Factory or peep rear sights either one. Aftermarket front sights?

I have used a variety of open sighted rifles over the years, all of the lever actions.
Winchester trapper, Marlin guide gun, Marlin 1894s....30-30, 38-55, 45-70, 357, 45 Colt....... I've hunted/taken nilgai, WTD, axis, turkey, and varmints.

Sometimes. I have a Mannlicher Schoenauer Model 1903 in 6.5x54MS that wears a peep sight.


I also hunt both elk and mulies in CO with a muzzleloader from time to time and you have to use open sights for that. I shoot a T/C Renegade in .54 with the factory open sights. According to my hunting journal I have taken 11 elk and 3 mulies with that rifle in blackpowder only seasons. I also use a slug gun for whitetails in some shotgun only areas around Lake Meredith and I use open sights for that.

I've used my SKS with standard sights on hogs within 150 yards no problem, and I have had better luck on squirrels with iron sighted .22 than scope.

My eyes will no longer permit it. I'll be interested to see how cataract surgery will impact my eyesight once it becomes time for it. As is stands now, my nearsighted vision and corrective lenses creates too great a challenge to focus on iron sights.

i killed a few deer with an open sighted Winchester 94 I kept as a truck gun.

I shoot two of my .22's open sighted and have pretty good luck killing the hogs with them. Its a lot of fun spot and stalking those things in creek bottoms

I have dozens of open sighted rifles. Most are part of a very large C&R military rifle collection, but some I would hunt with, some I used in open sighted rifle matches, some just plinking. I really enjoyed shooting them and I often preferred them over scoped rifles for hunting within their limitations. Though my vision issues now are the opposite of Texas Dan and farsighted, it is getting to where it is a challenge to make hunting with them near as much fun as before. I can overcome in some instances, but mostly either target or sights is going to be a big blur. And like everyone a normal part of aging, I can't see those sights in low light as well as I once did either. I shot open sights for so long that the scope reticle that feels the most natural to me for my main hunting rifles are now lighted German #4 post reticles or variations of it. But years ago I shot a lot of Turkeys with rifles like a Swedish M41B target rifle, and a lot of hogs with Garands.

Currently Winchester 39 and 62A ,Mannlicher 1903, 30 Carbine, Little Sharps in 38-55.

I killed a lot of animals with an open sight 30-30. I now have to put my readers on to see the rear sight. I have started carrying an AR with a 3x scope on it.

Rossi 92 in 357. Longest shot I've ever taken with Iron sights was 110 yards. Also hunted quite a bit with a marlin guide gun. Both wear aftermarket peep sights and factory front. I'm nearing the age where I'm gonna have to put a scope on them, but the peep does wonders for poor eyesight.

Absolutely and regularly. Similar to bowhunting or shooting a proper muzzleloader (specifically NOT the scope-mounted, 209-primed atrocities of today), hunting without glass makes my outings far more a HUNT and much less a SHOOT. To be sure, they are limited in application and failure to operate within their limitations (or your own) invites a train wreck.

I shoot a few rigs with "factory" irons, but most wear aftermarket apertures of one flavor or another. Front sights I'm more ambivalent about...so long as I can SEE them. Sadly, the vast majority of factory irons are pretty useless...the manufacturers don't understand them and evidently see them as vestigial...the appendix of the rifle world...their primary purpose being to complicate scope mounting (for the rear) and to pull out gun sleeve padding (for the front)...

Well boys.....this is awesome. I thought I was about the only one.

You aren’t the only one but you’re in the minority.
I have a Marlin 3030 Dad gave me as my first deer rifle in 1963. I sometimes carry it as a truck gun for hogs but I can’t hit much with it. I didn’t realize there was a big difference in aftermarket open sights. Can someone school me a little on that. I may put something on the 3030.

Freerange,

If I was getting started (and your Marlin is, I expect, drilled and tapped), I'd look at Skinner Sights

Their sights are windage and elevation adjustable plus a selection of aperture sizes allow you to choose what works for you. In the pictures on my earlier post, three rifles wear Skinners. They're like Thunderbird wine...they "get the job done"!

Mark

Thanks, Bee. Don’t know that I’ll take time to do it but it’s not important enough for me to research further. If I make time to follow up I’ll go with skinner.

Skinner front sights are on mine. Beads don't work for me. I like a tall front blade or post sight dovetailed into the barrel. I can file it to meet my needs.

Skinner and Lyman would be my choice for peeps. Williams lost me years back with NO customer service on a poorly made product.

Have hunted with a muzzleloader, .54 hawkin replica and a marlin 45-70. Suppose to be a Winchester 3030 coming my way will stay iron sight till I can’t see them anymore.

I occasionally use a couple of my antique mil-surps. An M1 Garand and a Mosin Nagant 9130. Both are fed with hunting loads that I put together. The Mosin Nagant shot way to high originally so I replaced the front sight post with one that looks original but is height adjustable.

M-1 Garand, Yugo M24/47, couple .22s, and a muzzleloader.

Does a Red Ryder count?
Still chasing cats out of the back yard with one.
Windage and Elevation.
Windage and Elevation,

Took a deer with grandpa’s 94 in 32 win special. It has a tang mounted Marbles peep sight.

Got a hog hunt next weekend on a neighbors land and was planning on using my open sight lever action 30-30. Haven’t used it in a while. Last thing I shot was a big boar running at about 100 yards. Dropped him with the last shell in my gun. Didn’t admit it at the time but a pretty lucky shot.

I still hunt iron sights on my handguns and my lever guns. There's a certain romance of hunting with open sights as I did as a youngster. I killed my first four bucks with a Winchester Model 94 30-30 with iron sights and later killed one with an old Winchester 38-40. I love them for hogs, lion and bear as most shots are close and good light.
Adios,
Gary

Handguns as well! I tried a scope about 40 yrs ago.......I shoot better with factory sights.

I have some that I have used. And, will again if I’m close instead of long range. I killed my first deer, an Arizona mulie, with an open sighted Eddystone 30-06. That was 1967 while I was stationed at Luke AFB outside of Phoenix. I checked the rifle out of the Base Arsenal. Next year I killed another mulie with my recently purchased Marlin 30-30. I regret selling that gun. I have a pre 64 Win 30/30 that I still use for close range hunting on my land.
And then, I have an 8mm Mauser that I sometimes take but have never killed anything but a big hog with it.

I usually hunt close. Under 25 yards scope is out of focus. I like peeps.
Marlin 45/70, 400 grain Hawk at 9 yards.
Remington 700 single shot, 6.5x47 Lapua 130 Nosler BT at 28 yards.
Rem is all stainless with a Ruger barrel band front sight,