Why no more open sights on rifles?

[DMG]

The Savage Hog Hunter and a few Remingtons, CZs have open sights. Everything else assumes we will put an optic on and never shoot open.
What other rifles can we get with open sights?
Anyone here know how to install open sights?

[The_War_Wagon]

I know how to install Troy BUIS... on a flattop AR...

[justin'sbig7]

You can have a gunsmith put on a front site and they make peep sights for most of the popular rifles. Cost cutting I would assume

[DMG]

Yeah, it sucks. Shooting with open sights is going to be a lost skill soon. Like telling time on a watch with a dial and hands. I think I am going to get a Savage hog hunter. It comes with irons and a threaded barrel.

[Wrecker]

Have a few Savages and so does my brother. The quality has greatly improved over the years.

[justin'sbig7]

Check out the ruger gunsight scout in .308 or .223. They're really sweet!

[joshs1ofakindxj]

People love the Savage rifles as an alternative to overpriced Remingtons.

Gun makers produce what people are asking for and we're living in a day of affordable high quality glass and electronic optics with more options and features than I can shake a stick at. Half my friends have a Trijicon RMR on their carry Glocks and they don't consider a long gun build complete until they're spent as much on the optic as they have on the rifle. Personally, I don't mind shooting irons because I have great vision (Lasik) and I like a large field of view. I rock a red dot on one AR, all the other stuff has irons. I wouldn't say it's becoming a lost art though. When you show up to a good carbine class the instructor at some point will make you turn off your optic and switch to your flip up back up irons to reinforce that you may need them or show you you're stupid for not zeroing them before class.

[The_War_Wagon]

Half my friends have a Trijicon RMR on their carry Glocks...

OK... THAT half is dumb. If you're gonna go that route, you might as well go target sights, and neither ONE is conducive to carry/home defense.

and they don't consider a long gun build complete until they're spent as much on the optic as they have on the rifle.

Actually, that's NOT the worst news I've heard lately. I can't get over the folks who either do some research, or at LEAST follow good advice, and get an affordable top tier rifle (Colt, BCM, Daniel Defense), and THEN go stick some Barska/Sightmark/NcStar/crap-o-la on it. IF you're going to stick something on your rifle, skimping on glass - on a quality rifle - is like ordering your Ferrari 599 GTO with an I-4 diesel, because you're concerned about fuel mileage... If you're just looking for a way to dispose of 5.56 ammo, a DPMS or BUShamster will do just fine... but if you're building a fighting rifle, to defend hearth, home, and kin, optics is NOT the place to scrimp!

Personally, I don't mind shooting irons because I have great vision (Lasik) and I like a large field of view.

Actually, I don't mind shooting irons, because I have CRAPPY vision (nearsighted, bi-focals, and astigmatism)! I'd owned and shot AR's for 17 years, before I bought my first QUALITY optic, in 2008. I did try some cheap crap in 2007, and it sucked, and it broke ("Barska" BTW, is the Russian word for, "Breaks-a... EASILY"... ). Buy ONCE, CRY once, on quality gear.

I rock a red dot on one AR, all the other stuff has irons. I wouldn't say it's becoming a lost art though. When you show up to a good carbine class the instructor at some point will make you turn off your optic and switch to your flip up back up irons to reinforce that you may need them or show you you're stupid for not zeroing them before class.

Batteries die and glass breaks - especially when you NEED it the most. If you CAN'T work irons, you ARE in a world of trouble. It's not "Optics, in PLACE of irons." It should be, "Optics, in conjunction with irons - as necessary" - particularly with military style rifles.

[joshs1ofakindxj]

OK... THAT half is dumb. If you're gonna go that route, you might as well go target sights, and neither ONE is conducive to carry/home defense.

Their technique for finding the dot is to first find and align the suppressor sights that you can see through the bottom 1/3 of the RMR (factory sights aren't tall enough) then find the dot and shoot, so it seems like a waste of time to me. I don't agree with it. It's more accurate standing on a square range but I think it's a mistake on a carry gun.

that's NOT the worst news I've heard lately. I can't get over the folks who either do some research, or at LEAST follow good advice, and get an affordable top tier rifle (Colt, BCM, Daniel Defense), and THEN go stick some Barska/Sightmark/NcStar/crap-o-la on it. IF you're going to stick something on your rifle, skimping on glass - on a quality rifle - is like ordering your Ferrari 599 GTO with an I-4 diesel, because you're concerned about fuel mileage... If you're just looking for a way to dispose of 5.56 ammo, a DPMS or BUShamster will do just fine... but if you're building a fighting rifle, to defend hearth, home, and kin, optics is NOT the place to scrimp!

