliminate cross firing or under shooting, due to poor alignment with an ill-fitting gun. Undoubtedly, it will be a great help for trapshooting where one is standing with the gun at the shoulder, and with good footing, generally in a clear light, with a background against which the targets will show clearly and where they are flying directly or almost directly away from him and what is more important, where the gun is brought to the shoulder and the sights are aligned properly before the target is released.
It is an easy thing to use sights on a shotgun under such conditions; it is entirely another matter to use them on a wet day in the blind or battery when you are cold and stiff, when the ducks tumble into your decoys unexpectedly and you sit up hurriedly to shoot from an uncomfortable position. It is another thing to use them in the uncertain light of early morning or dusk or when the rain or snow has clogged up the aperture, or when tramping uphill and down dale through the woods after grouse where the sunlight plays in dazzling bright spots through the uncertain shadows of your surroundings.
One does not have to try sights on a shotgun to prove this. Try them on your rifle. It is an easy thing to learn to hit tin cans or bottles in the air with a .22 rifle. You know where and when they are going to be tossed. You stand with your rifle at your shoulder and your companion tosses them up in the desired direction. Your sights are aligned beforehand and, with a little practice, you quickly learn to hit them. Try the same thing at a neighbor’s cat running down the alley, or shooting at a rabbit dodging through the briers, when your gun is brought quickly to your shoulder without any preparation, and it is entirely a different thing to align the sights on the same size object.
It is human nature for the enthusiast to go to extremes, and because some experts have recommended a sight on a shotgun for trapshooting (and it will, undoubtedly, be a great help to the average trapshooter), many sportsmen will jump to the conclusion that it will help them in the field, and, after trying to use it and meeting with little success, they may overlook its good qualities and peevishly discard it altogether.
Returning to the subject of rifle sights, I would add there are several new developments since I started to compile this book, but I do not consider any of them of sufficient value to warrant recognition.