How To Zero A Rifle With Open Sights 30-30
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Who is Ron Spomer
For 44 years I’ve had the good fortune to photograph and write about my passion - the outdoor life. Wild creatures and wild places have always stirred me - from the first flushing pheasant that frightened me out of my socks in grandpa’s cornfield to the last whitetail that dismissed me with a wag of its tail. In my attempts to connect with this natural wonder, to become an integral part of our ecosystem and capture a bit of its mystery, I’ve photographed, hiked, hunted, birded, and fished across much of this planet. I've seen the beauty that everyone should see, survived adventures that everyone should experience. I may not have climbed the highest mountains, canoed the wildest rivers, caught the largest fish or shot the biggest bucks, but I’ve tried. Perhaps you have, too. And that’s the essential thing. Being out there, an active participant in our outdoor world.
All loading, handloading, gunsmithing, shooting and associated activities and demonstrations depicted in our videos are conducted by trained, certified, professional gun handlers, instructors, and shooters for instructional and entertainment purposes only with emphasis on safety and responsible gun handling. Always check at least 3 industry handloading manuals for handloading data, 2 or 3 online ballistic calculators for ballistic data. Do not attempt to duplicate, mimic, or replicate anything you see in our videos. Firearms, ammunition, and constituent parts can be extremely dangerous if not used safely.
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Disclaimer
All loading, handloading, gunsmithing, shooting and associated activities and demonstrations depicted in our videos are conducted by trained, certified, professional gun handlers, instructors, and shooters for instructional and entertainment purposes only with emphasis on safety and responsible gun handling. Always check at least 3 industry handloading manuals for handloading data, 2 or 3 online ballistic calculators for ballistic data. Do not modify any cartridge or firearm beyond what the manufacturer recommends. Do not attempt to duplicate, mimic, or replicate anything you see in our videos. Firearms, ammunition, and constituent parts can be extremely dangerous if not used safely. - กีฬา
I have a little bit of advice for anyone adjusting the windage on an open rear sight. I place a piece of tape on the barrel directly in front of the pointer on the rear sight. I then use a fine point pen to mark the exact location of the pointer on the tape. This provides a reference point when you are driving the sight in either direction. You will know when you moved the sight and by how much. You can then make appropriate adjustments back or forth until you get the windage correct. This keeps you from banging back and forth without a reference point😊.
I do the same thing, some time just a marker.
Thanks John. Great idea.
This is exactly what I do.
I Use a Paint Pen Then Just Wipe The Paint Off With Some Zippo Lighter Fluid 😀
Nail polish works, what I've heard. Dab on the barrel and sight, and you can gauge how much movement happens.
I have used .30 caliber rifles most of my life hunting deer here in southeast Oklahoma. Mostly open sights. I have used the .30-.30, .300 Savage, .308 and the .30-06. In sighting these guns in open sighted I have always used a fine sight (front bead in the bottom of the notch in back sight). I have always set my target at 25 yards. According to ballistics of the .30 caliber by sighting your gun in at 25 yards it should be around 1-2 inches high at 100 yards and back on target at 200 yards. Now I am 68 years old and have used this method since I was around 14 years old. I haven’t missed many deer using this method and those that I have missed was not because my sights were off. You must understand that this is no where near precise shooting as they do these days but my method will keep you in the game with a .30 caliber gun!
This is exactly what I do with my thirty thirty :)
I only use open sights on two of my rifles.. the 30-30 Winchester and my Marlin 25 in 22lr. I've tried different rifles .. but came to like the accuracy that a low powered scope brings to the table.
Great advice from a certainly wise man.. thank you
@@lifted_above This video is all about open sights, nothing to do with scopes.
Yep, us oldies have done it that way for a long time..... Dead on at 25 gives about 2 inches high at 50... and about 3"high at 100 and the 30/30 will be on POA at about 150 and about 5" low at 200.... all of which are "minute of deer"........a bit flatter with a.308 or '06, but out to 200 yards the difference is not significant.
