why no hard sights?

M

mo84

New member
I see alot of rifles in the store that look like they would be nice but have no hard sights. Is it really that hard to manufacture it with a set of sights. I just can not see myself ever buying a rifle without a set of sights. What would you do if the scope just happened to break in the woods, I have hit trees with my shot gun pretty hard walking through the woods (thickets) in the dark morning. I guess you just have to really watch what your doing when a scope if the only option you have. Also, could you have a set of sights mounted by a gun smith?
 
A Gunsmith can install the iron sights of your choice . I like Patridge sights [ square front and square notch] or ghost ring rear with square front..
 
I never see myself buying a rifle with iron sights. I don't use them. Never have. 34 years of shooting/hunting and never had a scope problem in the field.
 
I can understand how somone might not ever use sights but where I hunt I cannot take long shots anyhow. I am happy to hear that iron sights can be attached as that will allow me to buy a bigger variety of rifles in the future.
 
cost

Most are never used. It is cheaper to make them without. I take them off my guns with scope to prevent them from catching on vines and limbs.
 
Never had a scope break. Okay, one did, in a way; held point of aim, but wouldn't adjust. Anyhow, I had another rifle with me on that prairie dog shoot. But lotsa rifles over many a decade and zero problems. For serous hunting with my old eyebones, a scope is pretty much a necessity, anyway.
 
It probably is all about what the customers want and use and the cost of manufacture. The corporate bottom line probably trumps the iron sights and I think the average shooter generally opts for optics anymore.

I'm a huge fan of aperture rear sights and blade front sights and do most of my hunting and competetive shooting with such a set up.

I did have a scope fail on me while hunting in Australia once and I've had one fail on my SWS while on operations, but that was due more to a rough insertion rather than a scope defect. Back when we used the M-21 SWS, the Leatherwood scopes often failed and we tried to get the few original Redfield 3 X 9 ART scopes for our rifles as they were more reliable.
 
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Hello, mo84. At one time, all sporting rifles were drilled and tapped for reciever sights as well as coming equiped with precision made brl. mounted sights. Sadly, the few that are mounted today are mostly cheap junk.
Yes these sights can be mounted on your rifle..high quality Redfield, or Lyman appature sights are still to be found. In my mind, there is a finished look to a fine rifle with a hooded ramp front.
 
In over half century of big game hunting I never had a scope break. If I were to have a rifle made it would not have iron sights.

Jerry
 
It probably is all about what the customers want and use and the cost of manufacture. The corporate bottom line probably trumps the iron sights and I think the average shooter generally opts for optics anymore.
Click to expand...

The above statement pretty much sums up the reason why manufactures no longer install good sights on their rifles.

However I would rather purchase my rifles with good sights already installed.
It's a lot easier to remove the sights to mount a scope if one does not want the sights on the rifle then it is to mount sights on a rifle that never had any to begin with.

I'm also a big fan of aperture sights.

Best Regards
Bob Hunter
www.huntercustoms.com
 
As stated above I too have been shooting scoped rifles on big game for almost 30 years and have never had a scope problem. I prefer that my rifles not have sights on them, it saves me the time of taking them off! But to each his own, and if you like them there are some out there, you just have to look a little harder.
 
I have not had a scope break, but I did take a good fall with a scoped rifle in my hand, and it knocked the POA off by about 3MOA. Found that out later at the range. In the field, it ended that day of hunting.

I was varmit hunting, so irons would not have saved that trip.

But my deer rifle is an older Rem 700 that came WITH iron sights. It wears a scope, but I check the irons every season.

Yes, I'm a fan of irons and scopes together, if the irons are workable for the mission.
 
One thing to keep in mind also is that the stock configuration on many rifles these days does not lend itself usefull for ironed sighted shooting. Take a bolt action rifle that came with no sights and try and look down the barrel with no scope mounted. You will find it dificult because the stock on the rifle dosent have the propper drop, required for iron sight shooting. Americans just dont use them as much as they used too.
 
I've had more iron sights fail to work than scopes. Modern scopes are pretty rugged and make shooting under all conditions easier. I have no use for iron sights on any of my rifles.

You could have irons installed, but good ones will cost you more than a good scope. That is why you don't see them installed anymore from the factory. They stopped putting good irons on rifles decades ago and the cheap ones were not worth the effort.
 
Since my eyes got older (have to use reader's now) iron sights are pretty much worthless to me. All the rifles are scoped and "knock on wood" I have never damaged a scope and that includes a rifle falling from a 15 ft. tree stand. The nice walnut stock didn't fare too well but the scope was fine:mad:

I have actually removed the iron sights from a couple of older rifles because they interfered with scope mounting.
 
I like irons, just because.
I wanted irons on my light rifle, so I got a CZ 527M.
Then I wanted a scope, but the one I had had a bell to wide. I also wanted an adjustable rear iron sight.
Voila! A gunsmith buddy made a mount and put on a Marbles adjustable folding rear sight. Me likee.

final1.jpg


scopebellandfoldingsight.jpg


Next scope should clear it by a bit more. ;)
 
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