Too old for iron sights?

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Pathfinder45

New member
I keep hearing in thread after thread about fellas that say they reluctantly have to go with a scope on their rifles that were primarily intended for iron sights because their aging vision has deteriorated to where they can't effectively make out the sights that worked so well when they were younger. I get that, and I know that a scope is the obvious remedy.

But I think that too many of us are selling out long before we should. I am about to turn 63 and have been using reading glasses for at least a decade; (I can't see very well with the d**n things, but I can hardly read or tie a hook without 'em!).
Open sights are a lot more challenging, even in good light. So it's time to upgrade, but not to a scope. Don't get me wrong, I like a good, scoped, bolt-action; but I'll be darned if I will have a scope on my lever-guns.

I am fairly sure that some folks simply must have a scope to shoot at all. I also think that better than half the people that think they need a scope have never really given good aperture sights a fair chance. Most rifles that come with iron sights could have better sights. An aperture rear sight acts like a lens and almost magically brings a blurry front sight into focus.

I think some rifles should have scopes, and some, really shouldn't. My scoped 270 is great; but I'm honestly having a lot more fun and satisfaction out of a 30-30 Winchester carbine with a Lyman tang-mounted peep sight. OK, it's not a 400 yard gun and never will be. But the sight upgrades have literally doubled its effective range; and that's with nearly 63 year old eyes.

What about you? Have you given good aperture sights a fair chance before giving in to a scope? There are really good sight options for Winchester leverguns and even more options for Marlins. Try some, and, by all means, let's not get old before our time.
 
I have and all things considered, I consider myself the world renowned expert on the situation (grin!!!! )

Ok, at one time I could and did shoot irons sights damned good. I was really good with a pistol.

Now, I can't shoot a 1903-A3 sight.

I could shoot game with them (I can't hunt anymore) but for target work of any decency by my standards of what I want and what I could do no way.

I have looked at sights inside and looked ok, at the range , no.

The one I can do ok with is a WWI Model of 1917 06 that has a rear aperture sight (peep) not great but to the limits of those guns.

It has an unusaly long barrel (26 inches) the peep is very good and all the way back, and it has a thick front sight.

And if your eyes have gone the way most of us have, that is the other issue, the front sight with a thin blade just does not work anymore.

I can sort of shoot a K-31 irons, but it has a pretty decent U rear and a 1917 like front sight.

Even back in the day the Marines fabbed up their own thick front sight blade for the 1903s they had before they gave em up for the M1 in WWII.

I would guess for the same reason. They were not trying to hit the Crossing of the X at 300 yards, they wanted a quick solid look and shot at a man out there.

Anyway , that is my view (pun) for what its worth.

You may have unusual eyes, I had to go to reading glasses when I was 45, I have bifocal as I needed distance vision fix at about 50 or so.

I am a few years older than you but have been playing with this for 8 years so I cross over your age doing so.
 
aging eyes

Been shooting all my life, I'm 58 years old , been wearing glasses (bi-focals) since I was 30, my dad was a Marine and taught me to shoot irons. typically I hunt with scoped rifles but have several with peep sights... Chester 94, Marlin 375, Sporter 308 Winchester... as long as I can hit a six inch paper plate (about 125-150 yards) I'll use irons in tight timber, but use the scoped rifles for further shooting... clear cuts, 200+ yards. Cant use buck-horn type iron sights at all any more! :eek:
 
eyes and sights

At 60, traditional bead and blade sights on a rifle are a real challenge. The shorter the barrel length, the worse the problem. Handguns just more of the same.

A peep/aperature sight certainly helps,but only to a point. The short barreled M4 carbine, and my Marlin .357 lever, both with peeps, give me serious trouble. Rifles with longer barrels and peeps, like the Garand and my Mossberg 44US target .22, are some better, but not like it used to be. A smaller aperature helped too, but you give up shooting time in dim light. In fact, even when my eyes were still darn good, I did not like the peep for evening hunts as the light faded.

I had exceptional vision, near and far, but mid-50's, it changed pretty rapidly.
Folks age differently, eyes work differently too. Some start wearing spectacles in grade school. But it can all change quickly.
 
I am 85 and [like most] use a scope on long guns. Several years ago started using red dots on handguns and liked the results. Recently on my 870 slug gun and a 45/70 lever gun tried a red dot and found my groups were better then with the old peep sight that was used for a long time.
 
I struggled with this for several years. I spoke to my eye dr and he created a prescription set of glasses for me specifically for shooting. All the difference in the world. Reading glasses may work for some but not all. Didnt work for me.
 
I have the "old eyes problem too" but I still hunt with irons. I just get closer. I have to be under 75 yards in dim light. I use peeps when I can, but on my flintlocks, both of my lever actions M-95s, my Lee 303 and my 6.5X54 Mannlicher, I still have only open iron sights. I intend to kill my antelope (3) and my deer (1) with iron sighted rifles this year if I can. I am thinking about using irons on my elk too, but I think I'll probably use a scope sighted 9.3MM on my bull. I enjoy hunting even more then shooting, so I just get close. I admit, I now take a scoped rifle along on hunts just in case I run short of time. For most of my life I only took the gun I would hunt with, even if that was just a revolver, but now I have to face facts, and the fact is I can't see as well as I did when I was younger, so I take a "cheater" along now on every hunt that makes me travel more then about 15 minutes from my home.
 
