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View Full Version : Bolt guns--no BUIS



iakdrago
04-22-2012, 12:57 PM
I'm considering putting together a precision rifle chambered in .308. Having shot firearms that always had iron sights, the lack of them leaves me wanting for that warm fuzzy feeling that i get knowing that even if my other sighting option goes down, i'm not left with a metal club in my hands. Could someone with more experience in that department could outline the benefits of precision rifle without iron sights? The only issue that i see is that you could mount the optic lower, and not have interference from the front sight. However when i shoot my AR with an optic, the front sight bloc completely disappears under any sort of magnification.

The inspiration came from reading memoirs of Russian partizan snipers from wwii. Granted, they used any rifle that was available to them. However, given that i have more options at my disposal, i would like to start tinkering away on the concept.

GJM
04-22-2012, 07:31 PM
Here are the reserve sight options I am aware of:

1) Open sights on the barrel.

2) Jim Brockman's pop-up aperture sight, that sits below the rear scope ring, combined with a front sight.

3) Aperture sight carried in a small pouch on the shooting sling that screws onto the rear scope base, when scope is removed, combined with front sight.

4) Second zeroed scope in QD rings.

5) T1 carried as a reserve sight.

secondstoryguy
04-22-2012, 08:37 PM
Here are the reserve sight options I am aware of:

1) Open sights on the barrel.

2) Jim Brockman's pop-up aperture sight, that sits below the rear scope ring, combined with a front sight.

3) Aperture sight carried in a small pouch on the shooting sling that screws onto the rear scope base, when scope is removed, combined with front sight.

4) Second zeroed scope in QD rings.

5) T1 carried as a reserve sight.

Solid advise. The Brockman pop ups were too high for me and the workmanship was so/so but YMMV. I have tried all of the above and keep going back to #1. I put the excellent NECG(New England Custom Gunworks) banded front and fully adjustable rears on all my bolt guns. The H-1/T-1 on the front mount/bridge is my second choice. I have found Warne QD rings to be very repeatable and have had good luck with them(the levers do need to be dehorned though).

iakdrago
04-24-2012, 04:06 PM
I apologize, i guess i was not very clear. My question dealt with why don't people keep/want iron sights on precision rifles. Most that i have seen were completely sightless besides the optic.

part-time shooter
04-24-2012, 04:28 PM
Precision rifles, by definition, are built to engage targets at long range. They are next to useless inside 50 yards or at least very poorly suited to any task at those ranges. In the case of precision rifle use I can't think of a time I would fall back on using iron sights to make a long range shot. I'd fix my rifle or use a backup rifle before using iron sights on a precision rifle, if you can even find a set to properly fit a custom built heavy barrel precision rifle that allows you to confidently take a shot at the same ranges. I've never looked actually. Inside 50 yards I'm swapping guns, beyond 50 if my precision gun is down I'll skip making an attempt at a shot using irons until my rifle is able to do so.

secondstoryguy
04-24-2012, 07:40 PM
They've put removable iron sights on several military precision rifles. Both the Army's M24 and the Accuracy International both have removable iron sights available and they are generally issued with the rifle. As far as usefulness, well I guess it's better than nothing. A good scope such as a Schmidt and Bender or Nightforce is highly unlikely to fail under even the hardest use, if it does god simply doesn't like you. Although I know guys train to use the irons on the M24 and I've heard they work well for what they are(really nice Palma type sights), I have only heard one story about someone using the iron sights in combat on the M24...It was raining really hard and his scope was useless.

iakdrago
04-27-2012, 03:51 PM
Thank you everyone for your input.