How many of you old's still have good enough eyesight to use iron sights? Got some nuisance varmints around the house that I want to use my single shot bolt action 22 and short's ammo to take care but I don't think my eyesight will let me. Hate using a shotgun because of the neighbors but may be forced to.

How old are you talking? I have irons on my .22 and love to shoot it.

60YO and above.

I have an old 30/30 that I never scoped and can still shoot it with irons pretty decent out to 50 yards, I’m 50yo

Catch them in a live trap first. No need to squint.

I am in my 50’s and am fortunate to have 20/10 vision. I learned on iron sights as a kid but don’t have any rifles without a scope now.

Turning 49 this year. If I'm wearing my glasses, I can still hit whatever I want at sane yardage. I can't see far away without my glasses, so without glasses, I can still hit what I want to up close with irons.

We had to shoot irons on a rifle (.22) that none of us had seen or handled prior at the Hunters Challenge. As luck would have it, I had probably shot 500 rounds behind irons with my grandson in the year ahead of that day. As I recall we shot from 25 to 100 yards. I'm pretty sure myself and a few others cleaned that stage. I'm 59.

Any reason you can't use a 2x scope for your application?

fit that bill...
Me eyes aint what they usta b...
Shooting pool, iron sights,
took great pride in shooting iron sights...
Its kinda a blur...
pretty much got scopes on all rifles...

I'll turn 63 in less than 30 days and have been in bifocals for years now.

In the Robert Redford flick "Jeremiah Johnson", his character is told by another mountain man, "You've come far, pilgrim...". Jeremiah replies, "It feels like far...". Oh brother, I can relate!

Truth is, I shoot irons more these days than at anytime since 1970 when I was on a smallbore rifle team. And I shoot them BETTER today than I did back then.

Take your .22 and some shorts and see how you do on paper...you might be surprised. Frankly, I think the use of iron sights in general is fast becoming a lost art as (like a LOT in our lives these days) we've forgotten how to function without the aid of a lot of modern technology. Not that tech is a BAD thing, it isn't. But it certainly isn't the ONLY thing!

Mark

I've got that near/far thing going. I can get the sights in focus but the target is blurry, or I can get the target in focus but the sights are blurry. Can't get both in focus at the same time. Still shoot iron sights decent, but nowhere close to what I could as a yute.

62 and blessed with excellent corrected vision. I shoot open sights but seldom the factory sights. I have replaced all bead front sights with a post, square top, Skinner sight save 1 rifle. Rear are Marlin folding or aperture sights. This, I believe, will help your eyes.
A cheap tasco may helpful as well.

Double tapped

Proper irons make such a big difference, don't they? Most factory sights are window dressing...designed by folks who don't understand them and sold to folks who can't or won't use them!

my use of iron sites is sketchy at best these day ... great distance vision (20/16 uncorrected) but up close requires corrective lens (2.0-2.25 readers) which in turn messes up distance. I have several 22s but most have a small 22 scope on them and I can still knock a coons eye out up to about 50 yards via a Q-beam from the bed of a running truck ... I can not say the same using iron sites these days (turned 63 in Dec.)

Put a peep sight on the rifle. Easier to use with old eyes.

If I was your neighbor I'd rather you used a shotgun, seems it would be safer.

This

My old man turned 60 this year. I’m his youngest and just turned 36, we get out his old 22 cal Benjamin pellet gun and shoot a squirrel or two nearly every time I visit.

I turned 69 last month and shot an episode for CARNIVORE last week where I was calling gray fox and shooting them with a Ruger 57 and a Ruger Single Seven with iron sights. I can't shoot with my prescription glasses as I have difficulty seeing my sights so I am shooting as I did when I was a kid.
I killed three and missed three and had several get away from me because they would not hold still. I am going to try to kill a coyote with the Single Seven shooting 32 H&R Magnum rounds in it.
Adios,
Gary

Same here and I'll be 63 later this month.

It's the corrective lenses for nearsightedness that makes it somewhat of a challenge. Without them and the sights are clear and crisp. Once I put on the eyeglasses, it becomes more difficult to focus on close objects. But in a tight, I can see distance well enough without lenses that anything within 50 yards would be fair game.

Just put a Simmons 22 mag on it until you are ready to put a “good” scope on there. You may get a “good” one and decide to leave it on there, you never know.

Little 4x32 Simmons will for sure get you by on a .22 for trash pandas and etc probably less than 30 yards, no problem.

I got that lesson yesterday. My eyes are 79 years old. I have a 9mm that I bought new about 50 years ago and never fired. I put up a target at 25 yards. I hit paper twice out of 9 shots.

you young whipper snappers...81 50yds