With a scope I usually zero most 30s about 3/4" low at 25, to give a similar result, due to the inch of so higher line of sight for an optic.
A lot of the old skills are being lost and everyone has bigger (and heavier) optics with rangefinders and fancy reticles etc. and the old MPBR system of knowing your trajectory is foreign to the young ones these days. Bout my first rifle in 1960... I was almost 18 then.... It was an old P14 .303, the barrel was a bit manky but it worked OK....
I like iron sights, although at 80 my eyes aren't as agile as they were 60 years ago.... a rear aperture is my preference now, in fact I made one for a sporter I made on an old Lee Enfield action a year or two bacl,,,,
Go Cowboys! Go Pokes!
That's some good Ole advice right there, ya can't buy experience
Growing potatoes, wearing flannel and shooting a 30-30.
Three of my favorite things to do.
Great video as always Ron.
…AND having Man’s Best Friend is MY #1!
…And that’s the reason I installed a Williams aperture site on my Marlin 30-30. Accurate, great sight picture, and easy to adjust.
I read their fiber optic fire sight is a great companion to the aperture peep.
Exactly. I installed a Ranger Point Precision peep sight on my Henry 45-70. Probably the best iron sight I’ve ever used.
@@methepeeple Yeah the white or brass dot doesn't stand out much.
Ditto, brother.
Take a no2 lead pencil and mark the rear sight and barrel so you can see if it moves and how much it moves. When done use your gun oil on a gun rag and wipe your pencil mark off
In the Navy, we always said if it doesn't work, use a hammer. If the hammer doesn't work, use a bigger hammer. And adjusting windage is always tricky, but well worth it.
Why would u use a hammer on drum sights?
Thats why I have a 20lb sledge at the house with a 1/2 length handle that I stencled BFH onto the handle 😉
@@wb5mgr You got me beat, I only have an 8lb sledge with a 14" handle. And an old railroad sledge with a 16" handle. Can never have too many hammers. Of all sizes, from tack hammer to Mjolnir.
I thought in the Navy u said hey man wanna snuggle ?
And every tool is a hammer
Anyone else miss buying bolt action rifles with open sights? Me too.
You're acting like they stopped making them, meanwhile all bolt actions are sold with open sights
Great video - there is just something special about a lever-action 30-30.
Ron dont ever stop telling old stories!!!! Its one of the best parts of your channel. I like hearing them. In the last 2 years ive lost my uncle and then my dads oldest and best hunting buddy and then this past july my Dad passed. So all the good old days stories are gone. I look forward to yours. Im 52 and now me and my older brother are the ones left to tell hunting stories to our boys who are now grown.
The cycle of life. Our turn to tell the stories and pass the torch.
I’m in those same shoes.
I will say that I have enjoyed turning over the hunt planning to my grown kids. Three of the four are veterans and I got a kick out of watching them scratch their plans in the sand with a stick. Veterans and their sand tables! It’s a point of pride to watch them plan and execute.
Memories, I remember my first centerfire, Winchester 3030, used half a box of shells. Re read Mr. Jack and got on the black at 50yds.He was my mentor and hero.
That should help a lot of people who don't know how to sight in an open sight rifle. Good video!
Next time adjusting windage, use a strip of "salvaged" paper bar coding from whatever and clear tape it to the barrel right under the arrow tip at the end of the horseshoe sight. use the lines for calibration marks. mark one in center and go from there. Also, use base of spent brass cartridge butted up to sight when hammering to avoid marring or scratching.
Ron, thanks for the model '94 and 30-30 video, any video with those two in it is a hit with me!
I really enjoyed the journey back to basics, thank you for sharing.
Thank you for pushing it too far on the first hit with the hammer. I really didn't fully understand how the sight was set into the gun. The visual helped a lot.
Great video and story! Just a little while ago Who Tee Who was showing Remington producing 30-30 at an amazing rate. My 30-30 story is about my daughter In-laws great uncle. Him and other men guarded the Hoover damn with their 30-30's during the second world war against Japanese fighter's. That's cool, I wish I had met him. By the way I asked Adam from WTW channel to send me a couple of boxes of 30-30. Have a great day Ron and be safe! Sincerely Ruger Rich
Hey Ron can't wait for more vids from you, I'm kind of addicted to your vids now, plenty of knowledge and wisdom, I think I'm buying a 30 30 next,
Thanks Ron
I learn something in pretty much every video of Ron's.
