Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Nearly Perfect Elk Rifle - Open Sights

So, I will be having built a custom hunting rifle built. It will be a model 70, trued, rebarreled in 300 Sherman or similar, synthetic stock, some kind of ffp christmas tree reticle scope.

So, this is about open sights....I see 3 options:

1) NECG adjustable rear barrel sight with NECG masterpiece banded ramp/bead....I have similar on my 458 Lott....great 25-100 yd sights.

2) Talley rear peep and NECG Masterpiece banded front bead...seems great for accurate sight picture, but elevation is not very adjustable....I don’t like that really, unless there are some good ideas out there.

3) NECG barrel base peep with NECG masterpiece banded ramp front bead....only problem is that peep is a bit far from the eye to be a real peep sight.


What are your thoughts? Surely the folks around the campfire know how to properly setup a Winchester 70 with proper sights!

#1. I don’t like removable peeps, or peeps too far forward.

I won’t tell you you don't need backup irons, because you already know that.

And I definitely would go with the 7mm Panzer over the 300 Sherman!

#1 - NECG.

I like them as well. I like the piece of mind of having them just in case, and think they’re a nice touch or custom builds.

But as Brad stated, not needed.

I like them mainly because I’m a rifle nut and to me a proper M70 has backup iron’s:

My old 30-06:

Huh? Never heard of that!

I agree not needed, but are they? I say this because I hunt about 1 - 2 weeks a year out of state. I fly with one rifle and some gear. Multiple rifles and gear are a waste of money to me.

I just had a pretty good scope take a dump on me. It will be fixed under warranty, but it would have ended my hunt.....well, actually not because my current hunting rig has decent back up iron sights.

With stores 2-3 hours away, a broke scope can be a hunt killer.

An extra scope set up and a few rds. Of ammo takes up little space..

I like NECGs but my favorite irons for rifles are Trijicon 3 dot sights. Trijicon part number RE05Y.

They are marketed as sights for the 870 slug guns. They install in the basic Remington rifle/slug gun sights (i.e. the generic ones that used to come on 700's and still come on 870 slug barrels).

The trijicon sights have a big bright white dot up front and tritium vial. Huge leap over any sort of brass bead or sourdough setup. Like night sights for your pistol except on a rifle. Especially in dim light--last half hour of dusk when you can see animals but maybe not your sights--these are a game changer.

https://www.trijicon.com/products/details/re05y

About $110 on Amazon. But you do have to use the generic Remington 700 type irons. Or some other dovetail front.

That said, the NECGs are prettier and I have them on a few guns I didn't want to ugly up.

Well, if one has to explain satire, it’s kind of lost.

You’re wanting a travel rifle for elk with backup iron sights... a rugged, practical, do-all rig built around the great M70 action and you’re going to have it chambered for some goofy wildcat? Sorry, that just makes no sense. A practical rifle should be chambered with a practical cartridge.

Make it a 30-06 and be done with it. You can find ammo in any store here in Montana, and a few other places too I’m told.

I get it. Was just surprised by the suggestion. I have no issue having my ammo with me though....

...or
4) NECG Peep on a weaver base with NECG masterpiece banded ramp/bead....seems like it would do it all, but then I have to go to a Weaver bases....not awful, but less refined than the Talleys.

Right up until you don't have it with you.

You're building a rifle with redundancy and practicality built into it, then chambering it for an esoteric wildcat that does nothing a 30-06 can't do.

Murphy hates hunting, particularly traveling hunting, above almost any other pursuit.

But you have only yourself to please, it is your rifle.

Man l love that gun.

I've identical CZ's in 300WM and 375H&H worked on by Wayne at AHR. Both have NECG express sights on them. While I haven't shot the 300 yet (just came back a few weeks ago), the sights have been more than serviceable on the 375. I spent a considerable amount of time shooting with the irons prior to a cape buffalo hunt in 2017.

Thanks for the support. I think I will go with the NECG adjustable rear and masterpiece front. I like the peep idea of the NECG peep on the weaver base, but I’m afraid I won’t have the peep when I need it, so better to have something permanent on the rifle.

I immediately got your joke Brad, and appreciated the surprise in an otherwise dry conversation.

My traveling rifle, an FN Mauser 30-06 barreled action in a custom stock with Wisner safety and Bold trigger, is scoped in Talley removable mounts, with a Talley peep.

The primary scope these days for Alaska grizzly country is a Zeiss Conquest HD5 3-15x42. Scope backup is an old Leupold Vari-X III 1.5-5x20 pre-zeroed in Talley rings. These scopes can be removed and replaced at will and hold zero. I also carry the Talley peep, but have never used it in the field.

I feel I have adequate insurance against failure with this set up. I really do like the Talley peep, FWIW.

I have the Brockman's pop up peep that he fastened to the rear of the Talley base. It is on my old Mod. 70 Featherweight 30-06 and a Sourdough front sight insert. I keep it zeroed at 100 yards and if the scope craps out when were back in the bush here in Alaska I feel like I can get by with it. Maybe things have changed, but getting a hold of some one at Brockman's was not easy for quite awhile.

I have the NECG sights on my .Mod. 70 .338 and the rear is a barrel mounted peep. Not as good as a receiver mounted peep, but my old eyes like it better then regular irons sights. My Husky Lite 30-06 also has a Sourdough up front and a Skinner barrel mounted peep in the rear. I have the XS white line flat top post front sight on two of my peep sighted lever guns and like them better then my old Sourdoughs and see them better. So I may switch out my Sourdough front sights.

