Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors What Range Are You Confident?

Lacking experience that most here have, I’m looking for a bit of guidance as to what are reasonable expectations.

All of my rifles have always been scoped. I’m wondering, using iron sights, out to what range are you confident of making a clean shot? Include your age, that matters! 😉😋

That's a really loaded question... lots of factors in play there, like your target, shooting and weather conditons, cartridge and load.

Off a bench, I can plink steel plates all day at 200yds with my any of my 99s as long as it's not a real windy day. With something like the 45 Colt, 100 yards is reaching just because there is so much bullet drop. On a windy day, those distances shorten considerably.

Out in the field is an entirely different ballgame... from field positions, 40-125 yards depending on the cartridge, target, and weather.

With a good receiver sight, I feel like I can shoot up to 200 yards.

Iron sights more like 100.

I don't know that age matters. If you are 65 and have good eyesight that's better than being 25 and blind.

100 yards

Offhand? Sights, iron or glass make no difference at all. It's all on the man's ability. I will admit with the iron sights in full sun and the deer in the shade can be a challenge...but you will instantly know that when the glare on the front sight obscures the target. Of the years that I shot competition in NRA Sporting Rifle High Power, I'd guess 5% of shooters could hold 8 shots in a 7 inch ring at 200 yards. Maybe 70% of the shooters could put 8 shots in the aiming black which is about 13 inches. I'd say put up a paper plate, whang away at a hundred, if you can keep 4 out 4 on the plate move it out until you can't. I shoot a .300 Savage 1920 bolt with aperture rear, offhand, in good light, I would consider roughly 150 yards as my limit. I am 76 now and I don't hunt to kill, I hunt for meat and will not take hail mary shots. Quick, clean, one and done.

With peep sights, I sometimes shoot better groups than with high end scopes. Not always, but when it happens, I love seeing tiny groups with iron sights.

I am 64, open sights are still workable for me, but I would draw the line at 100 yards max now. That said, virtually everything I hunt is around 100 yards or less these days.

This season, I am going to try out 2 new Aimpoint Nano red dot sights. On paper, and messing around, they appear to be a solution for aging eyes and easily get on target at 100 yards rapidly. I do not think longer shots would be out of the question.

Well let’s me honest, most of us lose our strong eyesight as we age..most of us, not all of us. In my 50’s mine started degrading, at 60 a little worse.

I can shoot the 1899 in 38-55 with it's 26" barrel 150 yards no problem in daylight. Short barreled guns give me fits w/o optics.

I can still line up pretty good with any sight arrangement

Depends on the gun/sights and lighting as others have said. As a general rule 150-200 yards with an optimal receiver sight/front bead combo on a 24" barreled hunting rifle, in glaring daylight. Probably only 100 yards or so on a rainy day. Open sights? Dunno, I haven't tried shooting with one of those since the last century, except for 1903 Springfields but that's a topic of conversation for those with a masochistic bent.

The longer the distance to the front sight, the easier it is to see a relatively sharp front sight bead along with a focused target. A 26" barrel has an advantage over a 24", and a 30" barrel has an advantage over that. It's why most top tier target rifles had 28-32" barrels 120 years ago, that and the added weight forward balance needed for accurate offhand shooting. The rear aperture does a lot to help keep the all-important front sight and target in focus, but it's always a compromise in terms of lighting adaptation and need for more focus.

I don't know about other old dinosaurs, but surprisingly after 40 yrs of aperture rear...I find myself getting better groups with leaf sights, wide and deep with lots of light spilling around the edges, mounted well forward on the barrel, and a great big front post similar in dimension to the M14. IOW, something very similar to a Patridge pistol sight pattern or the old "California Sights" found on muzzle loaders built in the 1840's, 50's and 60's. Combining that with a high contrast Vee target, I can reach a level of precision suitable for evaluating load development. Might be worth a try if you are having trouble...you need not modify the rifle just to see if it will work for you...one of those neonidium magnets makes a quick and dirty sight base with a little JB weld to hold a leaf in place and a blob on the front sight to file to custom width with a dead true flat rear face. Under ideal light and dead calm I am getting fairly consistent, maybe 40% chest size hits at 600 yards with cast bullets in a trapdoor (never exactly the benchresters first choice of rifles).

Whew. Those buggers can shoot, actually. I watched a guy make some astonishing groups and scores at 200 yards in a blackpowder military rifle relay at our three day Schuetzenfest this past weekend - with a M1884 trapdoor .45-70 and Buffington rear sight, with black powder and plain base 500 grain cast bullets. 2 1/2" groups and scores in the 240-ish out of 250 region, on the German 25-ring target, benchrested.

As others have said, it depends. 150 yards generally with open sights, further with an aperture, but again rifle and cartridge matters.



400 with a Sharps 45/70 and a very steady rest.

I should amend my statement that my abilities at any distance are dependent on some kind of rest, even if it's just a tree trunk. If I had to rely on my bolloxed up posture to attempt a shot completely off my hind legs, substitute the word "feet" for "yards" in my assessment! I got my shooting eye fixed and can actually see sights again, but my scoliosis remains.

There's a guy I once saw shoot a pinwheel (dead center) with an iron sighted Savage. I wonder if he's still around?

Where I hunt, I want to be at a 100 or less no matter what the optics or sights I am using. The longest shot on my property is 140 yards. At that distance I would like to use the scope.

I could probably do more with the receiver sight than I’m comfortable with now.

But I don’t like losing deer. Ever.

If my gun goes bang, you can bet the mortgage payment I got him.

Back in the day, 200 yards was a chip shot. 600 to maybe 650 was a good probable. That was 35 - 40 years ago. These days maybe 150 unless it's running. Things change. Life goes on.

Without a scope? Wouldn't your front sight completely block out a deer at 600yds?

With my 250, 250 yards, but that’s the longest I’ve practiced with. 2X7 Redfield set on 4X.

Not if you sighted in using a 6 O'clock hold.

Before Lasix……

I could see the back sight, front sight, target.

Pick two!

Never could see all three.

After lasix….

Now I can see them all. I generally shoot my iron sights about 50 to 80 yards off hand.

On a bench I will shoot 100 yards.