Wednesday Windage: Sight-Seeing

 

I nearly gave up on iron sights for a while. Cataracts made using irons nearly impossible, and driving was difficult, and dangerous at night with bright lights causing trouble. I tried several red dot sights, and traditional scopes on pistols, and found that Bill Llewellyn's Bullseye ghost ring sight blades worked well on my Ruger pistols.  I had my lens implants done in 2016 and can shoot with irons again, but I had a minor panic attack lately when I realized that Billll's Idle Mind blog no longer listed Billll's Bullseye sights. I got in touch with him and he still had some, so I bought four. They are pretty darn useful in pistol shooting, but you do need to change your technique a bit to get the most benefit.

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These are some of the pistols I provided for a recent carry class at the Carmi Rifle Club. L to R, Single-Ten (.137 rear sight notch), Mk III Target (Bushnell Red Dot), Mk IV Target (.118 rear sight notch), Mk III Hunter (Billll's Bullseye Sight .205 aperture), Mk III Target (Billll's Bullseye Sight .205 aperture, with top half of ring removed).

Stock Ruger target sight, Billll's Bullseye, and Billll's Bullseye abbreviated.

I was hesitant about putting a peep/ghost ring out for a carry class, but I am glad I did. The fellow I was coaching did OK at the beginning of live shooting with a red dot sight, but when I switched him to irons, he began putting all his shots above his target. I stopped him to point out how he was missing, and he told me, "I don't like revolvers."  I responded that "The revolver isn't the problem, I don't think you can see your sights." He then said, "Well, I have cataracts." So, I switched him to the pistol with the ghost ring. I told him to look at the target through the window of the rear sight, move the front sight onto the target, and shoot. The important thing with these sights is to focus on the target and not fuss about the sights. He immediately was putting his shots into the black on his target. He was amazed, and I was, too. It is such a simple solution to use a rear sight that lets you see the target instead of covering it up and using a tiny notch. We had him go back to the red dot when we shot qualification targets, and he was a happy camper.

Rearranging guns for the class for qualifications, I had to take a red dot gun away from the lady on the left for my man with cataracts.  I handed her the Mk III Target with the cut-down ghost ring. She had not shot that gun at all during class, and I gave her the quick rundown on focusing on the target through the window of the rear sight. Illinois law has us shoot ten rounds from 15, 21, and 30 feet, standing, for a total of 30 shots. 

Here's an even bigger surprise.  Shooting that cut down ghost ring, she put all thirty rounds into the ten ring, with only four falling outside the X-ring. She was rightfully pleased.

The lady on the right also shot a 300, with only three out of the X-ring. She was shooting a Mk III Target with a red dot sight. 

I have tried the ghost ring on steel while practicing at the rifle club, and it lets me shoot faster than I can with the traditional narrow notch rear sight. The more I use it the better I like it. I must contact Bill and see if he has any more of his sights on hand. They work a trick!