eyesight and open sights at Appleseed

[TJ Kackowski]

I’m sporting 50 yr. old eyes and have been wearing some sort of vision correction for about 40 of those years.

At first I thought that a scope was the only hope for me, however, I've been practicing with Tech Sights on my Marlin 990L and am flat out astonished at what I can do at 25 meters.

After finding my NPOA, all I have to do is keep that tiny fuzzy blob above the crystal clear (and seemingly enormous) front sight and voila I hit the black.

I’ve had similar results with the Williams peep sights on my Marlin 39A. The hardest part is maintaining NPOA with the lever action vs. the semi-auto.

Maybe after the kids are done with college I’ll start working with scopes. Then again, with the results I’ve had so far, why spend the money?

 

[TJ Kackowski]

The results are in ... at the Lake Village Appleseed this past weekend, I was able to qualify as a Rifleman using Tech Sights on my Marlin 990L. Taking my time to verify NPOA, and keeping that fuzzy blob on top of the front post seems to work very well indeed.

 

[gregkl]

The results are in ... at the Lake Village Appleseed this past weekend, I was able to qualify as a Rifleman using Tech Sights on my Marlin 990L. Taking my time to verify NPOA, and keeping that fuzzy blob on top of the front post seems to work very well indeed.

Congrats! Bet it feels nice not only to qualify, but to do it with iron sights too!

 

[TJ Kackowski]

<< BRAGGING MODE ON >>

I was happy to qualify, but I was floored when they announced the score was 242 ... yeah, it feels nice!

<< BRAGGING MODE OFF >>

 

[grunt soldier]

Congrats sir!!

 

[hawkhavn]

Well done!

HH

 

[ol' Huff]

I don't impress easy, but 242 with irons first time out with a sling is pretty good shootalating. You just got the ol' Huff nod of casual approval.

 

[cbhausen]

I am bumping this thread to ask a question and make a comment.

First, the question: Is the front sight post absolutely clear for folks with 20/20 vision when using Tech-Sights? My Marlin 795's front sight seems to "shimmer" behind the blurry rear aperture, like maybe the hole is too small or I need to turkey-neck more. My CX4 sights do the same thing.

And the comment: My Marlin 795 is available as a loaner for anyone attending an Appleseed if we can work it out on an event-by-event basis, preferably through the Shoot Boss.

 

[Notalentbum]

I am bumping this thread to ask a question and make a comment.

First, the question: Is the front sight post absolutely clear for folks with 20/20 vision when using Tech-Sights? My Marlin 795's front sight seems to "shimmer" behind the blurry rear aperture, like maybe the hole is too small or I need to turkey-neck more. My CX4 sights do the same thing.

And the comment: My Marlin 795 is available as a loaner for anyone attending an Appleseed if we can work it out on an event-by-event basis, preferably through the Shoot Boss.

tech sights, yes, absolutely clear. I have a 10/22 and with stock sights I could see the front clearly until I would sight it in line with the rear sight. The closer the front got to being aligned with the rear the blurrier it got. By the time it was fully in the V of the rear sight they had blurred into one fuzzy mess. I added tech sights early this week and finally shot it last night. Absolutely amazing difference. I am anxious to attend another Appleseed with it. I'm betting I can double my AQT score from last time. I really sucked last time!

Oops, I missed the 20/20 vision part! My old eyes aren't very good. For that matter I started wearing glasses in second grade nearly 50 years ago.

Matt

 

[ol' Huff]

Other factors beyond vision can impact is appearance as well. If a post has grime oil or residue it can affect the appearance of the front sight. The angle and intensity of they sin in relation to the front post can affect it as well. A truly well thought out rifle range faces North for this reason.

 

[Hop]

my front sight... they sin intensity! Sorry Huff you gave me the giggles.

Last time I shot a KD with irons I got a lot of sun glint off the top of my front post. It's not cut perfectly flat I guess. Is this why old timers talk about smoking a sight? To make it black?

 

[ol' Huff]

It's the auto spell on the wife's Galaxy S4. You drag your finger around instead of tapping the individual letters and it makes its best guess. It is the only interweb we get out her in God's country.

That is why they black it. Most of them prefer a carbide lamp but burning a piece of plastic works. If you spot with a round post the sun plays huge tricks.

I have stared at a lot of posts. Believe it or not there ate quality differences in posts. If you are facing North and you post is rough milkweed you can see the imperfections. I never noticed this until I got my prescription updated.

 

[Hop]

Ya know... I had seen this video years ago and never really knew what the hell it was about. Now I get it.

Super Smoker Instructions - YouTube

 

[Wild Deuce]

This beats carrying a smudge pot around on the range:

 

[yellowhousejake]

This beats carrying a smudge pot around on the range:

I have not seen that stuff in years! But yes, it does work well. Being a smoker I just always used my zippo. Stopped smoking, but still have the zippo.

If you think that the light cannot play tricks on you think again. Even at 25 yards it can trip you up. We had a student who Saturday afternoon finally came to me complaining that all this sight moving was driving him crazy and he couldn't hit anything. He was moving his sight to the right all morning and at lunch he thought he had it sorted out. Now at 3pm he had started moving his sight back left. We grabbed some duck tape and made a quick and dirty sight hood for the front sight, a truly comical looking thing. But his groups centered up and they got considerably smaller to boot. As the sun moved over his back and shined on the front post, his groups moved through the day, following the sun.

A good sharp sight picture is more important than match ammo, fine triggers, or custom stocks.

YHJ

 

[cbhausen]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I'm not sure I explained my situation well enough, though.

The front Tech-Sight on my Marlin 795 is perfectly clear until I view it through the rear aperture.

It's like the blurry rear aperture makes the front sight look distorted because the rear aperture is so out of focus the blurry ring does not leave a clear place to see through. I can move my head around so the front sight goes from centered to walking around the edges of the peep hole and when I do the front sight post distorts this way and that.

Maybe a better question for my eye doctor. The front sight post and rear aperture might be at tricky distances for my monofocal (lens implant) vision. Or maybe I'm just over-analyzing this and need to go shoot the damn thing and see what my groups tell me!

 

[Notalentbum]

I have wondered if the rear peep is too small. I found last week that on my AR with two different size peeps that the post was clearer with the larger rear peep. The peep on my Tech Sights is smaller than even the small peep on my AR.

Matt

 

[Leo]

Everyone has a different preference with rear peep sights. Changing the aperature size helps the focus of the front post. When I was younger I could use a .036" or a .040". Now I need at least a .046" on well lit days or .052 in poor light. I use sights that are threaded to accept aperature inserts or hoods that will hold different sized aperatures. If you are able to keep your eye near the rear sight, you can get a pretty good picture of the sight. Don't worry about focusing the rear sight. I have not seen the inside edge of a rear peep in 30 years. Your eyes just sort of automatically find the center of the fussy hole. A good focus on a front sight post that is sooty from a lighter, and you are good to go.

 

[ol' Huff]

Are you absolutely certain that the rear aperture is clean and free of debris? Anything, even small particles of stuffis, can refract light and gom up the works. Hit it hard with brake cleaner or fire if you havent and report back.

 

[The Bubba Effect]

Our maybe I'm just over-analyzing this and need to go shoot the damn thing and see what my groups tell me!

This, my answer is almost always this. You can think yourself into a hole. Shoot the rifle and see what your groups tell you. You are correct.