what sight picture and hold do you use?

[willysjeep134]

I know a lot of peole use the 6 o'clock hold with iron sights, but I tend to think the dead-on hlod is better for hunting. My Winchester 94 has a semibuckhorn back and bead like post front. I settle the bead down and cradle it in the notch. If I had a flat top sight I might settle the bead on top of the notch, but with a semibuckhorn there is no well defined top to settle on. So, anyways, I settle that bead down in the notch right at the point of the white triangle Winchester painted on the rear sight. I then center the bead in the bullseye of the target I am shooting at. I don't hold under or anything.

The big argument for holding under I have heard is that you can see more of the animal or target that way. That may be all well and good, but I think it would be easier for me to just put the bead where I wanted the bullet to go without having to guess at hold-under for every shot.

With my sight picture and hold the bullets will strike at the top edge of the bead at 100 yards. This means the rifle is hitting about 2 1/2 inches high at 100 yards. This makes it sighted in for a maximum point blank range of over 200 yards to strike within a 6 inch circle of where I aim.

What type of sight alignment do you use and how do you hold on game animals?

[Kurt]

This is why I like a rear peep. I only shoot a rear v on my 22 marlin 39, or my 44 super blackhawk. On the 44 I hold the front sight level with the rear. On the 22 I hold the front sight as low as I can still see it. All of my unscoped guns are going to have rear peeps soon. And I'm only 46 and still have very good vision.

[Mikey]

I sight my open sighted rifles in using a dead on hold but with the bead sitting at the top of the buckhorn's 'U' notch, but with the rear sight bottomed out - that gives me the clearest picture short of a rear peep sight and I don't have to worry about trying to get the tiny leetle bead perfectly set in that tiny little 'u' notch in the bottom of that buckhorn.  Shooting at a 100m target with a 6 o'clock hold allows me to hit pretty good and establish a good group - she will hit a bit high but I expect that and can use that trajectory for longer shots if one presents itself properly.  HTH.  Mikey.

[Shorty]

6 o'clock hold, peep or tangent, always.  
If your front sight is covering your target you can't see it.
If you can't see it how can you hit it?  :roll:  :wink:

[Jerry Lester]

I'm similar to Mikey.

I hold the very top of my front bead dead even with the very top of the rear notch, just like I'd even up the top of the rear, and front post in a regular square notch, and post sight set up. Then I sight them in to hold dead on, with the bullet just "kissing" the top of the front sight.

I also, once I've sighted in, don't use the adjustments for elevation. I use them like Elmer Keith. If I'm shooting at longer ranges, instead of raising the whole sight picture, I drop the rear sight under the front post for elevation. That's absolutely the only way you can consistantly hit accurately at extended ranges, especially on small targets. If you try shooting longer ranges using the traditional way by raising the whole picture, you'll be covering your entire target, and having to guess where on that target you're aiming.

Once you get used to shooting this way, you'll never go back!

[Winter Hawk]

I put the top of the front sight on center of mass, i.e. where I want the bullet to hit.  The target shooters like the 6:00 hold so they don't have to guess if they are in the middle of the target or not.  When hunting I use the top of the front post (or the bead, if I have to use one) like the cross hair of a scope.  My preference is a peep rear, but a flat topped, square notch open sight works well also.

-WH-

[John Y Cannuck]

With peep sights, I use the 6 o'clock hold while sighting in, but aim dead on while hunting. Just remember when you check your target where your POA was.
Typically, you want your point of impact to be slightly above POA, so shooting grouse in the head, you use a six o'clock hold too.