First muzzleloader sight question

[NevadaMike]

I drew an Idaho elk short range weapons tag by mistake. Long story but I got caught up in the online craziness and when it was my turn and the system unfroze I had 3 minutes to complete my transaction. I panicked! So 19A it is.

Anyway as I look at muzzleloaders and western sight options I see some of them have the rear sight fairly far forward and some of the are much farther back. I have no intention of taking a crazy long shot. The less costly options seem to have the rear sight set forward. What are the pros and cons of this arrangement? I am sure I want the globe sight with the fine crosshairs so I don't cover too much of the target.

 

[Bluefish]

Not sure why they move the sights forward, but it doesn’t seem to cause any issues at 100 ish yards. With open sights I can get 2” accuracy at 100 yards with a forward mounted rear sight. any further than that and my eyes are not good enough to make out the sights And target Well. I did get a peep sight to try and make it better, then moved states and can now use a scope, so never tried it out.

 

[Flintlocks4me]

Never elk hunted but I do hunt Whitetails with flintlocks and have used percussion guns. I am a fan of iron sights, the rear sight seems to get moved forward as one’s eyes age to make a clear picture. If I were hunting and fiber optics were legal they do give you a few more minutes of hunting time in low light conditions. The rear peep and globe front are used a lot for precision target shooting. They would possibly be okay for hunting. In the black powder shoots I compete in they are adjustable so can’t use them. I hunt with the sights I compete with, fixed iron.

 

[ElDiablito]

My preference is a peep sight set as far rearward as possible with a front fiber optic globe.

If I have to use open sights, a peep sight is my choice hands down. I like a Peep Rib or Ace in the hole type rail with peep so I can easily use a scope for load development and then a peep for hunting. Using a scope for load development makes a huge difference.

My current favorite is a Williams peep rib rear with a Williams Western Precision fiber optic front globe.

Nearly all peep sights use removable apertures so you can use a larger or smaller one to suit your eyes and the light conditions. The size of the aperture affects how your eye focuses on the front bead. For me, the Merit adjustable iris aperture is nice.

As far as I know, there are no advantages to a rear sight set further forward.

 

[CMF]

Never elk hunted but I do hunt Whitetails with flintlocks and have used percussion guns. I am a fan of iron sights, the rear sight seems to get moved forward as one’s eyes age to make a clear picture. If I were hunting and fiber optics were legal they do give you a few more minutes of hunting time in low light conditions. The rear peep and globe front are used a lot for precision target shooting. They would possibly be okay for hunting. In the black powder shoots I compete in they are adjustable so can’t use them. I hunt with the sights I compete with, fixed iron.

where are fiber optics not legal?

 

[SwiftShot]

I drew an Idaho elk short range weapons tag by mistake. Long story but I got caught up in the online craziness and when it was my turn and the system unfroze I had 3 minutes to complete my transaction. I panicked! So 19A it is.

Anyway as I look at muzzleloaders and western sight options I see some of them have the rear sight fairly far forward and some of the are much farther back. I have no intention of taking a crazy long shot. The less costly options seem to have the rear sight set forward. What are the pros and cons of this arrangement? I am sure I want the globe sight with the fine crosshairs so I don't cover too much of the target.

Picked up a CVA wolf. The rear sight is foward. Played with it. She will hit an orange out to 200 yards. Gun was like 300 or less. The key is to actually put in some serious range time. I mean spend more on practice ammo than you did on the rifle. That cheap gun has many bulls on it from my oldest boy and quite a few bears. It also has had pounds of powder. Shoot shoot shoot.

The back sights tend to give longer axis this less deviation, ie more accurate.