Outdoor Adventure USA

FIREARMS SIGHTS

August is National Shooting Sports month. This would be a great time to enjoy, AND APPRECIATE, an activity which most people in the world aren't allowed to do. Whether its hunting, target shooting, competition, testing out new equipment or just plinking, take the opportunity to exercise your rights. Better yet, take your children, grand children, or a friend who have never been shooting, and teach them about their rights and how to safely enjoy them. And most importantly, teach them how important it is to preserve this right. For more info, see:

• https://winchester.com/Blog/2017/08/cel ... orts-month

• https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files ... mation.pdf

This week we will be focusing on one aspect of shooting - firearm sights. Entire books and endless hours of discussion have covered this topic, and at best, we will only be able to cover some of the highlights. But, between references to books and articles, as well as various links that we will provide, you can carry on with your research into the specific areas that are of interest to you. As with the "elmer" concept of Ham radio, it is always helpful for shooting to find someone who is willing to give you the benefit of his years of experience. No need to recreate the wheel, dontcha know!

If there is a specific area of firearm sights that is of interest to you, let us know. Join the discussion!

Next Week's Net
Next week 7-18 is our annual Wine net. We will be discussing 2 wines: Josh Cellars Legacy Blend should be around $14 available in many markets and
Pine Ridge CheninBlanc - Viognier Blend $12 available Trader Joes

Both are delicious

STARTING PERSPECTIVE

SCOPES
The current market for firearm sights is better than it has ever been. Improved technology, innovation, economies of scale, and improved optic quality, have all combined to produce better sights, and a wider range than we have ever seen before. In almost all casesl, today's moderately priced scope sights are better than the high priced stuff of years ago.

Make no mistake however, for those with a significant "depth of wallet," there are some truly outstanding optics out there. To the well trained eye, and perhaps for those whose shooting distances are in excess of 500 yards, these scopes may be an option. The improvement however, between a moderately priced scope nowadays and the top drawer stuff, is not that big.

Scope brand loyalty often has the effect of dictating one's preferences, and more importantly, one's judgment, when deciding which scope is best. To some extent, scopes are one of those things where we need to scale the learning curve in order to arrive on what is, for each shooter, the "best." Anyone who has been shooting for years, probably has more scopes than firearms on which they can be mounted. Experience and performance make this so. Budget also comes into play.

Although it has been said (by me) more times than I can count, it is important to do so again, here. Buying cheap stuff rarely results in quality or longevity. The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten. One of the best gauges of quality will be price, but it should not be the entire basis on which your choice is made. Buy wisely!

So, here I go, stepping out on a limb. Truly good scopes are made by Leupold, Nightforce, and to a somewhat smaller extent, Burris. Truly expensive and good scopes are made by Zeiss, Schmidt and Bender, Swarovski, and a few others.

There is one universal truth about scopes - there is no such thing as one scope that is best at everything. Every scope purchase involves some compromise, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Getting the right scope begins with an honest appraisal of your needs. Then, and only then, can wise choices be made.

In years past, a scope purchase was just one of the accessories that shooters needed to make the firearm complete. While today it remains the same, many times now you will find that the cost of a high quality scope is more than you paid for the firearm, and in some cases more than twice, or even three times. While it is hard to precisely quantify, it is important to make sure that the qualities of the rifle are up to the quality of your scope. More to the point - if your rifle can't deliver acceptable accuracy then there is little need for a $3.000.00 scope. Think about it!

So what should you look for in a "good" scope??? Try these:

• Light transmission. This is largely a function of optic quality and lens coatings.

• Features, like parallax adjustment, reticle location (which focal plane), body size, objective size, warranty, company reputation, history and stability,

• magnification range

• precision of movement

• Eye relief

There's more, but that's a good start.

A Schmidt and Bender truly good scope, wallet buster (from their website: https://www.schmidtundbender.de/en/products)


A Leupold truly good scope, but a little less expensive (from their website (https://www.leupold.com/scopes/compact- ... mm-cds-zl2)

TYPES OF SIGHTS

Although there are huge number of sights available theses days, they can generally be divided into two categories, with some sub-categories. More discussion on the net, but the general two categories are:

• optical sights or scopes

• open sights or sometimes referred to as iron sights.

