Best possible accuracy using traditional iron sights

[HighUintas]

What is the best possible accuracy a person can do at 100 yards using traditional iron sights? Design doesn't matter, other than them being a post/bead/fiber front and a notch rear.

I'm wondering about this in the context of muzzleloaders because I have not seen any evidence that a person can regularly shoot a muzzleloader with traditional iron sights any better than 3" at 100, yet I see many guys mentioning 1", 2" blah blah.

I'd assume that surely someone here has taken their bolt gun that does 1-1.5" large round count groups with a scope and put iron sights on. Or, maybe someone here uses irons regularly instead of a scope and can speak truthfully about their groups without cherry picking and exaggerating their and their gun's abilities.

This is the best I've done with a muzzy, shooting 54cal patched ball from a bench at 100 using silver blade front with a small V notch rear. Winds were gusting to 10-12mph to the left, so I was trying to hold for that. Main group in black is about 4"

 

[RockAndSage]

Man, that is a great question...

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Dang it. I dug through all my photos looking for my M1 and M1A groups print. Couldn’t find them. But…they shoot much better than what you have shown above. Maybe solid 2” groups? I run hand loads in them as well.

 

[HighUintas]

Dang it. I dug through all my photos looking for my M1 and M1A groups print. Couldn’t find them. But…they shoot much better than what you have shown above. Maybe solid 2” groups? I run hand loads in them as well.

Doesn't the m1 and m1a use a ghost ring or semi peep type rear sight though?

I think I could do better than the target above with a ghost ring rear

 

[Fireflyfishing]

Doesn't the m1 and m1a use a ghost ring or semi peep type rear sight though?

I think I could do better than the target above with a ghost ring rear

Affirm. They both have the same sights and the rear is a peep.

 

[summs]

I run a lot of iron sights, 30-06 pump rifle, muzzle loader, 22, if i could find an affordable 870 20ga, I'd put a peep sight on the slug barrel too.
I use and prefer a rear peep and at 50 yards I can stack bullets, 100 yards looks like your photo.

Im preparing for close range and running shots, 4" at 100 is good enough for me.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

I haven’t done it in the cell phone era, but back in the late 1990s, I could get consistent 1-1.5” 5-shot groups with a WW I Mauser and a pre-64 long barreled .30-30. Both with hand loads. Back then I never shot 10-shot groups.

I’ve seen people shoot far better than that with aperture sights. My older brother has my dad’s old Model 30s in .30-06. With hand loads (150-grain Speer bullet and 50.0 grains of 4064), that rifle prints nickel-sized 5-shot groups at 100 yards. I’ve watched my dad make headshots on wild turkeys with it at a paced out 90 and 120 yards (no widespread use of rangefinders back then).

Having “the right size” aiming point is importabt, in my experience. “Aim small, miss small” still applies, but it has to be large enough to see.