Who here shoots a peep sight?

[BrentD]

What is your bullet and expected hunting ranges? Be honest with yourself and use sight settings appropriately, versus for the longest imaginable shot. 100 yds is pretty realistic for almost everything anywhere, and hold over/under is generally not needed out that far, but if you are sighted at 100 and take a 125 yrs shot, you will wish you knew how much to hold over. Long range shots out to 200 are doable, but if you misestimate the wind or the yardage by more than a handful of yards (single digits), you will wound or miss. And holding under for close sights is very hard sometimes.

As for aperture size, go with the largest possible including, possibly, no aperture at all - just the hole it screws into. But do some shooting with whatever you choose so that you are confident. By choosing the largest, you will gain a few minutes on the beginning and end of each day.

I prefer my rifles sighted for the bullet landing exactly where the top of the front sight was when the trigger broke. 6 o'clock holds are for bullseyes at known distance, only.

There are a lot of front sight options. A very thick post works quite well, actually. Most people who do not like them have not used them. I like a moderately fat post or a bead. Before my eyes went down hill, I favored a very thin crosswire front sight. It all "just depends", and it will depend most when the light is down. If your front globe allows inserts, you do a lot of things, including combining multiple front sight inserts.

 

[CowboyLeroy]

What is your bullet and expected hunting ranges? Be honest with yourself and use sight settings appropriately, versus for the longest imaginable shot. 100 yds is pretty realistic for almost everything anywhere, and hold over/under is generally not needed out that far, but if you are sighted at 100 and take a 125 yrs shot, you will wish you knew how much to hold over. Long range shots out to 200 are doable, but if you misestimate the wind or the yardage by more than a handful of yards (single digits), you will wound or miss. And holding under for close sights is very hard sometimes.

As for aperture size, go with the largest possible including, possibly, no aperture at all - just the hole it screws into. But do some shooting with whatever you choose so that you are confident. By choosing the largest, you will gain a few minutes on the beginning and end of each day.

I prefer my rifles sighted for the bullet landing exactly where the top of the front sight was when the trigger broke. 6 o'clock holds are for bullseyes at known distance, only.

There are a lot of front sight options. A very thick post works quite well, actually. Most people who do not like them have not used them. I like a moderately fat post or a bead. Before my eyes went down hill, I favored a very thin crosswire front sight. It all "just depends", and it will depend most when the light is down. If your front globe allows inserts, you do a lot of things, including combining multiple front sight inserts.

Thanks for taking the time to put together such a write up, I use a 300 grain Barnes expander over 77gn/w of bh209. Using a scope i had it zeroed at 150 but I don't think that's terribly realistic for me. A big part of switching to open sights was how appealing the idea of hunting off the ground, and hunting thicker cover. Something more challenging than sitting in a tree stand on a field edge.

 

[Nick87]

Thanks for taking the time to put together such a write up, I use a 300 grain Barnes expander over 77gn/w of bh209. Using a scope i had it zeroed at 150 but I don't think that's terribly realistic for me. A big part of switching to open sights was how appealing the idea of hunting off the ground, and hunting thicker cover. Something more challenging than sitting in a tree stand on a field edge.

You ll be flat enough shooting with that load that your probably gonna run out of good eyesight before it starts dropping much. At least that's been my experience.

 

[BrentD]

Thanks for taking the time to put together such a write up, I use a 300 grain Barnes expander over 77gn/w of bh209. Using a scope i had it zeroed at 150 but I don't think that's terribly realistic for me. A big part of switching to open sights was how appealing the idea of hunting off the ground, and hunting thicker cover. Something more challenging than sitting in a tree stand on a field edge.

Now you are talking. I remember when I came out of the trees for the last time and really enjoyed being back at eye level again. My favorite way to hunt is to have handful of places to sit and wait and still hunt from one to the next, spending maybe 20 minutes or even a hour before moving on. Keeps my attention span up and makes for a lot better experience - for me at least.

Good luck.

 

[F250]

I recently inherited a Savage Model 99 in .300 Savage. It has a peep sight. I intended to use it this past fall. I just figured out how to remove the rear sight as it was in the way of the peep. Now ready to roll ! I shot my first buck with a Remington 760 with a peep (1976). I also carried a M-14 duty rifle with a peep for a few years. With some practice rifles with peep sights can be incredibly accurate.

 

[CowboyLeroy]

Thanks for the answers fellas. I'm pretty excited about taking the training wheels off, I wish I'd made this decision a year ago

 

[BrentD]

I recently inherited a Savage Model 99 in .300 Savage. It has a peep sight. I intended to use it this past fall. I just figured out how to remove the rear sight as it was in the way of the peep. Now ready to roll ! I shot my first buck with a Remington 760 with a peep (1976). I also carried a M-14 duty rifle with a peep for a few years. With some practice rifles with peep sights can be incredibly accurate.

99s are just plain cool.

There are 2 other ways you might use your 99s rear aperture. You could set your barrel sights for 100 yds or even closer and the set the aperture for double that or more. The normal Savage peep.is pretty safe when folded down. I do this with several rifles like my "flat shooting") .38-55 Marlin.

Another way is to use the aperture as a clarifier. If you are older and your eyes are not what they once were, set it up so you can see the barrel and front sights through it and they should become much clearer due to a pin-hole camera effect. I think the Germans, in particular, did this a lot, but I defer to @Ben Lamb for better info.

 

[Wolfshead]

Occasionally

 

[shannerdrake]

As BrentD pointed out, with a muzzleloader I think the bigger aperture and most visible front sight are advantageous. I run out of light and the ability to see and place the front sight before I run out of accuracy.