I started out in the $30 red dot club as a poor college kid. I had a $30 BSA red dot on my AR that is still alive and accurate on a friend's DPMS sporticle whatever dafuq it is. I actually wish I had kept it around for a 22 but he helped me pour concrete so it was the least I could give him to say thanks. I had a cheap Barska red dot on an AK side mount QD rail that always worked for me and it is still alive and accurate on a friend's AK, another gift from me for help with things. My experience and theirs has been great, but that doesn't mean you can count on these optics to save your life, or any optic for that matter, or even any gun over a long period of use without maintenance and spare parts, but I digress. There is nothing inherently WRONG about buying and using dirt cheap optics, just don't be surprised when the light goes out or all of a sudden you're hitting off target. You better be ready to have a set up back up sights flip up or take off that AK side mount rail.

[JeepSteeler]

Gun with irons: I patently refuse to put an optic on my .35 Marlin (model 336) - being a lever action, even though it is tapped for a scope rail. I have changed the open sights it came with to something with a little more visibility up front and an adjustable peep in the rear. Changing the sights was a matter of removing a few screws, the hardest part was trying to not drop them on the floor. Now this obviously isn't a sniper rifle, ammo is ludicrously expensive, recoil is not all that fun, and if you're used to a bolt or a pump it does take a little while to get your muscle memory going to work the lever quickly without losing line of sight.

All that being said, 200 yards and in it makes a great deer rifle/brush gun for both stand hunting in the woods and still hunting (stalking) and pushing. It's bagged half a dozen whitetails for me over the last decade or so. And it's fun as h*ll to shoot those big .35's at innocent kitchen appliances and CRT televisions. So, there's another option not mentioned previously for an open sight rifle that is available. I'd imagine it would shoot decently at further distances but have no evidence of such personally. Maybe a .30-30 version might make a little more sense in being able to find ammo a little cheaper. Hornady's Lever Evolution (or however cutesy way they spell it) feeds quite well in the .35 I might add. It's a quality, well made firearm that's never given me a lick of an issue.

As for the sidebar re: optics and quality - i have a Barska red dot on an AR platform. Has a screw on 2X magnifier. It is indeed a hunk of crap, as the parallax is pretty awful. However, it shows no signs of dying, I make no particular effort to take care of it, the batteries last forever, and after you get used to the parallax then it's actually a pretty accurate red dot with a clear sight picture. I hate it. Yet there it remains. My life doesn't depend on this particular weapon (unless things go extremely bad in a way I can't even imagine, I've spent real money on good optics for weapons that would be for that purpose), so I'm going to keep it until it breaks, hopefully soon. With my luck, it will probably not oblige. I do have quality BUIS on this weapon and a quick detach for the Barska, so as Josh also mentioned, if it does decide to finally break (please) then I won't be up the creek.

[justin'sbig7]

Jeep steeler,
Not to get too far off topic but I have a timber carbine in .444, love that gun but 5 shots off of a bench will bruise anyone. Anywho, I bought the cabelas scope that is calibrated for the .444 lever evolution ammo and that setup works beautifully! Great factory ammo (I reload for everything but this) and man is it all dead on. I shot my buck at 250yds last year with it. Love the big shell/bullet combo guns, it's definitely fun to hit stuff with that wrecking ball lol!

[HoodRN]

Fortunately all of the Marlin big bores come with iron sights. My .450 Guide Gun junked a new Burris 2x7 in less than 20 rounds. The 45/70 was fine till I used Garret Hammerheads, and the .444 still has a Leupold 4x on it that probably almost as old as me (but I stick to factory ammo in .444).

[joshs1ofakindxj]

I shot a .458 Lott last weekend.



That is all.

[2002wranglerX]

i shot a .458 lott last weekend.



that is all.

dear jesus

[joshs1ofakindxj]

And a 50 AE Desert Eagle with surprising slow mo (skip to 2:19):

[joshs1ofakindxj]

OK... THAT half is dumb. If you're gonna go that route, you might as well go target sights, and neither ONE is conducive to carry/home defense.

Well, based on what I've seen happen to handgun shooting with red dot sights in the past 4 years, I'm going to take back what I said haha. How about you?

[The_War_Wagon]

Well, based on what I've seen happen to handgun shooting with red dot sights in the past 4 years, I'm going to take back what I said haha. How about you?

I see people put 'em on there. I see the FACTORY put 'em on in some cases. It don't mean I'M ready to convert, though!!!