What rifles do y’all keep UNSCOPED!!!!

[TotallyTortoise]

Is shooting open sights becoming a lost art??

I don't think so, but this is a hobby that skews towards older enthusiasts so aging eyes is an issue many (maybe most) of us deal with so optics are a much spoken about topic. Plus I don't think open sights have been a big player in distance shooting for a long time, and that's ever more popular.

Personally I like open sights, but some of my guns are setup better for my particular circumstances than others. Specifically, rear sights that are mounted forward of the receiver where I can still focus on them easily.

I've got a small collection of .177 guns I use in my back yard, 10-30 yards, all of them are unscoped:
Crosman 1377
Diana Stormrider .177
Webley Nemesis .177

[Xraycer]

My D48 has not don a scope for the past few years. A couple of years ago, when I was shooting it frequently, I was able to hit a 2" yellow steel target 50yd out, more than 50% of the time. At 25yd, probably 90% of the time.  This was shot in a sitting position with elbows resting on knees. I love this rifle!

None of my pistols uses scopes.

[jimbo]

My Gamo 1250 hunter ( the Hurricane) because I just don't shoot it.

[HectorMedina]

If you like unscoped rifles, DO TRY the DIANA K98.

;-)

Keep well and shoot straight!





HM

[Oldgringo]

Looking at the groups that others (you know who you are) get with their open-sighted FWB Sports and the groups I get with my scoped FWB Sport, I'm beginning to wonder if this should be an unscoped rifle?

[Model25]

After destroying literally thousands of dollars’ worth of optics, I just won’t scope springers anymore!!! My favorite springers, a D27 and a D52, each sport fine aperture sights. The antiques are all original iron, both open and aperture.  The PCP sports a superb, Japanese made, Bausch and Lomb 6x24 from the late eighties.
Have fun with it, Mike

[bReTt]

HW30S
HW95
Back and forth on the HW77K and FWB300S

[phoebeisis]

I go back and forth-iron sights  scope on my Diana 460

The rear sight "looks" cheap-plastic-but for some reason I really shoot well with it.


In any case the 460-cousin to the K98 according to Hector-shoots very well with its open sights-maybe that WIDE blade is why?

I am 70-crummy eyes-but I have MULTIPLE pairs of glasses-all reading glasses-+ STRONG PLUS- bi-convex  because the refractive surgery I had done 2007-worked great

for 3 years-no distance -3.75 -glasses needed-

but it continued to correct- overcorrected -now I need +2 for far distance- +3 for computer   +3.5 +4 for actual reading

I use the +3 for shooting-biased in favor of clear sights-somewhat blurry target picture-but I can center it-so sight picture more important-for me-that target picture

Guess that is no surprise-good sight picture trumps good target picture-

Oldsters might try that -use glasses that give a decent sight picture- over good target picture

PS I am debating paying $520 delivered HW77K paying extra $20 for the sights over HW97K no sights

I sure wish that $1400 would ARRIVE-  always spend free money not as if you will live forever-on SS but also sub. teach $57.28/d take home-just to get out of house(widowed)

I use free $$-the subbing and COVID 19 money- for hobbies-air guns bicycles-firearms-when you are OLD Freely  Spend Free $$-wife taught me that-she was right

[Steve Milbocker]

My old RWS 45 has great sights and the stock configuration makes it a pleasure to use them. I have an HW 30 that has a Williams peep on it however like so many rifles produced today it doesn’t have enough drop in stock for me to comfortably utilize it. My FWB 300S still wears its original diopter sights and on bullseye targets I actually shoot it better than scopes and I have bifocals!

[tjk]

Looking at the groups that others (you know who you are) get with their open-sighted FWB Sports and the groups I get with my scoped FWB Sport, I'm beginning to wonder if this should be an unscoped rifle?

I originally planned to keep my Sport unscoped to keep the weight down. Yet, over the past few weeks the rifle has continued to improve, my hold has improved, and with that said, it doesnt really need a scope for my needs and i doubt it will ever wear a scope. I get tickled every time i walk up to the target and see a nice halfdollar sized group with several holes touching. Pretty good for offhand shooting. Wish i could narrow the front post a bit. Oh well.

[HectorMedina]

In any case the 460-cousin to the K98 according to Hector-shoots very well with its open sights-maybe that WIDE blade is why?

The K98 has the standard Mauser military front sight.
So, it's a hood over a triangle (Pyramid as they call it in Germany), and you can be quite precise in your shot placement with it.

;-)

Keep well and shoot straight!