I love the 30-30 round and lever action rifles. I don't hunt much anymore simply because I just don't have the time but I still have all of my rifles. Great tutorial, sir thanks.
I was always told as a kid going to gun shows with Grover Johnson a gun collector I knew that the Buck horn sight was to be used as if it was one half circle of a peep sight.
Thanks Ron for going into details about use of the open sight and adjusting it. I was taught some many years ago . You just made it easier for me to see how to do it . Keep up the good work and teach us what you know and like to past on to the rest of those that are willing to learn.
Loved the end when ya got the bird. Such a good gran dad. Love your videos. Learned a lot from you.
I’ve got a model 94 that was manufactured in April 1919. My grandfather gave it to me in the early 80’s. The front sight is bent, but evidently, that’s how it was sighted in, because it’s accurate.
Bending the front post isn't the recommended method, but some use it.
@@RonSpomerOutdoors lol. Well I don’t know who did, but I like your method better. Had no idea open sights even needed sighting. I haven’t shot it in years, but this video made me want to get it out and shoot some.
Thank you for the great video. This one was particularly helpful to me since I do most of my deer hunting with an open sight m94 Winchester in 30-30.
My first rifle a few years ago is a 1927-ish model 64 lever action Winchester 30 30...I cherish it
Love the story at the beginning and I appreciate seeing the full process with an explanation of your thinking.
I really learned alot from this video. Sight adjustment simplified and demonstrated in fine fashion. Love my 30-30s!
That was a great story about your first deer. Really enjoyed it. The old pumpkin on a post. That's how I sight my open sighted rifles that don't have peeps.
Such a happy and sweet dog, always warms my heart to see it genuinely. Thank you for the video, it really helped me sighting in my old marlin 336 my dad gave me when I was a boy. It meant a lot to me to shoot that old rifle again and have it sighted. Thanks again.
Just got my first ever lever gun in 336 30/30, can't wait to sight it in next week. Thanks Ron for the guidance, muchly appreciated
Thank you. I just bought a Marlin with very similar sights and this was super helpful.
Thanks Ron, enjoyed watching, very informative. Been waiting for my Henry .30-30 side gate since spring.
Hope it arrives before your hunts.
Thanks, Ron, for showing us how to get the job done! Great video!
Glad you liked it Mark.
Much appreciated. On my grandfather's 1899 H Savage, after determining center of the barrel with a micrometer, I made a tiny mark with a sharp edge and aligned the "point" of the buckhorn sight accordingly. This provided me with better information about the actual movement of the sight.
Excellent video Ron. Ive always wanted to see one on iron sights.
Great video Ron,
Thanks, and I'm glad I'm not the only one that shoots for east overshoot with iron sights. just giving you some razz. I always used clear fingernail polish to coat the dove tail area so the sight will stay put. It's just a bit of assurance that it doesn't move in case the rifle gets dropped or I fall in the field with it. My first deer rifle was a good old 30-30.
I love my Winchester 1894`s. I have a long barreled octagon made in 1913 and a carbine made in 1950. The workmanship of these rifles is superb and they shoot great. Great video!
I am 32 years old, and I grew up clean great grandpa’s guns. He was bed ridden the last few years of his life, so we couldn’t get out much, but he’d tell me stories about each gun as I cleaned them. I inherited his 336 - my favorite gun of his. I live in southern Ohio, and have never had the opportunity to use it in the woods. I made a friend in Indiana, and he’s letting me hunt with the old 336 on his property this season. I’m extremely excited, and this video helped me out a ton. Wish me luck, Ron and gang. Thanks.
That’s a great story. I wish you the best of luck with your Grandpa’s rifle. Pass it on to your kids along with the memories.
