Backup sights on scoped guns. What have you done?

[Tycer]

I have had a scope fail and not had a backup on a gun with no iron sights. I have recently fixed the backup problem on that one and the rest of my guns.

My '70s Win 94 wears a Weaver side mount on the left side and a Williams 5D on the right.
My Marlin XS7 just got drilled and tapped for a Williams FP ( front sight is .850" Lyman 17)
My BLR takedown has an XS Low Weaver Backup ( again, very tall front sight, Skinner patridge). I removed the lower recoil pad screw and added a pin to the stock. I can now just lift the lower edge of the recoil pad and twist the pad to retrieve the sight from the hollow already in the stock for the stock bolt.
My AK has a TWS Dogleg Rail rear cover we just drilled and tapped 8-40 for a Skinner Lo-Pro
My Ruger 10/22 also wears a Skinner Lo-Pro we just drilled and tapped into the rear wall of the receiver and a flat milled for the lock screw.

What do you do on your scoped guns?

[Griff]

I don't. Scoped guns are just that, scoped, the others aren't. If a backup is thought necessary, then it's a backup GUN!

[Streetstar]

If a backup is thought necessary, then it's a backup GUN!

.

Lol. If I am in a box blind, I keep my 1894 44 mag marlin w open sights handy in case the scope on my Guide Gun gets unhappy. If I am ground hunting or using an open stand though, the scope comes off by turning a couple of big knobs on the weaver base and I am back to open sights. Has never happened though, even though the scope is an inexpensive Simmons it has held up well (but the thought has crossed my mind)

[Tycer]

Well Griff, I certainly did not expect my scope to fail, but sometimes they just can't take the abuse hunters dish out. It ended my hunt for that day and my cornflakes were certainly wet on. Not going to happen again. I did have a backup gun for the next day, but the only animal seen was with a broke scoped gun in my hand and a bit too far for a guesstimate shot.

[Pete44ru]

.

An elegant solution would be the Talley peep: http://www.talleymanufacturing.com/cgi- ... y_recnum=4





A practical solution would be the XS Rail w/sights: http://www.xssights.com/index.php?nID=s ... copemounts




And/or the E.Arthur Brown rail : http://www.eabco.com/Muzzleloader03.htm (The round base for the Vortek can fit many round top receivers)



For those with Scout-scoped rifles, if the forward/short rail is used ILO the newer long/full-length rail, an XS peep is easily mounter behind the rearmost end of the rail - as I did with my Scout-scoped .44 Marlin 1894P with the XS LeverScout rail & an XS top-mount peep in the rear scope mount holes.






.

[Malamute]

If bolt guns dont have sights, I have a Williams Shorty ramp installed by screwing and sweating, and use a sourdough front sight. I like the Redfields, but will take a Burris if I dont have any Redfields around. Both can be found in parts boxes at gun shows. The Redfields are milled from stock I believe, the Burris are cast, I broke one once.

Barrel sights are OK, but receiver sights are far better. I've had several rifles drilled and tapped for Lyman No 57 sights. After sighting in and setting the stop screws and zero plate I keep the slide in my gear, or better yet, inlet a spot under the butt plate for it so its always with the rifle. With a Leatherman or Swiss Army Knife I can get the butt pad off and retrieve the sight. Been thinking of dilling a hole and keeping a firing pin under the butt plate on my favorite guns also.

I dont have blank slides for the Lymans, anybody have any blank slides or know where to get some? I have steel and aluminum Lymans.

I had a plan to build a rear sight for a Ruger m-77 from a ring base and a 1903-A3 rear sight. My local gunsmith got really flaky about getting anything done, so that project came to a halt. Seemed like a good idea anyway.

[3leggedturtle]

On all of my Contender carbine barrels I have open sights mounted. On my 24" 30/30 I had it d+t'ed for the William peep sight and the scope mount base, mounts 1" ahead of the peep.

[piller]

The scoped gun that recently failed me has no sights on it. It is the only firearm I have without open sights, and may be the last.

[Old Ironsights]

My Savage 99 is scoped... BUT I also keep the Receiver Sight in a bag if the scope goes wonky. All I have to do is remove the scope & rear mount & reinstall the receiver sight...



One of those little annoyances on the Savage... but I could add a barrel sight I suppose.

[3leggedturtle]

O I , what make model# is that peep on your 99?

[J Miller]

I will not buy a rifle without sights. Period, not in a million years.

I did receive one some years ago for my birthday. Beings I wanted sights on it I started an odyssey of trying to get them installed. Only to the ruination of the rifle in my no so humble opinion.
My rifle now has a set of irons on it that are useable although they are tilted a bit.
I've never put the scope back on it, and I've only fired a box of ammo from it to verify the sights are straight enough to use. I'll probably never shoot it again.

When it comes to rifles without sights I have learned my lesson. I will never buy one, and if I ever receive one as a gift again, I will quietly sell it to somebody else.

Joe

[Old Ironsights]

O I , what make model# is that peep on your 99?

It's a Lyman 57 SB.