HM

[lefteyeshot]

I scope all of them. But some that have open sights I mount the scope on top of tall see-thru rings or mounts so I can use either sight system. Why? Cause I can, for the heck of it and I like to use open sights now and then but I prefer scopes. Some guns it want work because when the open sight would be zeroed the scope ring or mount or bottom of the scope blocks the open sight.

Yesterday I was shooting my two Mendoza break barrel repeaters. The newer one, RM2000 has a regular rear sight on the back end of the barrel and the Rm 2800 came with a Mendoza Williams type rear peep but it's a little too tall to fit under a scope and I have a Williams under that scope. Both have see-thru rings. My RM 600 is et up the same way.

I have an old B3-1 with a picatinny rail and a Mini14 peep in the center of the rail, see-thru rings topped by a scope. You need to use scopes with 32mm front ends so you don't block the open sights. I have a Peak TS45 and B3-1 AK with pistol scopes on the barrel with 3 rail 5 slot barrel accessory mounts and one piece off set see-thru mounts. Both guns use an AK/SKS front sight adjustment tool. Got a B2 set up the same.

Got a Tech Force 99, Peak B4-2 and a BAM B3-1 AK set up like that with regular scopes.

[north country gal]

Looking at the groups that others (you know who you are) get with their open-sighted FWB Sports and the groups I get with my scoped FWB Sport, I'm beginning to wonder if this should be an unscoped rifle?

Greg, I don't think it's matter of should as far as going unscoped. The Sport does very well regardless of how you set it up and that's based on having two Sports, one with a scope and one without. Once I got the scope to stay put on the first one, I've had no issues at all going scope and, for sure, the Sport has the accuracy to make going scope worthwhile. Getting the correct mounts is now a pain, though, because they're out of stock, everywhere.

I tried going open sights on our second Sport. That was the plan and our excuse for adding a second Sport. After trying open sights, I'm going to try a peep, next and if that doesn't work, I'm going red dot (and that does work, because I've tried it). Once again, the problem is the lighting on our backyard range. Has to be just right for using iron sights and that doesn't happen on a regular basis. A red dot is less critical as far as the lighting and I do like a red dot for offhand shooting with the Sport. So far, the Sport hasn't eaten the Burris Fastfire III I've been using, which surprises me, actually. Used an 11mm to Weaver adapter by Sportsmatch and no issues at all with the red dot staying put.

Granted, a red dot/reflex sight is not as traditional as iron sights, but hard to argue with the results. That, and it doesn't weigh down the rifle like and change the balance of the rifle the way a scope does. I guess it's a matter of opinion whether to rate a red dot as going scoped or unscoped, though. I used red dots a lot in my powder burning shooting days, so for me nothing new. Just another way to shoot.

[Jshooter71]

My eyes aren’t as bad as some say theirs are, but aren’t what they used to be. That said, I like scopes and precision if I can achieve that. I also like to use open sights as a skill to be maintained. It’s a back & forth thing I do. Like some here, why not both? LOL! Some of my rifles didn’t come with open sights, so they’re scoped. Some just shot better with scopes, so I removed the open sights after scoped and some got an LDC mounted as a plus. And, finally, my latest acquisition, my Walther Parrus .22, shot great with open sights and felt just right. I kept the open sights on as a just in case and scoped it. It shot amazingly. Until the True Strength scope I put on it broke. Se La Vis- I’m shooting it with open sights again and I love this one the way it is. I’m hoping to put a low profile peep on it tonight, as a co-witness to the factory sights and see if it doesn’t work even better.
-P.S. my Parrus .22 is sighted in at a 30 meter zero.

[KevinJBrown]

I think this topic is being discussed elsewhere, but I scoped both of my air rifles. Probably the only rifle I would carry with open sights would be a back-up rifle for use in the brush where dangerous game was present. Dream rifle in that case would be a lever-action, I'd have to give some thought as to cartridge, manufacturer, and model. All my lever actions are sadly (when I think about it) gone. In my mind they are like open sights, so very task oriented that I wouldn't shoot them much at all. Which is I why I got rid of them in the first place. 

[Bicycleman]

All of the rifles I have used for squirrel hunting have been scoped.  I have found scopes to be so versatile and beneficial when hunting.  However, I hunted Nutria in the Louisiana marshes.  The scoped rifle was able to harvest several Nutria rather far out.  But the environment would kill a scope quickly:  salt marsh water, rain, abuse from being placed in the Pirogue, etc. - Not good!
Not much salt marsh here in Tennessee, so scopes are the rule!

[Firewalker]

I really like long-distance and love to push as far as I can, it'd be really hard to get the accuracy out of iron sights on many of the air guns we shoot.