Guys,
I have a forward mounted scout scope rail mounted on this rifle. I have never mounted any optic on it to date, either on the rail or in a more traditional location.
Question: Wouldn't the scout scope rail location be more likely to follow line of the barrel regardless of any droop? Not sure I want to purchase a scout scope just to prove or dis-prove the condition. Might be throwing good money after bad. With a Lyman peep sight mounted at the rear of the receiver, I would think any droop would be magnified. I do remember that once I installed the peep, I learned quickly that my original front sight was too low. I then ordered a Williams fiber optic front sight as a replacement. its been years since these improvements took place and I don't remember if the rifle shot low with the original equipment sights or not. Just remember I could not see well enough to use them effectively,
Why a peep in the first place?
I enjoyed like fast acquisition one gets with a peep at close range in heavy cover. I grew up using a peep sight on an older Remington bolt action 22 that belonged to my grandfather. Later (in the late 1980's) I purchased a Lyman Dear Stalker .54 cal. muzzleloader. I installed a peep on this rifle in the early 1990's. In 1995 I had RK surgery on my eyes with pretty amazing results. I went from having 20-280 vision to 20-25 in my right eye and near 20-20 in my left! My corrected vison (prior too) was decent, but I got a huge gain in peripheral vison. That October I shot a decent 7-point whitetail off hand with the this side lock. I also killed my first elk in New Mexico, be it with a scoped centerfire rifle. Several deer fell to the Lyman (all at close range) in the next few years during our late January primitive weapon seasons. In 2007 I took my best mule dear with a 222 grain round ball at 85 yards. The projectile took out both shoulders dropping the buck where he stood. In 2005 I harvested a cow elk (at 45 yards) in an OTC unit of Colorado, using a .50 cal. iron sighted Knight Bighorn that I picked up in a RMEF banquet auction. By this date the regulations had switched to allow inline muzzleloaders most everywhere. I liked the added reliability of the 209 primer ignition on the Knight rifle. Now around 2010 I noticed my vision was starting to be a problem. In 2011, missed a longer shot at a mule deer with the side lock and found I need my reading glasses to reload and recap with the #11 cap. The buck watched me as I struggled to reloaded. . To my surprise, I could see the buck much clearer at distance while warring the drug store reading glasses? WTF is this all about? I took a second shot at the buck (with the glasses) that also missed. I attributed this to nerves and a mild case of buck fever. Next day I learned the rifle was off 4" at 60 yards, The shot was probably a foot off at 100+. Going forward, began replacing scopes and bino's with higher quality glass I could now at this point afford. I shoot a trad bow (both eyes open) and that began to be problematic as time rolled by.
Fast forward to the last two years I have issues with "floaters" that resemble a dust particle traveling across my eye. I have seen an eye specialist (regularly) and been told that my RK procedure makes me a non-candidate for any corrective laser procedure. Astigmatism and the scars from the RK are playing a part I'm told. Also, the beginning of a cataract is forming in my dominate eye, and have that to look forward too in the future. It sucks getting old! LOL!
LaGriz