Here's one for $80 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lyman-57SB-99-S ... 1157157087?

[L_Kilkenny]

I'm with Griff, my guns either have scopes or they have irons. Rarely both.

Then again, I've never been to a hunting spot that was farther than 30 miles from the nearest place to buy a replacement and 10 min or less from a place to sight in.

I've busted irons, never a scope and if it happens civilization comes up with pretty quick replacements.

[jkbrea]

I replaced the factory sites with the XS ghost sights and the rail. My scope pops on and off with the Leupold quick release mounts. Works great. I can hunt the timber with just the open sights or attach the scope in a few seconds and it will stay zeroed. Aside from that, my bolt rifles have no backup sights.

[AJMD429]

I've never been to a hunting spot that was farther than 30 miles from the nearest place to buy a replacement and 10 min or less from a place to sight in.

I've busted irons, never a scope and if it happens civilization comes up with pretty quick replacements.

Same here, I've had just as many 'iron' failures as scope failures, and my hunting is even closer - I don't think I've ever hunted deer farther than 500 yards from my house.

On the other hand, with a 'homestead defense' firearm, I think backup-sights would be mandatory, whatever system you're using. I like a Burris Fastfire-II with a LaserMax blinking laser on my 'Night Scout' levergun(s), but if they BOTH broke at once, they come off quickly to expose the ghost-ring iron sights.

[Old Ironsights]

One of the nice things about "sightless" over-railed guns is the ability to sight in then swap out multiple sets of sights - either Optical or Iron.

Some of these new "flat top" sightless ARs are a case in point.

If I were to acquire a Flat Top the FIRST thing I would buy would be TWO sets of THESE:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Genuine-Mag ... 4737560%26

Not because I could fold them down on the gun, but because a folded set would not take up much space in my kit bag.

At any rate, not having a spare set of sights when it's totally possible to maintain a reasonable "minute of kill-zone" accuracy even with removable sights is just dumb.

[cas]

[Old Ironsights]

[Malamute]

The angled backup sights on the AR may look goofy, but Jerry Miculek does pretty good work with a holo sight so mounted beside his scope. He can transition pretty quickly for close or longer shots just by angling the gun slightly.

[Lastmohecken]

My combat guns all have back up Irons, my Winchester levers all have open or receiver sights, but my scoped sporters do not generally have back up irons, because I want them light and snag free, and since I prefer low powered scopes, I don't like the blur of the front sight in my scope.

Frankly, I see little need for back up sights on a hunting rifle, because I always use the best mounts and a high quality scope. Being cheap on a scope is the main reason one might need back up irons, on most hunting rifles. Although if I hunted in a lot of rainy weather, I might want a back up set of irons, but frankly I prefer to grab one of my iron sighted leveractions for that kind of hunting to start with.

Save the Tascos, Simmons, and cheap Bushnells for the .22 rifles, a good gun deserves a good scope.

[cas]

Nothing goofy about em, that's my rifle. The system works great, they're not really "back ups" or just for close range.

[El Chivo]

My Winchesters don't have scopes, but my Marlins now all have tang sights and scopes with Weaver detachable rings. I was making use of that today - took my 336's out, shot them at 100 with scopes and then shot 35 Rem at 200 using the tang sight. 15-20 seconds to take off the scope. And when it goes back on it's still within the bullseye. Only downside is you have to have a coin.

This feature helps if you want to shoot two different loads in the same gun. That was my intent, but only one load is proving worthwhile. Still it was handy to remove the scope and switch to long range shoot'n.

One thing I did do while hunting with this - put on the scope at first light, then when it's daytime, take off the scope and put it in the backpack (I find scopes a little awkward to climb or bushwack with). Then put it back on at dusk.

[M. M. Wright]

At one time Redfield made a mount that had a flip-up peep on the back of it. Had one on a Remington 660 in 6mm with a weaver 4X on top. The Weaver got dinged bad enough in a fall that it fogged up in a snow storm one morning causing me to not get to shoot a nice whitetail buck. Quickly removed the scope, you know remove one screw and twist the scope and rings off, flipped up the peep and hunted the rest of the trip with that combo. It did require a taller front sight though.
On my FAL I milled off enough of the slots on the picatinny rail bolt cover to allow the scope to slide forward enough to miss the factory sights thus leaving them available by removing the scope with the tilt off mounts. Taller mounts would have been another solution.
I really don't like the "see through" mounts that are popular with some folks.

[Old Ironsights]

Something I haven't tried yet, but am considering, is to see if my flat-top AR rear sight will fit directly onto the rear scope mount on my Savage. If it does, and works, then I won't have to take the scope mount off to put the Lyman on in the field...

[mikld]

I've been fighting the urge for two days since I first saw the heading, so...
Back-up sights? Nope, but I have a back-up alarm and back-up mirrors.

Sorry.

[Canuck Bob]

Here is a link to a Beartooth article on the 444 that shows a pic of his solution for this question on a 444/336 lever. He just shortens a Weaver mount and leaves his receiver sight in place. This is also one of a series of three articles that are required reading for 444 shooters. He tests the MG and Ballard 444 and proves that heavier than 300 gr. cast shoot just fine in a 444 MG.

