iron sites for a pellet rifle

Tax return time is upon us. I was thinking about getting my kids a pellet rifle that would serve as a training tool for precision shooting. The reason I want a pellet rifle and not a .22lr is ammo availability, cost of shooting, and location limitations. When I was in High School in San Antonio, I was in the JROTC program and for a year was a member of their rifle team. We used very nice pellet rifles with competition peep sites. I learned a LOT about precision shooting. Of course, non of it was ballistics, wind, distance...etc that you would learn from a long range sniper course. It was pretty much just trigger pull, breathing...etc. I want to teach these basics to my kids. So my question...where do I start looking for sites like these? Also, what are some viable rifle options. Most of the local big box stores have pellet rifles that need glass. I don't want to use glass. Anyways, I am at the beginning of the search phase, so any guidance is welcome.

I imagine you mean "sights." When I was a kid, I and my buddies all used our Daisy BB guns with the standard iron sights. We shot a lot and became very good shots. Those old iron sights worked quite well for us. Today, the same principles of shooting apply as then. Concentrate on aligning that front sight with the groove in the rear sight and press the trigger. The target will be hit.

I am of the firm belief that any person learning to shoot should learn how to use standard iron sight to achieve accuracy. Then one can graduate to a peep sight or a telescopic sight.

Just my opinion.

S.M.

I'd stick to the sights that came on the rifle......get fancy when you have basics down.
Start with gun safety, then sight aliment, then breathing, trigger control..........

Just my opinion.

A lot will depend on what design rifle you purchase.

The break barrel "springer" type rifles almost always come with "open sights" due to the placement of the sights on the barrel forward of the receiver. Those rifles depend on a notch or ball detent to maintain the barrel in the same position from shot to shot. That alignment can get sloppy with use. Both sights on the barrel only makes good sense.

Side cockers or pre-charged rifles that are solid from back of the receiver to the muzzle can utilize peep sights with more consistency.

The open sights on my barrel cocker are very precise. Good enough to terrorize the neighborhood feral cats out to 50-75 yards. It will not kill them at that range but it sure gets their attention. Leaps of up to four feet straight up in the air have been recorded. I have noticed they are completely shy of my chicken coop and skirt the fields around the house with an eye cocked toward the porch, just in case.

It is also grooved for mounting an optic and came with one in place. It was a cheap 4x Beeman that wound up in the extra scope box.

Thanks for all the replies. A lot to think about. I was looking at this one on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0024XEXQS/...I2SKXZP5UDHDFG
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._SL1500_.jpg
It has a scope, but also iron sites. It looks like the break open barrel that Kyratshooter was talking about. Maybe I will give the irons a try before looking for a set of peep sites. I don't think I am ready to pay $300+ for a pellet rifle yet. That eliminates some of the more accurate rifles with peep sites pre-installed.

Not sure where you are located but D&L airguns has a pretty good selection of all types of rifles,pistols etc.
D

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Originally Posted by Duece

Not sure where you are located but D&L airguns has a pretty good selection of all types of rifles,pistols etc.
D

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I am not in Canada, but their site does give me a lot of ideas to search for in the US. Thanks.

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Originally Posted by finallyME

Thanks for all the replies. A lot to think about. I was looking at this one on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0024XEXQS/...I2SKXZP5UDHDFG
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._SL1500_.jpg
It has a scope, but also iron sites. It looks like the break open barrel that Kyratshooter was talking about. Maybe I will give the irons a try before looking for a set of peep sites. I don't think I am ready to pay $300+ for a pellet rifle yet. That eliminates some of the more accurate rifles with peep sites pre-installed.

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I own one. The scope is not so good, and the rear sites are loose, with no way to tighten them. You can be relatively accurate with them, but you have to make sure the sights are consistent between shots. The way I did that was to push them to the same side every time (since it's single shot, it's not that huge of a deal compared to wanting to continue shooting a semi-auto rifle). It is an extra step, but my rear sight slides sideways a bit over 1/16" IIRC, which means a lot of variation in POA.

There are some mixed reviews about the rifle, some very mixed. I suggest tightening the screws and being very careful adjusting the sights.

I ended up being more accurate with the sights alone than with the scope, which would not hold zero despite being made for the recoil of an air rifle. The rings may also be to blame, but for as little as I paid for it, I don't find it worth the cost of buying different sets of rings and new scopes just to find out.

Also: It has taken more than its fair share of squirrels.

