Practical open sight accuracy/distance

C

Cheapshooter

New member
Sunnycoast, this one's for you. Might lead to the answer you were looking for. I really don't think you meant a target with a 30 meter radius. Maybe a target within a 30 meter radius.

Myself, even with these well "seasoned" eyes, I can hit with regularity that proverbial "pie pan" circle @ 100 yards with my Thudy-Thudy lever gun Adequate enough in the mind of many to put venison on the table.
Now with some spiffy 700 SP whatever I'm thinkin' I could do better.:D
 
I think it depends on the persons eyes, weather conditions, and sight radius.

Using a peep sight significantly increases the chances of hitting at longer distances. Aren't there competitions at 600 yards or 600 meters where people shoot opensights at a 6 foot target. I guess it just depends what is meant by accuracy.
 
From a good solid field prone position, it's possible to shoot about 2MOA with peep sights. That requires a good gun and a good shooter. From a bench you can do 1MOA or better with sufficiently fine grained irons.
 
cow bell target

I have a commercial cowbell type .22 target set out in the field across from the house at what lasers at 100 yds, and we shoot at it regularly. I''d guess the cowbell is maybe 4x8", perhaps a tad bigger. As part of the game, I have a Mossberg 44US with peep sights zeroed for cowbell shoots.

Typically, we'd shoot at the bell from crosslegged sitting, looped up in a GI sling. I could hit that bell 70-80% of the time. I don't think I ever went 10 for 10, but I picked up a 9 once in while. My eyes have now slipped a bit,and I cannot maintain a true cross legged seat for very long...I go about 50% or less on the bell these days with the 44US and peep sights.

As noted by LlamaBob, with good ammo and decent sights, accuracy from a bench with peep can be quite good. I could manage 2 MOA with my GI Garands and select ammo from the bench, and had the good fortune to be issued an M14 as an RM rifle that could shoot an honest 1-1.5 MOA with factory W-W 168 gr match ammo. (all at 100 yds) Achieving that accuracy took younger eyes, plenty of time for each shot, and a target big enough to establish the same hold for every shot. Typically I would shoot at a 9" paper pie plate, or a standard sheet of typing/printer paper, and perch the target on the very top of the front blade/sight.

I lost my ability to shoot blade and bead irons first, then slowly began to see accuracy with peep sights degrade as well. For my best shooting, I now use a scope on about all my rifles.
 
Practical open sight distance depends on the type of sights and the ballistics of the cartridge.

Something with an easily adjusted rear sight like a Garand or A2 style AR-15 is good to 600 yards/meters quite easily when shooting 30-06 or 223. A 22 match rifle will also have an easily adjustable rear sight, but is clearly not a three hundred meter rifle. Something with a harder to adjust rear sight, or one with much coarser adjustments it is probably only practical to shoot within the "max point blank range" of the round in question.

So it really depends.

Jimro
 
"Practical open sight Accuracy"

A V notch in the middle of a barrel on a rifle is not too good for me. I can't see the rear sight even with progressive lenses. I do use a merrit optical thing to see pistol sights better.

I shoot lots of Iron sight (peep and globe or post) matches, but no rifle open sight matches.

Open sight accuracy is only good for woods hunting distance for me. I have one gun, a 22-410 that has that open sight in the middle of the barrel. Even my 222/20 has a williams Peep. Tech Sights on my Ruger 10-22.

David
 
I spent an hour or so last weekend "wasting" 100 rounds of 158gr .38 spc trying to ding a roughly 4'x1' steel plate at 400 yards. Hardest part was being able to spot the puff of dust where my short ones landed. At the end the closest I got was about 6" to the right with one round and 6" low with my last one.

Went back out yesterday and "wasted" 50 rounds of .357 doing the same thing, but I didn't really get any closer. Holdover was less but it was a bit windier.

I can hit a 5" clay at 100 first shot and at 200 on the second or third, and a paper plate at 300 on the second or third shot, but the steel at 400 seems to be elusive. At least for me with a revolver caliber 16" carbine and open sights, for some reason.

There's plenty enough lag between shot and hit to hear it, and eventually I'll get a lucky one and hear that clang. That's all I'm really looking for.
 
A V notch in the middle of a barrel isn't good for anybody. A peep on the other hand, will do nicely. Even with full grown eyes. Assuming there's enough light.
Spiffy Rem M700 SPS' don't come with irons. You'd have to add 'em.
"...competitions at 600..." Yep. And it goes up to at least 800 or more. The 'bull' is 24" on a 6 x 6 target frame at 600.
 
IIRC Simho Hayha was quite effective with just iron sights. Lighting conditions are quite important, I once made a big batch of targets for indoor use using once copied paper, found the paper was too white, too much glare, too hard too see. Went to tan paper, BIG improvement. I have read that some shooters, especially those who wear reading glasses, have pairs ground especially for shooting, determine the best for focusing on the sights.
 
A read of NRA High Power Rifle Rules gives a complete breakdown of target dimensions used in Service Rifle competition using open sights. Targets are all standardized, for example the 800, 900, & 1,000 yard target, NRA No. LR:

Aiming Black (inches) Rings in White (inches)
X ring .................................10.00
10 ring ................................20.00
9 ring ..................................30.00
8 ring ..................................44.00
7 ring ..................................60.00
6 area .................................72x72 square

Ron
 
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