Thanks for this video Ron! I love the lever guns and have several. Use them on our farms/ranches here in Saskatchewan. I would also like to put a plug in for the 32Win Spl! My 30/30’s are awesome but I also love the 32Win Spl. Great cartridge and underestimated in my opinion. Maybe you have the juice to bring it back to life. 😀 Stay well.
Here in upstate New York, .35 Remington is a popular lever gun cartridge for deer and bear. I love mine, I just wish ammo was easier to find.
The good ole reverse lead. Been awhile since I have heard that and open sights RULE.
Good video Ron, love the old 30/30! I've owned several and a couple of 32s also. My last one was a octagonal barrelled rifle. I still think the carbine with an aperature or a red dot is about as good as it gets for the Whitetail woods!
I learned to use a hammer and a towel to adjust the rear sight from your video, thanks for sharing!
Hunting in my home state of Maine. One of the calibers I seem to always go back to.
That rifle's spot on Ron. Yep it's trial and error with factory open sights on a lever action. I added an adjustable Willams peep sight to my old 30-30 and found it a little more co operative in increments. Thanks for sharing!
Hey Ron great video. My son just bought a 22 l.r. lever action same issue. He was not sure how to move rear site. Now I know what to tell him. Wealth of knowledge you have. Good luck and good hunting.
Hi Ron. Thanks for the refresh. I like my open sights. Wish I could see better!
You and me both, Alpine!
Thanks for sharing! I was needing a reminder on sighting in open sights. The last time I did that was nearly 40 years ago, with a Marlin 60. Bought a Marlin 336Y .30-30 a couple of years ago, but have yet to fire a single round. It's just been sitting in my safe.😁 Maybe this Summer I might actually take it to the range and sight it in.😎
Thanks! You were great that made clear perfect sense! I'm ready to check my 30-30 now
Great video.
I been using a 30 30 marlin,my grandfather gave it to me when I was 16.
Also the year I shot my first deer,a small 4 pointer.
I still get pretty excited and use my 30 30 for deer hunting.
Although not as excited as moose hunting haha.
Love this channel,thanks from 🇨🇦
Using my dads 1974 30-30 this year. Thanks for showing me how to sight it in!
Great video Ron, I spent years trying to teach my Greek uncles you don’t take a hammer to a rifle, then you make this video lol. They never took care though, love that 94
I have a vintage micrometer diopter mounted to to my '61. I was nursing the idea of going to the traditional iron.
This video effectively dissuaded me from that foolish notion.
THANKS!!!
Thanks Ron. Be Well.
Great Rifle Choice Ron 😀👍🏼 Thanks For The Tips 😀
Great tutorial on open sight adjustments. Thank you.
Thanks Ron. I have a 1949 30-30 model 94 i got from my dad. He bought it before I was born. It has always shot 6 inches to the right fro me (I am a lefty) and I have adjusted myself to take many deer even with that drawback. i did not know about the rear sight. i was going to use a press and move the front sight over. Thanks again.
The hold at 50 was perfect and at 100 yard’s because the bullet rises then drops. I’m watching this video because I purchased a marlin 336 to try deer hunting with it this year with just iron sights. I’ve always used 30-06, 270, 300 win mag with a scope just a bolt action rifle. I’ve recently gotten into lever actions and needed to know how to zero the iro sights so thank you for this video.
Great video once again. Due to the issue with ammo shortages the last ~18 months I bought whatever I could. So, different ammo = different ballistics such that each trip to the range I had to zero, and adjusting dovetails+ramps is both a lot of work and rather coarse. My solution? Mini red dot on all my short range rifles (lever-actions and carbines). Not a classic look but infinitely easier and quicker, and dare say more accurate due to unobstructed sight picture and no guesswork on where to position the front bead with respect to both the rear sight and target, especially as I go back and forth between different rifles. Anyway, a bit pricey but it's worked fantastically for me.
Thank you once again for your instruction.
Would love to see you do a sight in with Win. 94 30-30 using peep sights.
Just a thought….