It's a bit more accurate with somewhat heavier pellets, but not too heavy. And round nose does a bit better than wad cutters. That said, cheap-o Crosman pellets never keyholed for me at 25 yards, and were reasonably accurate for paper.

Whatever you purchase check the weight of the weapon. Some of those pellet rifles can be heavier than a standard rifle.

To reiterate what everyone already said when my kids were very young I started them out with tiny little daisy BB guns that were the right size and weight for them, then moved up in size and weight (also recurve bows etc.) Most of the scopes that come with low to medium priced air guns are junk as are the open sights (aka iron sights). Amazon is fine but if a local gun shop or even Cabelas (a personal friend is manager of gun counter at one of those so I must plug that place) should be able to recommend the best one for your needs and special order it for you, possibly even price match, though I would not feel right asking for that due to the service.

Which pellets offer greatest accuracy etc. BBs are terrible, plastic soft-air and paint guns are a complete waste of money and time IMO.

One thing that is not necessary but I found helpful was to mount a cheap laser sight to the trigger guard, align it close but not exactly on. This gives me an idea how steady the kid is holding the rifle as the red dot "swims" around the target. Is he/she squeezing and breathing properly or jerking trigger. It was also fun with some buddies at a father daughter campout after the girls went to sleep, we had many adult beverages, had paper targets on cord with wooden clothes pins. Every time a guy (mostly me) would go over to pin up a new target you can imagine where the red dot would wander. Lots of laughs. Small BB guns making guys (mostly me) jump… Ha Ha Ha

Generally a small diameter (caliber) projectile at a high velocity will give you the most accuracy but there are other considerations as well. The air rifle I use the most to shoot varmints in my yard discretely (not tick off the neighbors) is a piece of junk Daisy Powerline 880 0.177 CAL (4.5mm). Purchased years ago with open sights added cheap scope later, but it is useless in low light. Using the best pellets I can find the cluster is fairly tight, and pumping it up 8-10 times I can kill (neck shot) or at least drop all the cotton tails, and bushy tailed tree rats in my yard then run over and humanly finish them off with a quick squeeze, crush or twist if occasionally necessary. If someone does call a LEO on me and they take my air gun away it is just a cheap Daisy I will put on an Oscar winning performance and whine a lot but no big loss actually. Small gun I alway hide at my side when not behind privacy fence, no one has ever complained, I look like a long bearded mountain man who has been drinking whisky all day long for a week straight. Should probably post an avatar for you to enjoy.

With luck you might find something like this at a yard sale, the air gun not the whisky.

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Originally Posted by finallyME

Thanks for all the replies. A lot to think about. I was looking at this one on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0024XEXQS/...I2SKXZP5UDHDFG
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._SL1500_.jpg
It has a scope, but also iron sites. It looks like the break open barrel that Kyratshooter was talking about. Maybe I will give the irons a try before looking for a set of peep sites. I don't think I am ready to pay $300+ for a pellet rifle yet. That eliminates some of the more accurate rifles with peep sites pre-installed.

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I have this one along with a dozen others including some 15.00 china made flee market single pump break over models. I'm not sure how old your kids are but this one has a significant cocking weight my 10 year old girl cant cock this one. Also there is too much recoil for the scope you cant get it zeroed for more than a few shots you will spend a week in frustration before you throw it away, the iron sights on mine are fine and accurate. I have a couple 1-10 pump models that the kids enjoy shooting more and those will shoot BBs or pellets. I would classify the one you are looking at more as an entry level Adult model. My favorite is the Benjamin 392 in that price range, its a very quality bolt action pellet gun so you avoid the whole break over barrel inaccuracy mess this rifle is very accurate and very deadly, I'm not a huge fan of the single pump break over style. Its mostly made in USA with mostly USA parts...lol.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Benjamin-3...-Rifle/5420297

randallss7 the Benjamin 392 is an excellent choice for that price range.

If someone was willing to spend significantly more and wanted even more muzzle velocity (flat trajectory) the Benjamin Discovery in either 0.177 (1000 fps) or 0.22 (900 fps with more knock down) would be good for hunting small to medium size varmints and target practice. Not dealing with spring-piston issues is great, also the sights, stock and just about everything is better than lower end air rifles but still not the same as super high end competition air rifles. Here is a good review and good web site for almost everything air gun related.

http://thebestairrifle.com/benjamin-...ery-22-review/

Note that Gamo brand rifles are generally more quite than Benjamin. This may not be an issue for you.

