Fixed Sight Limits

[rWt]

At distances under 100 yards, are you at any disadvantage if you use a fixed-sighted revolver with replacement front sight blades?

[carl]

In my opinion, it depends on how well the sights "line up". I.E. does POA coincide with POI? A tiny bit off at shorter ranges can become significant at your specified "long range".

JMHO,

Carl

[boxhead]

Ditto Carl with the adder that sight picture is critical and fixed sighted guns are often lacking in this regard making hitting last 50 yards or so much more difficult for me.

[rep1954]

I think the sights that Dustin Linebaugh did for Boge Quinn on his 4.0" .500 Linebaugh Bisley are the equal of any adjustable sight as far sight picture and much cleaner looking. I dont know anyone who goes out hunting with a open sight revolver and a screw driver and changes thier sights before taking a shot. It's just a matter of knowing where your gun shoots between and at a 100 yard zero. I dont think there are any stock fixed sight guns that I would take out of the box and try to use at that range just because of the rounded off corners of the front sights and the cylinder frame causing a glare that causes the sight picture to change from the light hitting them from different directions. 40 yards is about all I would use standard cowboy sights out to.

[s0therngunner]

In my opinion it is all about learning what your weapon will do at different ranges and stay within those limits. Personally I am the limiting factor in what my guns can do not the sights.

[Fowler]

Fixed sighted guns have a lot of good and bad to them. On one hand once to find a accurate load that you like and you have decided to marry the gun to FOREVER you sight the gun in by regulating it to the load. Sure you can play with loads but you really should stick to one and only one load for optimum results.

So once to get this one load picked out and sighted in you just shot the gun, near, far wherever the target is you practice. You get to know instinctively what the sight picture must be at all ranges, you become one with the gun if you do it right.

Yes unless you do something like the Dustin Linebaugh sight insert the sight picture is inferior to a sight picture from a adjustable sighted gun generally. But it is always the same, it doesn't move, the springs dont fall out, it cant get bumped. Is it better? No it just has a few advantages, and a few disadvantages but if you understand them they can be wonderful guns.

Dustin Linebaugh has carried the same 475 Linebaugh that he and his father made when he was 16. He shoots a 425gr LFNGC over 24.0gr of H110 exclusively in this gun, it runs about 1200fps. I don't know if he has a rear sight insert in his gun now but I know he didn't have one in it for years. I know a bunch of guys who have seen him shoot 4" groups offhand with this gun at 100 yards! I know he killed a Alaskan Grizzly at 176 yards with 3 hits from 3 shots. He is good enough with this gun and load that he was not being a slob. He had rifle backups if he wounded the animal, he told me the bears chest was very large and he was completely confident he could get the slug into the bears chest and let it do its work. As it was the bear was angled such that he broke the onside shoulder and the bullet angled back and up breaking its back. The two follow up shots were just to insure a quick death, it was not going any where.

I have a 45 colt Bisley Vaquero that Dustin tuned and installed a drift front sight with 2 gold bars for long range. I settled on a 335gr LFNGC bullets at 1050fps, it is very accurate, fairly mild to shoot, and heavy enough for anything I will hunt with a handgun in North America.

I will not say it is a better mouse trap, I have 2 fixed sighted single actions and a pile of adjustable sighted guns, they work better for my eyes. That having been said my Bisley Vaquero will be one of the last guns to ever go from my stable...

[boxhead]

I thought the original posting of Dustin Linebaugh's bear wrote of a head shot???

[Fowler]

Nope

www.dustinlinebaugh.com/alaska-grizzly-hunt.htm

I spoke to him one day about it in detail. Pretty impressive....

[cottonstalk]

But I think the fixed sight limit alot of times is the shooter,it's like rep said earlier we all go to the field with fixed sight revolvers,because no one adjust in the field.