Thanks again
I went with skinner winged rear peep sight and winged front sight on my JM stamped 1979 marlin 336 in 30-30...fastest best pointing rifle in my vault. Ron you are a national treasure and should be protected at all cost 💪👊
Love the splitting mall.
Brilliant, thanks Ron !!
Great seeing your dog helping with the potato harvest and out on the upland bird hunt. That new model 94 looks like a keeper!!!
Thanks. I just wish I could get her to dig more efficiently. Yes, the 94 seems to be well built, solid, and shooting quite nicely.
I always enjoy your videos
I used to hunt with an old man from Sebring FL down in the Everglades, He used a Winchester 30-30 with no sights. He always brought meat to the camp. You brought back some memories, Thank you 😎👍🍻
He just lined up the top of the gun whit the target?
Great video. Nice to show the real work it takes to adjust iron sights. On my 30-30s I used to get a rectangle of masking tape and draw incremental dots and lay it on the barrel. I’d line up the centre dot on the point of the windage sight and so I’d have a reference when drifting it. This seemed to help a lot if I went to far but I’d just go one dot at a time.
Excellent, Larry.
My first deer rifle too. A single shot rifle. My first deer... a 150 yard shot, too. All at age 15.
My 30-30s are still to date... my very favorite rifles....
And I'm a 300 Savage, 356/358, 6.5X55 user regular user....
And I always have at least one 30-30 near by!
.
This was very enjoyable Ron like all your videos. Thanks
Thanks Ron for sharing. I do this a little different to save ammo: using a tape measure and vernier caliper and the idea of similar triangles.
For example, take the depth gauge end of the vernier (pointy pin that sticks out from the end when you move it), and get the horizontal distance from the barrel or stock edge to the side of the rear sight. Get a few readings to make sure you're consistent. Then press the zero button on the caliper.
The formula for moving the sight (convert all numbers to inches first) would be horizontal rear sight move needed (inches) = sight radius x error / distance from front sight to target. In your case the numbers are 50 yards or 1800 inches, 2.5 inch error, 17 inch sight radius, using the formula will result 17inches x 2.5 inches / 1800 inches = 0.024 inches. So you tap the sight in the desired direction until your previously zeroed vernier reads 0.024 inches.
Note that this formula also works for vertically raising the rear sight, so you could have measured the sight notch difference, and using the result above, noticed that a difference of 0.024 would give you about 2.5 inches change at 50 yards and 5 inches at 100 yards. I'd be inclined to make a shim because those notches are around .080 inches apart, (going from memory) and will make too much of a change.
Note that the formula above can be used to calculate approximate front sight adjustments, but using the target to rear sight distance if a more exact value is needed.
love it 🙂
Thanks, looking for just how to sight in my 30-30 and my .35 Rem. Knew if I looked long enough I’d find your answer.
My first rifle was a Savage 340 in 30 30 it's shot a lot of deer. I owned four different lever action 30-30. Best hundred and fifty yard deer rifle ever made.
Thanks for sharing this Ron. I have always wanted a lever gun, but I want mine in either a 44 Mag or 45/70 since my brother and father have 30-30s and those cartridges are legal in my neighbor state of Ohio. I know that the principles are the same. My youngest brother shoots his Marlin 336 with iron sights and shoots it rather well.
Ide be so proud to make a perfect correction like that on open sights at that distance. Thanks for the info! I will be trying this very soon.
Best upgrade for model 94 is a set of aperture sights. Many companies offer them and they're easier to adjust and shoot well with. After replacing the sights there is a plug for the rear sight dovetail available. Aperture sights also change where the light reaching your eye is focused and this creates sort of a lens, which can help those of us with older eyes.
When I was younger and knew everything, an old timer in Canada told me a peep sight was the fastest sight for hunting and I blew him off thinking he didn't know what he was talking about. As usual, he was 100% right and I was an idiot.
That sounds like pretty pertinant advice, especially given my aging eyes and despite my aging stubborness.
@@bdwilcox I haven't seen a peep sight in ages. I remember a kid in the boy scouts had a .22 with a peep site.
Thanks Ron.
