We have filed square every round front sight we ever found on any of our guns.
That said for 30 yards you almost don't need sights at all. I've done fine with a shotgun bead and no rear and smoothbore with round balls to 30 or 40 yards with an old 1800s musket.
And whether you have X or Y front at 30 simply really isn't going to make a difference. Only 2 things that help would be big enough rear ap to have light to see. And bright enough or contrasting enough front to see, rather than shape.
At the other extreme, I killed one running whitetail at 20 yards with a fixed 6x scope. This was quite a while ago, when hunting in pretty open country in eastern Montana. Didn't expect to get so close to one, but a buck got up out of some tall grass, and I got the rifle up quickly--and the reticle on the back of his neck. At the shot he crumpled--and the rifle was chambered for that lousy .243 Winchester--which at the time many hunters thought was "too fast" for close ranges.....
Mounted a 6x fixed on an 1100 years ago. Just to become more proficient with scope and quick use. It took awhile to learn to shoot doves with it. but IMHO it sure helped my brain and scopes work a lot better/quicker...
Yep, and yet a lot of hunters are still convinced "irons" are quicker. Finn Aaagaard disproved that in one of his American Hunter articles years ago.
I also killed a running boar about 20 years ago with a 6x--at 10 yards....
Well hell, Mule Deer, "Irons are faster" has been one of the foundational postulates of my personal Loonyism for so long I'd call you out as a heretic if I hadn't recently read a pile of your books. You are vastly more experienced than me and your writing and opinions have all the hallmarks of truth and sincerity and are based on systematic analysis of actual experience. But, that means those couple of missed opportunities in my youth that I blamed on scope magnification biased my opinion and tainted my orthodoxy for all these years! And, worse - might have (can't quite admit this yet) caused some painfully recent missed opportunities. Well, I'm in the middle of acquiring my first new big game rifle in 20 years and I'm actually considering a 3 - 9 variable for it which, if you knew me, would give you an appreciation for your influence on my ideas! (One thing that comes out in your books and RLN that I didn't get when I only read your magazine pieces is that you can be very funny and the other is that you really enjoy being a heretic.)
"One should not talk to a skilled hunter about what is forbidden by the Buddha."
