A little while I got the urge to the scope off my 45 year old FWB124 Sport deluxe and go back to irons. I have probably had one of the Beeman blue ribbon scope on it for probably 42 of that 45 years. I went through my box of old gun parts and found a Williams receiver sight made for the air rifle dovetails and an aftermarket globe sight that also fits the barrel dovetails. Put them on and since it was lightly raining and did not want to fool with paper targets, boxes to get wet. stuck a tin can about 30 feet from the front door and started shooting offhand. I was surprised to get about a 1.5 inch group nicely centered on the can. It's amazing, too me, how much quicker and easier the gun handles with the irons than with a scope. Years ago with these sights I made the longest kill ever with an air gun, I knocked a crow out of a tree at about 60 yards, probably a luck shot.
Fun with iron sights.
- Thread starter jkingrph
- Start date
Back in the day I had the plain Jane sport 124 with a Beeman Williams sight. I could hit just about anything with it. (of course my eyes were younger then) I set my Sheridan up with a globe front and a peep rear and love it for short range stuff.
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Personally, I prefer the Williams/Beeman Peep on a 124 for all the reasons above and more. IMO, the rifle looks sleeker and proportional in that configuration.
Acquisition of the target is paramount when hunting or pesting. A scope may provide enhanced vision but at the cost of speed of acquisition. This is usually the root cause of missed opportunity.
Furthermore, it's way more challenging to target shoot using open sites. Therefore the satisfaction of a great group is even more enjoyable.
Just as shooting Springers makes you a better shooter, using open sites improves shooting skill.
Acquisition of the target is paramount when hunting or pesting. A scope may provide enhanced vision but at the cost of speed of acquisition. This is usually the root cause of missed opportunity.
Furthermore, it's way more challenging to target shoot using open sites. Therefore the satisfaction of a great group is even more enjoyable.
Just as shooting Springers makes you a better shooter, using open sites improves shooting skill.
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I also enjoy shooting iron sights. Scopes have that magnification which certainly helps but with irons the target does not bounce around as much. Plus the rifle is lighter and handier without the scope.
For these reasons I always have one air rifle set up for open sights. I prefer a peep sight like the Williams.
For these reasons I always have one air rifle set up for open sights. I prefer a peep sight like the Williams.
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I have irons (& peeps) on several springers and one pumper.
Avanti 499b
Daisy Model 25, Variant #7
Diana52
FWB300S
HW35
Sheridan C9a
I used open sights with my first Model 25 (1958-2005) and peeps in the Air Force..
I don’t have any sights on my 60lb longbow...
Avanti 499b
Daisy Model 25, Variant #7
Diana52
FWB300S
HW35
Sheridan C9a
I used open sights with my first Model 25 (1958-2005) and peeps in the Air Force..
I don’t have any sights on my 60lb longbow...
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It definitely looks sleeker. and like Moog said the target does not bounce around, or at least is not evident since relative movement is not magnified. I also have the peep sights on my 300s, never have changed them or tried a scope. A scope is more accurate for shooting from a bench. I honestly do not think a scope would have helped back in my college days when we were shooting 50' smallbore match using double aperture sights, when the "10" was about the size of a period at the end of this sentence, well maybe a little larger, but still small. Rain stopped so I took it and my fancy tin can back out. I was shooting about 25 yards again offhand, standing, at a soup can and in 20 shots never missed. I don't think I would have done that well even with the scope set on the low 3x setting, I would have been trying to chase the target bounce too much.
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I have various kinds of sport or match aperture sights on most of my rifles.
I collect mostly older, lower-powered springers, and to me peeps are ideally suited to those. My biggest issue with a scope is, as mentioned above, what it does to balance and handling - many classics were designed with great care to handle well, and having the mass of a scope high on the rear of the gun does not help at all.
There are a range of helpful accessories available, too, the most important in my experience being some sort of adjustable-opening eye disk. There are also polarizers, colored filters, and low-mag clarifying lenses that can be a help.
Sights without much magnification also keep me from being tempted to take shots at ranges I really shouldn't, LOL...
I collect mostly older, lower-powered springers, and to me peeps are ideally suited to those. My biggest issue with a scope is, as mentioned above, what it does to balance and handling - many classics were designed with great care to handle well, and having the mass of a scope high on the rear of the gun does not help at all.
There are a range of helpful accessories available, too, the most important in my experience being some sort of adjustable-opening eye disk. There are also polarizers, colored filters, and low-mag clarifying lenses that can be a help.
Sights without much magnification also keep me from being tempted to take shots at ranges I really shouldn't, LOL...
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new england air gun had a iron sight option that would work on impacts last time i looked. pic. mount with rail that ran out over barrel for front sight 90 bucks
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G
Guest
Guest
Just yesterday I took down the D48 and pulled the SWFA 10x off it. I'm going to shoot it with irons hence forth. I seriously need some unsupported practice.
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