Gun Sight Types

The three most common sights used for hunting rifles are open iron sights, aperture sights and telescopic sights. Although the open iron types are considered to be the least accurate, there are many astonishing feats accredited to marksmen using this sight. For example, during the "Winter War" between Finland and the Soviet Union early in World War II, the Finnish sniper Simo Hayha used a rifle fitted with open sights to kill at least 505 enemy soldiers in fewer than 100 days.

  1. Open Sights

    • Open sights consist of two components: The first is a front sight in the form of an edge-on vertical blade. This type is the most common type of sight fitted to handguns. Rifle front sights are often fixed onto some kind of ramp on the muzzle end. The second component is a rear sight, which is a transverse metal blade with a vertical V- or U-shaped slot cut into its face. The front sight is positioned so that it can be viewed level with the top shoulder and centered between the slot of the rear sight in line with the marksman’s eye. On rifles, the rear sight is often mounted on a ramp and adjusted for elevation with an undermounted, stepped slider. When zeroing a pistol or a rifle, the factory-fitted rear sight can be moved laterally to compensate for windage by drifting it sideways in the dovetail mounting notch with a small punch and a light hammer. There are many variations of open sights available. Some have a colored bead attached to the foresight to enhance visibility; others have rear sights that are screw-adjustable for both windage and elevation.

    Aperture Sights

    • Aperture sights, also known as “peep” sights or “ghost ring” sights, are used only on rifles. These are fitted with the same type of front sight as used with open sights. The rear sight, however, is a small ring that forms an aperture. This is mounted closer to the shooter’s eye, either on the receiver, the tang, or on the cocking piece of the rifle. When aiming, the shooter’s eye automatically centers itself through the aperture while shifting focus between the front sight and target. This reduces the aperture to a blurred outline or “ghost ring” as seen by the marksman. Since the shooter has only two points to focus on, acquisition time is greatly improved. In addition, intrinsic accuracy is enhanced because of the greater distance between the front and rear sights. The zeroing process is simplified with the use of vertical and horizontal windage and elevation-adjusting screws.

    Telescopic Sights

    • Telescopic sights offer the greatest accuracy and quickest target acquisition of all commonly available sights. The most important attribute of the telescopic sight is its optical superiority from the focusing point of view. With an open sight, the shooter must shift focus rapidly between the target, the front sight and the rear sight; the aperture sight is optically superior to the open sight in that focusing is reduced to two points. The crosshairs on a telescopic sight, however, put the shooter’s focal point on the same plane as the target. This factor reduces misalignment due to focusing inaccuracy to zero. Additionally, the extra magnification allows for longer-range shooting and better target definition. This is particularly valuable when hunting in reduced light and under shady conditions. With regard to durability, although a telescopic sight increases a rifle or hunting pistol's bulk, when correctly mounted, it is surprisingly durable and seldom accidentally knocked out of alignment. Zeroing a telescopic sight is a simple, easily repeated operation achieved by rotating knurled knobs on the top and side of the scope. These factors all combine to make the telescopic sight the most efficient and easiest sight to use for hunting purposes.