Thread drifting a bit but if you want to fool with it you can replace the LEDs in a very high powered flashlight with infrared LEDs (use a precision soldering iron) then attach a camcorder with night vision behind your iron sights or scope (use duct tape and/or velcro) to do some night hunting of varmints such as rats or opossums etc.

Here is a link to a fun video from the "AirRifle" site I mentioned above.

http://thebestairrifle.com/air-rifle...-night-vision/

When I was a kid, my friends and I just held flashlights next to the stocks of our guns and took photos after, but this live video of hunting and rats jumping from head and neck shots is much more fun. Or gross, whatever.

I have never heard of the Benjamin rifles....so thanks. Also, thanks for the link with the comparisons. Learning a lot here.

Oh, that night vision vid. No good can come of that.

"Mr. Crash. It's 11 O'clock at night. Don't you guys have set hours?"
"Ssshhh. Be bery bery quiet. I'm hunting wats."

Night vision would good for BYB........the cheapo lasers will light up an eye in the dark......Just saying.

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Originally Posted by finallyME

I have never heard of the Benjamin rifles....so thanks. Also, thanks for the link with the comparisons. Learning a lot here.

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Crosman and Benjamin are owned by the same parent company effectively but aimed at different market segments more or less, this much market overlap make it complicated. Read this history:

http://www.crosman.com/discover/cros...ory-of-crosman

Years ago I thought Daisy Outdoors and Gamo were at one time owned by the same parent company but I searched and could not find info on this. These companies are bought and sold and reorganized quite often. It is very confusing.

Some medium level air guns with "iron sights" (open sights for us old coots) and also PCP repeater which I like for "hunting wats" as Rick says preferably down by the garbage dump. Real sneaky like so as to fill the gunny sack full.

http://www.topairgun.com/repeating-pcp-air-rifles

If all that pays well you can save up enough to upgrade to some proper lead spitters and shop from this list of competition air rifles:

http://www.topairgun.com/competition-air-rifles

Note that even Daisy Avanti makes a relatively higher end competition rifle but you would never find it at you local Wal-Mart.

Also I would never use any of these to shoot at fussy tailed tree rats in my front or back yard because about 5 years ago some "bleeding heart" whatevers passed an ordinance in my suburban city prohibiting the use all but soft air (plastic BB) guns. So quiet and cheap air rifles are key for me. Blowpipe are still OK. Most 0.22 Cal air rifles are almost as loud as a 0.22 firearm even with the silencer device on the end of the muzzle. FYI.

BTW when "hunting wats" or something more delicious for survival dinner here is a source for night sights:
http://www.beamq.com/laser-rifle-sights-c-71.html

Or replace head light or flashlight LEDs yourself and attach small IR camcorder behind iron sights as I mentioned before. Here is a source for 10 LED at about 50 cents each:
http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/...3fcaArru8P8HAQ

Edit: BeamQ also sells high powered infrared LEDs that are much more dangerous. Use safety glasses for that are especially designed for this if you use IR laser sights and use extreme caution. People have permanently damaged their vision with these. Common sense is not enough this is VERY DANGEROUS! light is powerful and not visible. I recommend regular IR flashlights and IR camcorders over lasers.

I hear a joke coming from Rick about a Mother Goose rhyme...

These are the air guns I saw at a local Wal-Mart all "Barrel Break" "spring-piston", most only had a scope but a few also had "iron sights". I know nothing about BlackOpsUSA, so looked it up appears to be mostly a toy company that makes air guns. Swiss Arms is better IMO, they also make actual firearms.

http://www.swissarms.ch/en/aboutus.html

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Note that the Beeman dual Caliber is a fairly decent rifle for the price but typically only comes with a scope not iron sights so verify that these fit it but for about an extra $10 add rear and then front as well:
http://www.archerairguns.com/Rear-Si...nrearsight.htm

Also figure out away to prevent the allen bolt from coming loose with Loctite or something.

archerairguns and other retailers sell iron sights of various qualities that fit most rifles and pistols but be very sure it will fit yours because there is a wide range of mounting rail styles. Front sights can also pose a problem. You can also purchase almost competition quality iron sights for some air guns for about $30 or more. Compared to the terrible sights on a gun like the Daisy Powerline 880 that never stay in place and require a hot glue gun, superglue or nail polish to keep in place. Also loading pellets into this piece of junk is a PITA. OH I should not rant about a $50 plastic toy gun marketed for children. LOL