Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Peep sight accuracy and range

I'm thinking about putting a peep/ghost ring type sight (XS, Williams, etc.) on a Marlin for deer hunting. Having never used a sight like this or ever even peeked through one, I'm just trying to get a general idea of the max range at which I'll be able to group shots into a 6" circle.

I realize that this is a very subjective question and is dependent upon a shooter's skill and the capability of the rifle, but those things aside, what's the farthest you can shoot minute-of-deer with this type of sight? Thanks.

P.S. Would a quality red dot make it easier to hit with than a peep?

I believe the std X ring on a 600yd NRA match target is 10" and those are hit consistently with reciever ( peep) sights. At 100 yds, using an M1, I have been able to consistently shoot 1.5-2" gropus when my eyes were better. I can still do it,but get eye strain quicker.

If it is a sight with a red dot,the size of the dot is a big determining factor

I have 3-4 sets of XS Ghost-ring sights.
I prefer the .191 rear and .100 front.
With them, I'm about 2.5 MOA out to 300 yds.

One of the issues you'll have is that the Ghost Ring type apertures are deliberately large, sacrificing some accuracy for speed.

Target type apertures can be very accurate out to very long ranges, but they're tiny and require slow, deliberate use.

IME, 2-4 MOA out to 300 yds is realistic.

so if my eyes are fairly sharp and I know how to shoot and have a rifle capable of it..cleanly taking a deer sized animal at 150-200 yards shouldn't be too big a stretch for something like a williams sight..

yes, it is well within reason.

on actual game, I think the farthest I've shot was an elk at 200 yds. Much more common would be an 80-150yd shot.

with a levergun, you should be able to utilize the practical range of the chambering.

That's good to know. I much prefer the handling characteristics of a rifle unscoped than scoped.

200 yds...the practical limit of many lever guns...

Ingwe

A larger hole doesn't really decrease the effective range all that much. It does make a big difference on both ends of the day with low light. A small hole is very difficult to see through in the dark.
I have a Williams peep on a muzzleloader. It has a removable aperture that can be replaced with a larger one. I've found that taking it out entirely increases the hole size by at least 5 times. That really hasn't made much difference in sighting accuracy but adds a good 15 to 20 min. of shooting time on both ends of the day.

On my muzzle loader,I typically took the aperature out and shot just using the threaded hole when hunting

I have taken game cleanly at 200 yards with a NECG peep on my Ruger #1 and with other set ups using peeps. My M99 Savage wears a very old Williams peep and is very capable on deer out to 200 yards. Do yourself a favor and get a peep with a positive adjustment. In other words one that "clicks" when you adjust it. They cost a little more than the intro models but are worth the the money IMHO. As far as the aperture goes I use the small one for sitting or on a bench and take it out or use a bigger aperture if I'm walking. I can shoot just as tight a group nearly to 100 yards with a good peep as with a scope. Just my 2 pennies.

Last Saturday there was a guy at our local gun range with blackpowder rifles. A 45-60 and a 45-70 putting kill shots on 16x16 steel at 300m, 400m, and 500m. Both rifles had aperture front and rear.
Practice and mo practice.

The Leech Cup competition is fired every year at Camp Perry, 1,000 yards and aperture (peep) sites.

As far as hunting rifles are concerned, the famous Benoit family of Vermont has put many, if not most, of their bucks on the wall with peep sites. Although, now that they are all 50 and older, they are using scopes.

I hear you on that one!! Cataract surgery in both eyes several years ago helped a lot, but my eyes still need a scope these days.

I use aperture sights pretty regularly for hunting, and have taken prairie dogs out to 225 yards and big game out to 350. Must admit, however, that the caribou was shot with a pre-'64 Winchester Model 70 in .270. The PD was shot with a reproduction Winchester High Wall in .30-40 Krag.

What I like most about hunting with a peep sight is that it requires I align the sights. With a scope all you have to do is put the cross hair on the target. I guess what I'm saying is that using peep or iron sights requires a little more thought and skill which I find more satisfying when the hunt is over.

I assume that your Marlin is a 30-30 or something with similar trajectory therefore shots out to about 200 yards would be as far as you'd likely shoot at game. A peep sight would work fine for you if your willing to put time into practicing with it. I have enough confidence in them that I felt perfectly comfortable using one on a "once in lifetime" sheep hunt when I drew a tag here in Montana last year.

as noted target or smaller peeps on a target gun like my AR 15 are very precise... to the order that I can get most of my shots around 3-4 inches at 600 yards if the wind doesn't get me....

A ghost ring you should be able to work just fine... on my elk MZ... I use one basically.... peep with the ap removed... with the ap in, its around an inch at 100, with it removed more like 1.5 inches.... and I can hit a pop bottle 16oz every time at 200 off the bench.... most groups at 200 run 3-4 inches and plenty fine for elk and I have my irons sighted so at 100 I hold bottom of the chest on the hair... then 150 mid line, 200 spine(4-6 inches below the hair line...) for elk and works just fine that way.

You'll be amazed at how well you can actually shoot with them, and I'd buy a similar gun in 22lr and put same sights on and shoot a lot.... Its not easy at first, but you get there.

This is the third Marlin I've set up with peep sights over the years. Love 'em. They also work great on a bolt rifle.

Regards, Guy

MW406 - that's AWESOME!

Peeps, on a Savage 99, and a ram... Wow... Congrats!

Guy..

WIlliams Foolproofs are damn good Modern peeps. Rust proof aluminum bodies with hardened Steel to steel adjustment screws. I wish most scopes were built that simple ,precise and tough...

As far as some of the other comments talking about shooting Aperture sights much past 200 yards- Yep, they are great on clearly marked bullsyes or other static targets at known yardages with lots of time toi figure out sight adjustments..

Get in the game fields under poor /changing light conditions shooting at live animals that don't present large broadside aining points and things get tough. Trying to aim at the vitals(not just the whole animal) means 200 yards is about max for most folks.

Part of it is shooter compentence(not everyone has 20/10 vision) and the other part is most simple, rugged front sight setups do not allow that kind of precision .

When I worked my way up to Master Class shooting NRA BPCR silhoutte about 7 years ago, I shot lots of fist sized , 10 shot groups on the Turkey targets at 385 meters with a highly tuned BPCR rifle. But, I won't fool myself into thinking I can do that on an elk or deer with a hunting weight rifle and hunting style sights in the field.

Actually game at beyond 200 is not hard at all if you get to understanding a few things... and adjust your poa. I set all my irons so that I hold the bottom of the animal, lets you see things that you could not.. with that bottom hold you simply have to center the windage issues and continue to adjust for range, but typically I"m impacting about 4-6 inches up for deer and 8 inches up for elk.

But as you note, you have to have the vision for it. As far as weight of gun etc..... I know a few folks that prefer light rifles in competition, not any heavier than a standard BDL setup... they ain't shabby shooters.

Front sight setup makes a ton of difference for me.. I have all square front sights that are sloped away to the front so they have crisp sides and top... anything else and I"m at a loss.

Of course I am talking of things that take dedication and practice.... lots of folks think that 25-50 yards is stretching it for a handgun... and its not really at all... irons past 100 get to be iffy for me though as I just don't shoot pistols much.