Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Williams peep sight

I got my hands on a 30 30 Winchester 94 a few years ago that has a Williams peep sight on it, only shot it a few times, didn't care for the peep sight, the front hood is still on the front sight, for you guys using a peep sight do you take off the hood? It seemed to be an issue with me getting the front sight centered. Thinking about taking it off and seeing if it improves my accuracy

It depends on the front sight for me, and the conditions. With larger blade/bead up front I can't shoot them that well hooded. With a finer front blade it doesn't matter.

I generally prefer the front sight open for a less cluttered FOV, though, especially in low light.

My Marlin 336 doesn’t have a hood. Produced before hoods came standard. Had to add a 1/2” Skinner front post to get on paper after adding the Williams peep. But man did it ever make a difference. 3-3.5” accuracy at 100 yards. Love mine. Try it unhooded before you remove the peep.

Just my $0.02

AFIK, hoods are for protection. All seem too damn hard to remove IMO, which I suspect is why so many “get lost”. Some are cutaway to admit light.

Doubt you’ll see much improvement in accuracy if you remove it. A target suitable for iron sights might help. Most try to use one that’s too small, and/or poorly-shaped. Go bigger, and hold on the bottom which helps give a consistent hold. That’s what target shooters do. Some like a square, others a circle, but you want one big enough to see the sight against.

I prefer a square-topped blade like the Skinners. They come in brass and steel, and are easy to cut down if needed. The Skinner site has instructions on picking the right height and base width. Since you have a sight that’s the right size now, selecting a replacement should be easy.

Hoods are removed on my receiver sighted rifles.

Living in timber country I shot irons long after reliable scopes became the thing. In my experience, when shooting paper for accuracy, developing loads etc....do as described above, military style post and aperture, with a front hood, with a proper high contrast target. But when the hunt is in low light timber, you need a well defined front sight, a huge rear aperture, fully exposed to gather all possible light, the old school Sheards, ivory bead, german silver, sourdough etc. I know nothing of the radium sights, having gone to scopes before they became popular.

Get rid of the hood. Then if you still have the round silver or gold bead front sight get rid of that too. The round bead will reflect light in different spots depending on where the sun is and give the illusion of a false center which will fugg up your accuracy.

I remove them and usually install fiberoptic front sights on hunting rifles with receiver sights that are shooters, not collectors.