I love your English Setter❤️
Thanks..its all in the rear sight. Basic move it in the direction you want the point of impact to change
Having Ron as an older Brother growing up would’ve been cool !
Loved the story, loved the video. Thanks!
I have a 1970 Western Field 740a EMN { Marlin re-badged for Wards } , had same problem , fought with it for years , never liked the sights , tried aftermarket day glo front sight , finally gave up on the open sights and put a scope on it 😀 Now it's a tack driver at 100 yards , nice video though .
Great video! Thank you
Thanks for making this video I've been wondering how you zero open sights
Takes me back to middle of nowhere mountains Pennsylvania. First day was sighting in.
That was very good information. Reminds me of shooting archery. Open sight? That might be fun. 150gr in 30-30 and 350 legend are the same in drop at 200 yards. Thats with the Winchester calculator.
Thanks for the info Ron your the best
As always thankyou for the video i love watching and learning from you. I have old eyes and unfortunately yesterday with my new Marlin 336 .30-30 i had lots trouble trying to sight in with open sights. The trouble i have is even though the front sight post is reasonably clear I can’t see the target well enough to line up the post consistently for each shot, therefore the groups were just terrible. I love open sights & really didnt want a scope on this rifle so i am thinking of a red dot 🔴 instead. Anyway didnt mean to whine about my problems! Thanks again for an informative and entertaining video 👍
Cheers
Jeff
(Down Under Australia 🇦🇺)
I hear you, Jeff, and feel your pain. Try this. Focus on the target to line up the front post, then -- trying to not move the rifle -- shift focus to the front post and let the target go fuzzy. Align the sharp post with the fuzzy blob and launch. Works for some of us. Otherwise your red dot or a 4X scope are good options.
Awesome vedio love the 30 30 🇿🇦
Nice video, I celebrated with you when you finally nailed your windage adjustment, very cool! 🎉
Thanks for showing us how sight in iron sights. I learn something new with everyone of your videos. You’re just too cool Ron!
✌️😎👍
Thanks Mike. I'll have to show the kids your note!
@@RonSpomerOutdoors You’ve gotta be one of the coolest dads/grandpas to have. If ever looking to adopt a 54 year old guy that’s eager to learn everything you can teach…let me know! ✌️😎👍
Good video, probably the only one I've ever seen on a Buckhorn sight.
I use a pencil to make a mark on the barrel where the point of the rear sight is so I can see when the sight moves.
When I have to move a rear sight like that I place a piece of tape on the barrel in front of the sight. Place a mark on the tape in front of the point on the sight. This will let you know how much the sight moves.
I carry a piece of plastic, I have some 1" square plastic left over from other projects, to use as as punch. This won't hurt the gun.
On some of my older military rifles the rear sight don't move, so you move the front sight. The same works on them too.
And don't forget, you move the rear sight in the direction you want your point of impact to move, when moving the front sight, you move it in the opposite direction.
Love my Winchester model 94 30-30, I use William's peep sights
worth the time watching just to hear the old stories, lol. Clay
Adjusting open sights is a good cardio workout.
Although I changed out my original buckhorn sights on my 94 with a Williams foolproof receiver sight. Prior to that when adjusting windage I would take a white crayon mark both the sight and the barrel. This way I could see how far I'm drifting over the sight in comparison to the reference mark on the barrel.
Thanks, and beautiful dog!
Ron, next time you tweak that sight, put an index card or other stiff paper under the slider to keep it from scratching the barrel. I use a silver Sharpie to mark the starting point at the front of the sight, so I can have a reference. Good video.
Draw a line on the barrel with a pencil just in front of the point of the sight. That will help you judge how far you have moved the sight from the original position when you hit it with a hammer. Makes corrections easier if you go to far. When you are done erase the mark.
Beautiful rifle - mine is a model 94 30-30 made in 1957
This was a nice video. The story of nice memories. Informative sighting technique. Most of all, I enjoyed your homage to Click and Clack, The Tappet Brothers. Tom and Ray Magliozzi.
~ Stay healthy, happy, and safe.~