Small apertures and front sights are good for punching small groups in paper on sunny days. They do not excel in my experience shooting animals in real life.

 

[typhoon916]

I shoot 1 on my ML and have got 2 deer so far ..

 

[Dougfirtree]

I keep one on my Rem 7600 and use it for hunting on really snowy or rainy days when keeping a scope clear is going to be a pain in the butt. For years, I used a Williams peep and took out the aperture to make the field of view bigger. This year, I replaced it with a Skinner peep and this thing is vastly superior! I'm glad I switched.

 

[CowboyLeroy]

A had a few minutes to spare on my lunch break, I had some 260 grain harvesters in a bag in the truck. The 260s shot low and right. Low enough that I've run out of elevation and they're still just a tad low, do you guys know of a shim system, or maybe a different height peep?

 

[Nick87]

A had a few minutes to spare on my lunch break, I had some 260 grain harvesters in a bag in the truck. The 260s shot low and right. Low enough that I've run out of elevation and they're still just a tad low, do you guys know of a shim system, or maybe a different height peep?

I've never done it but a lot of guys will c UT a piece of aluminum pop can for a shim. Seems to be a problem for many.

 

[wytex]

Picked up this 32 Special yesterday at the gun show, made in 1957 and looking forward to taking it out this Fall. We like peeps on lever actions.

 

[CowboyLeroy]

I've never done it but a lot of guys will c UT a piece of aluminum pop can for a shim. Seems to be a problem for many.

Do you know if they were able to use the same screws?

 

[Nick87]

Do you know if they were able to use the same screws?

I think so, if I remember right @Mallardsx2 had this dillema. Maybe he will chime in on that.

 

[Mallardsx2]

I think so, if I remember right @Mallardsx2 had this dillema. Maybe he will chime in on that.

@CowboyLeroy

The Williams peep I put on my kids cva wolf v2 ended up being quite a debacle…

I was 6” high at 50 yards and I was out of “down slope” travel on the rear sight.

I looked into shimming the front sight and just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

So….

I called Willian’s gun sight and explained the situation. They sent me a new rear sight ramp that was lower to the barrel. The guy at Williams was pretty nice and understanding. He sent me new screws as well because if I recall all of the screws were too long.

I’m in Texas right now but when I get home in a few days I will look to see if I have the other ramp. I’m pretty sure I put it in my “treasure chest of sight nonsense”.

If I do, I’ll send it to you in the mail because it’s likely the ramp you need because it was too high for her setup.

As far as shimming goes, I just can’t Jerry rig something that I bought to make it work unless it’s literally the only option.

I likely have the screws you need too but I’ll have to check.

I think I had to use the belt sander to make a couple screws work and I went heavy on the lol-tite when I finally figured out wth would work.

Let’s take this offline and I’ll get some measurements with the calipers so I know that it will work for you.

I would be glad to help you unless you want to go straight to the source.

That’s a lot to take in but know this…
It wasn’t plug and play like I had anticipated.

Oh and I had to get a much smaller rear aperture to sight the gun in because my eyes arnt what they used to be. Lol

 

[shannerdrake]

Do you know if they were able to use the same screws?

I’ve done it on two rifles. One needed a single layer of beer can shim. One needed two layers. Both were fine with supplied Williams screws. I believe the sights came with a couple lengths of screws so I was able to use the longest one that would work.

Once you get it close, pull the sight off and degrease sight, barrel, shim, and screw. Probably overkill, but I put a dab of loctite in the screw hole, smear some on the barrel, screw some on the top of the shim and then torque it all down the let it sit horizontal in my gun vise for 24 hours. I personably believe that the loctite on the horizontal surfaces in addition to the screw threads acts as a bedding agent and gives a more solid lockup.

 

[BrentD]

Many front sides come in different heights. The Lyman 17A globe is a prime example. Sometimes we have to do a little arithmetic. But that's why we all took geometry years ago. If you I bought that in a store from a knowledgeable store owner, as was common back in the day, you would have had these things pointed out to you before you make your purchase. But progress marches on and it's always better. Ha ha

 

[CowboyLeroy]

@CowboyLeroy

The Williams peep I put on my kids cva wolf v2 ended up being quite a debacle…

I was 6” high at 50 yards and I was out of “down slope” travel on the rear sight.

I looked into shimming the front sight and just couldn’t bring myself to do it.

So….

I called Willian’s gin sight and explained the situation. They sent me a new rear sight ramp that was lower to the barrel. The guy at Williams was pretty nice and understanding. He sent me new screws as well because if I recall all of the screws were too long.

I’m in Texas right now but when I get home in a few days I will look to see if I have the other ramp. I’m pretty sure I put it in my “treasure chest of sight nonsense”.

If I do, I’ll send it to you in the mail because it’s likely the ramp you need.because it was too highl for her setup.

As far as shimming goes, I just can’t Jerry rig something that I bought to make it work unless it’s literally the only option.

I likely have the screws you need too but I’ll have to check.

I think I had to use the belt sander to make a couple screws work and I went heavy on the lol-tite when I finally figured out wth would work.

Let’s take this offline and I’ll get some measurements with the calipers so I know that it will work for you.

I would be glad to help you unless you want to go straight to the source.

That’s a lot to take in but know this…
It wasn’t plug and play like I had anticipated.

Oh and I had to get a much smaller rear aperture to sight the gun in because my eyes arnt what they used to be. Lol

Man I really appreciate that. I'm not quite through but if I do run into problems I'll definitely get in touch with you