Pictures of each:

Scoped (From Remington Website - https://www.remington.com/rifles/bolt-a ... 783-scoped)


Iron Sights (from the Arms of America website, https://www.armsofmaerica.usa)

Front


Rear

REFERENCE SOURCES

Net time is always limited and more in depth discussions are not always possible on many topics. Since sights represent a large investment, and it only makes sense to be well "armed" with information. The links below are a good start,

1. What is parallax and why should I be concerned.

• https://winchester.com/Blog/2017/10/und ... g-parallax

• https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/scope ... djustment/

• https://www.luckygunner.com/lounge/what ... -parallax/

2. What is the difference between reticle placement in the first focal plane vs the second focal plane.

• https://www.leupold.com/leupold-core/co ... ane-optics

• https://www.americanhunter.org/articles ... cal-plane/

3. What are lens coatings and why are they important. What should I look for?

• https://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial ... 805/100290

• https://www.americanrifleman.org/articl ... -coatings/

4. Do I need a one inch, 30mm or 34mm scope body and are there any advantages?

• https://www.swarovskioptik.com/hunting/ ... t_not_much

• http://randywakeman.com/Amazing-Riflescope-Myths.htm

• http://opticscamp.com/content/10-what-s ... nch-scopes

5. Tips for selecting a sight that is right for me

• https://www.americanhunter.org/articles ... iflescope/

• https://scopesreviews.com/

SIGHTING IN A FIREARM

Here is a quick overview on sighting-in your firearm: Do it and do it right. And, check it before hunting to make sure that it is still on target.

Beyond that basic rule, every shooter, in this writers opinion, MUST learn how to properly sight-in his own firearm. No on can set up your sight like you. Leupold has some great information on how this process works, https://www.leupold.com/leupold-core/co ... riflescope. More on the net.

Sighting can be divided into two general categories:

• Mounting the sight on the firearm

• Adjusting the sight to hit your target

The discussion will be heavily weighted toward optical sights, but we may wander into iron sights, if there is a need.

MOUNTING THE SIGHT

Mounting your sight starts with good quality scope rings. With few exceptions, this will boil down to personal preferences, as most manufacturers make quality stuff. A few choices are listed below.

Mounting a scope to any firearm requires the use of two rings, and for scope health and function, the rings need to be aligned so that they do not exert uneven vertical or horizontal pressure on the scope body, when tightened. Wheeler makes the tools to do this (https://www.wheelertools.com/scope-mounting/. ) Be sure to get the right size tools that match your scopes tube size. The kit pictured below is for 1 inch and 30mm tubes. From their website:


SIGHTING IN THE SCOPE

There are a couple of tools and one technique that will help you get an initial sight-in, allowing you to get "on paper."

Collamator Bore Sighter Available from Brownells at https://www.brownells.com/gunsmith-tool ... 31887.aspx .


Laser Bore Sighter


Bore Sighting (without tools)

Check out this video on how to bore sight your firearm, without tools. It's quick and easy, and can be performed at home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF07A7HaR38 .

Thanks for Early check in, KF6KOC Randy.

Please check me in. Thanks.

WD6USA
Jeff in Highland, CA

IRON SIGHTS AND SCOPE RINGS

Firearms sight preference these days is clearly in favor of scopes, but that is not to say that iron sights (open sights) are obsolete or not used by shooters. For a variety of reasons, iron sights are still very popular and quite alive. Many firearms, and perhaps mostly handguns, come standard with open sights. Scoping a handgun, especially for protection, self defense or law enforcement, is not consistent with optimum concealment, maneuverability or low weight. And also, many rifles come standard with open sights, e.g., Henry, Winchester, Ruger, and many dangerous game rifles (Weatherby, for example.)

Many competitive shooting sports require only open sighted firearms, like SASS events, or other Cowboy action shooting events, etc.

For handguns, the current trend is for tritium sights, which offer a better sight picture in low light situations. Most handgun manufacturers design their own, but the after market has seen some impressive innovation, and the big guys (manufactures) are incorporating them in their products.

Here are a few after market companies: Novak (https://www.novaksights.com/Default.aspx), Trijicon (https://www.trijicon.com/na_en/platform/handgun.php), TruGlo (https://www.truglo.com/firearms/handgun.asp). and many others.

I reccently discovered the A.R.M.S Company, a manufacturer of military firearm accessories, including sight rings and mounts. My fascination for their QD steel rings was too powerful to avoid. A pair resides on a favorite rifle and I will be doing some long term testing to gauge how well they return to zero after being removed, and how rugged they really are (http://armsmounts.com/shop/scope-rings/ ... gs-medium/.) These are rings/mounts which attach to a standard picatinny rail.


The perfect marriage of strength and sleek, good looks - Conetrol rings and bases, (http://conetrol.com/index.html) Conetrol describes them as "projectionless", meaning that there are no bumps, bulges or "projections" which house adjusting/tightening screws, and there are no visible junctions where one half of the rings meets the other. It appears as a solid piece of steel. Might purty, not to mention, rugged!!! From their website:

Early Check in please!

Hello!

Looking forward to tonights net on Firearm Sights.

Please check us in for the net tonight.

Jack M. KK6WXQ
Kevin P. KK6DGL
John D. KM6FXI

Thank you!