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech_no ... tes.htm/17

[Sixgun]

Backup sights for a scoped rifle? That's weird. I have backup sights for my tang sighted rifles that I use for hunting. Its a fold down barrel sight in case the tang sight gets busted up. What's a scope?------------6

[Malamute]

Whats a scope? Why it's so you can look at the moon when you stay out too late.

[Old Ironsights]

Whats a scope? Why it's so you can look at the moon when you stay out too late.

One, scoped, hunting rifle...

And it's a Lever.

Until I had LASIK I was, and generally remain, "Old Ironsights".

[Poohgyrr]

My 356XTR is Scout Scoped on a quick release mount, with a Williams FP. I just want the option.

Everything else wears a Williams receiver, Buckhorns, or (Edited: a tang sight from Steve's Gunz).

[Ji in Hawaii]

I own only two scoped rifles my model 70 Winchester in 30-06 which has the rifle sights too, and my STainless H&R Handi in .223 which does not have open sights. I was considering getting a inexpensive backup scope or a red-dot for a back-up.

[AJMD429]

I posted this on another thread, but it looks reasonably practical...


Williams - http://www.williamsgunsight.com/gunsigh ... hehole.htm
Midway - http://www.midwayusa.com/product/827813 ... steel-blue

It's kind of like Beartooth's solution that Canuck Bob posted about above...



I'd like those 45-degree jobbers though, with more compact sights. I bought a short section of 45-degree adapter and plan on using a Burris Fastfire-II on it as a backup that way.

[okdee]

Good subject.
On my Winchester model 70, it has the original front and rear factory iron sights and also a weaver pivot scope mount with the Weaver K6 scope. Hinges are on the lower left side of the scope rings and a pivot / or catch ( for lack of the proper term) on the lower right side of the scope rings. In the event of scope failure, or for that matter an extremely close shot, one simply, pops the catch on the right side of the scope rings, pivots the scope over to the left side, out of the way to line up the front and rear iron sights. Viola!

OkD

[7.62 Precision]

Several people have mentioned that backup sights are not necessary, especially if you buy quality mounts, rings, and optics.

I agree - always buy the best quality optics and mounts that you can afford, even if you have to wait a bit to afford them.

As far as backup sights being unnecessary, well hunting from a tree-stand in Virginia, you may have to walk back to the house and loose a day of hunting if your scope fails; no big deal.

Up here, a lot of people shoot animals on their property, but few hunt on their property. A lot of people travel long distances to hunt and fish. I'm sure the same is true for a lot of people in the western half of the Lower 48.

In that case a failed optic can cost a lot of time and money, and maybe end your ability to hunt for that year. Judging from all of the people I have spoken with who ended up with damaged optics, mounts that vibrated or got knocked loose, etc., in many cases quality equipment, I would consider a backup sighting system a good investment.

[7.62 Precision]

One thing to consider is a reflex sight carried in your pack that can mount in place the scope.

[stew71]

The only scoped rifles that I own that also have iron sights is a Ruger 77 .243 carbine and my Marlin 336. All of the others wear only glass.

[El Chivo]

Brockman's makes a pop-up peep.

[Griff]

Well Griff, I certainly did not expect my scope to fail, but sometimes they just can't take the abuse hunters dish out. It ended my hunt for that day and my cornflakes were certainly wet on. Not going to happen again. I did have a backup gun for the next day, but the only animal seen was with a broke scoped gun in my hand and a bit too far for a guesstimate shot.

I wasn't trying to be critical or pendantic... just my situation. I have two scoped guns, a 375 Marlin and my 7mmRemMag mdl 700. I have had a fogged scope in both... Both times in the same location and for the same reasons... both were in the air conditioned p/u for the drive thru the desert and partly up to camp. They were left cased and tied onto my pack during the sunny, hot climb up to 9000 feet, during which temps dropped fast, remained just above freezing overnite and I left them in their cases. But, luckily, I had brought along a mdl 94 for carrying while hiking the 5 miles from the vehicle @ 5700ft, and for scouting while I acclimatized to the altitude (bear protection). By opening morning, on both occasions, the scopes had cleared enough to allow hunting. And while I've shot deer with both scoped and iron-sighted rifles, I enjoy hunting with the irons better... I know other folks that have just the opposite like. Not right or wrong, just different.

[Old Ironsights]

One thing to consider is a reflex sight carried in your pack that can mount in place the scope.

If your gun does not come equipped with a Front Sight, this is the best option IMO...

[El Chivo]

isn't there a receiver sight that clamps on to Weaver rails?

[AJMD429]

isn't there a receiver sight that clamps on to Weaver rails?

Yep. NECG does, and I thought Williams did, though I can't find one now; maybe it was another maker.


http://www.newenglandcustomgun.com/Gun_ ... Sights.asp

[Tycer]

XS Sight Systems Weaver Backups.

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