I know lots of hunters that don't have back up iron sights and two of them are hard core sheep hunters. They just rely on their Leupold scopes. They don't read the Campfire Optic Forums. I guess it is an individual choice. My "gitterdone" rifles are that old pre-64 30-06 and my custom Mod. 70 .338. They will always have back up iron sights zeroed for 100 yards.

I wish some of these smart guys that make fire arms would spend more time designing peep sights that stay attached to the rifle.

Real nice rifle!

Did you have the irons added to a standard classic?

If so, who did it and what type was used?
I like that....ALOT!

Regarding option 2, to make up for the lack of elevation adjustability, just get the NECG partridge front insert in a height that your math tells you is too high, and then just file it down to where it needs to be to make the elevation perfect for your rear peep.
NECG patridge insert
And I kind of agree with the folks that are saying to go basic 30-06 versus 30 Sherman (this from a guy whose similar set up is a 35 WAI...)

JK, that's an NECG Classic Rear, and Ashley (now XS) Front. It's a Plain-Jane M70 Fwt with the bbl. cut to 21". Dave Gentry did the work for me in 2004. I did the stock work which is a Bansner..

Zone, I really did too. In a moment of insanity I sold it.

I have the parts on hand to replicate it though.

And it doesn't have to be a 30-06... just something more practical, including the 300 WM, 300 WSM, 270, etc. All these are "World Cartridges."

I have traveled to hunt some, here and there. Often do have "backup" irons on my rifles, just in case, and in fact have deliberately made several hunts using only iron sights, from northern Canada to southern Africa.

But one thing I have observed among the many other hunters encountered during those trips is that those who insist on backup irons often don't shoot with iron sights very much, usually because they've been hunting with scopes for decades--as have most hunters these days. Which makes the value of the backup irons debatable.

If I'm going to take just one scoped rifle on a travel hunt, then I always have another scope along. Used to just take the scope and the proper tools to change it into the "primary" scope's rings--and had to do that a few times, including on my very first trip to Africa, when a new, expensive 3-9x European variable went crazy. Finished up (including taking my first kudu) with the well-used 4x brought along as backup.

For quite a while now, however, I have done what GF1 described for his recent caribou hunt--take along a smaller, second scope in the same detachable mounts as the primary scope, and already sighted-in. Even one of the 4x scopes that so many modern hunters have no use for is far more effective than irons for a hunter who doesn't use irons much. And the detachable mounts don't have to be expensive, either. The "Old Ugly" Weaver rings work very well. A small backup scope doesn't take up much room or weigh much, so can easily be carried in the hunter's pack, even a small daypack.

This is what I do, and I carry the backup scope in my backpack as I hunt a lot in Arizona where the chance of taking a tumble in to a big rock is common. For my 35 Whelen AI and similar, the backup is a 2.5X Leupold compact. For the more long range rifles, the backup is a Leupold 4x Compact. both scopes just weigh a few ounces. I use Leupold QR rings and mounts and they are already sighted in prior to the hunt. But even then a lot of my rifles have iron sights too, just because I like them. I used to shoot MOA regularly with peep sights but my eyes are a lot worse these days, but I still love the looks of a nice barrel band front sight on a rifle, and I think you shoot better with a rifle you love.

Cheers,
Rex

Yup ........ ^^ This ^^

I'm having sights put on a classic Mauser rifle right now, but for the most part these are for looks. I don't plan on using them much other than sighting them in,.

Find an old steel Lyman or Redfield receiver peep sight and order your NECG barrel banded front sight, I use a Lyman on a pre-64 300 H&H, 300 yard steel is cake with 220gr Partitions loafing along at 2750 fps, aint a bull that ever pissed in the snow would hold one.

I hunted exclusively this year with irons including a ton of practice beforehand. Didn’t drop the hammer but had an awesome time and will be moving forward using irons exclusively. Honestly though...where I hunt it’s no handicap...maybe even an advantage

It might be more productive to think about finding the perfect elk rather than a nearly perfect elk rifle.

I would rather be trying to down the perfect elk with a less than perfect elk rifle than packing a nearly perfect elk rifle in an area without a perfect elk.

Sorry, RinB I have already killed the "perfect bull elk". Mine wasn't more than just an ordinary bull, what made him so special he died right on a two-track and my hunting partners and I drove the ranger right to him. At my age(77) that made that elk perfect. As to back up sights, I've carried a spare scope around for years.

I have a Leupi 2 1/2 compact sighted in. Weaver Mts. Carried it on several "far away" hunts. Never had to use it but gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling knowing it was there

Lefty C

I have back-up irons on my M70 Featherweights and one X-Bolt. I can have the scope off and X/S ghost ring sight (pre-zeroed) in a couple of minutes. I use modded Ruger M77 front sights. RJ

That is my favorite rifle on the fire.

mclaughlincustomfirearms.com

They have a Rigby Peep, fits onto the rear of the bolt. I like the location, just not sure what models it will fit.

What kind of scope is on this rifle?

Yeah, the "proper" ones came that way originally...

Tag

Wildcats ....... The attempt to reinvent the wheel that is already round.

Yeah, me too.