My 'close' vision began becoming 'not close' around age 40. Now, I can't bring the front sight of a rifle [or pistol] into focus without glasses.

I can still have fun. I can hit a [large- coffee] can at 100 yards with iron sighted rifle- if I do my part.

If I were to hunt, I could still probably do that in a humane fashion- as long as I worked on my stalking skills and took close shots.


However, my astigmatism makes peep sights difficult to align. My eye creates 'ghost' images, that basically create a halo around many objects. In normal both-eyes usage, my brain filters out the halo with no issues.

Yet, I've found that it seems my eye keeps struggling to figure out which image of the front sight to line up with which image of the apature circle.

I have a 25% chance of getting it wrong.


For some reason, blade/notch rear sights seem easier for my eye to decipher.


Scopes though, once set for my eyes, have none of the alignment issues: I do better with scopes.

I can hunt/defend self with iron sights.

I can still do precision/accuracy improvement with scopes.

So- it all depends on what I want.


Oh- the issue of scope on Lever Action? I understand, but I have scopes on my two Savage 99s- as they make my life more fun at the range.
 
I too have the problem of "old eyes". Have a few lever rifles all with scopes mounted. I do like the looks of a iron sighted lever rifle but it is far more important to me to accurately hit the intended target than worry about the "looks" of the rifle. Getting close just doesn't cut it for me...
 
"...prescription set of glasses..." All of 'em are impact resistant. No need for anything special as long as the lenses cover your whole eye.
The whole thing is about how you are sighted. Near or far. And after 10 years your eyes are probably worse now.
"...traditional bead and blade sights..." Lousy sights for anybody. So are the typical 'patridge' rears used by the manufacturers.
 
Fwiw he asked me how far I shoot and how far away the sights are. I gave him distances of 25 yds to 100 yds and just past arms length for pistol to 40” for rifle.
 
I think the idea of glasses specifically made for the sport is awesome! I got a pair of prescription sunglasses for shooting clays. The filters make the clays pop out there in the air!

But the fact of the matter is, I can’t find my regular glasses 90% of time. I wouldn’t want to rely on glasses in a self defense situation. Hence, my lever has a scope on it, because I could use it to save my life, as highly unlikely as that might be. But sans glasses, my Leupold Pig Plex is a work of art. At 1x magnification, it’s pretty darn fast!

Had I known of, and trusted red dots as I do now, I’d probably have put that on my lever. But I’m telling you, I can still snap shoot that lever with the scope on pretty darn fast!!
 
I am 71. No glasses, no problem with the DMV test, my vision is better than most regardless of age. I love irons (AR 15). But I got a 2.5X scope last year, not to hit the man-size target but to hit where I want to hit. When I get a Moisin I will use only irons and shoot fairly long distances at a range -- just for sh-ts and grins.
 
I made a pair of readers into a shooting glass.

I knocked the right lens out and watch the sights with my left eye and observe the target with my right eye. Have been doing it this way for close to 10 years.

Of course for you righties, do the opposite.

I learned to shoot with both eyes a long while back and I am glad I did. I wasn't planning on losing my close up vision, but we change a little every day.

I did this because I shoot a lot of handgun and still use some rifle iron sights.

Otherwise, I could either see the sights or I could see the target, but not both at the same time......unless I had a scope to look thru.
 
I've been wearing glasses or contacts since elementary school (very nearsighted), and I'll be 58 next month. I still shoot iron sights. 100 yds a lot; 200, 300, and 400 yds a good bit, 600 yds once so far. I usually shoot at silhouettes, and most of the time I put a serious hurtin' on them. The rest of the time they were startled at least. :)
 
I don't know, since I haven't experience both, but I suspect near-sightedness vs far-sightedness may result in a different perspective on the matter.
 
I found that using peep sights solved the iron sight problem for me. Try a rifle with peeps before you give up on iron sights.

Tony
 
I've had cataract problems in the past and have had both eyes lenses replaced. My distance vision with one eye, uncorrected is 20/20 and the other lens is set for about 15 inches, for reading/computers without glasses. With corrective lenses I have 20/20 in my left and 20/15 in my shooting eye, which is great!!

The front sight on iron sights is blurry as is the rear, but has been pretty good with a peep sight.

I currently don't have a rifle with peep sights and use scopes on all my rifles, but I've been shooting with scopes since 12 years old, and have used a transit in my past work, so am used to trying to see survey rods and plum bob strings under some pretty tough conditions in the woods, so rifle scopes set at 4x or lower are no problem in the woods, even on moving game.

I've also removed bolts in my rifles and practiced tracking birds flying by. After doing that, it's easier following moving animals in the woods.

It also seems easier to keep both eyes open when sighting through the scope, especially if your scope eye is dominant.
 
I'm 72 and haven't used open sight's on a hunting rifle in about 55 yrs! Got them on all my handguns and can sort of make them work and have them on om 22 RF. Give me a moment and don't be to far off with my 22 and your gonna die! Aperature sight are far superior to the standard open sight's. Best way I found to use them is to unscrew that center piece and throw it away. The the ring is always still out of focus but doesn't matter. The front sight is in focus and the target blurry. Thr light coming through the rear sight will concentrate in the center of the ring and naturally pull the front sight to the center. They are beautiful. But for anything serious I like low power scopes the best. Lucky thing for me I haven't had a lever action rifle for hunting since I was about 18 yrs old!
 
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