Front sight - hooded or not?

[Safari Dave]

For those of you who like to use open sights on DG bolt-actions, do you prefer the front sight to be hooded or not?


Most of mine are hooded, but I think I can come to target faster without a hood after a short practice session Friday afternoon.

 

[Rare Breed]

Interesting. On my 500 NE DR I am trying to shoot open sights. The front is hooded and I am struggling to pick up the sight

 

[Safari Dave]

My 470 NE DR has an unhooded front sight and I can pick it up quite easily.


Meet me at Cherokee Gun Club in Gainesville one weekday, and we can have a DR slugfest!

 

[Rare Breed]

Would absolutely love that!!!!

 

[mdwest]

both my 375 and 416 have hooded front sights..

I don't know that I actually prefer them that way, so much as that's the sight that was on the 375 when I got it (Win 70) and that's the way the front sight came from the factory when I ordered it for the 416 (Williams fire-sight).

 

[SFRanger7GP]

I remove the hood if I plan to use the irons.

Safe shooting

 

[Hunter4752001]

I know in precision pistol shooting disciplines, the brightness and direction in which sunlight hits the front sight can cause several inches of change in POI. The brighter side or top of the sght fools the eye as to where center is. I suspect that DG rifles use hoods to minimize that effect.

 

[freefall]

I find the hood to be a protection when storing or transporting the tool, but find it distracting (obstructive?) in actual use. All my hoods are easily removable by thumb, so I just pop them off before heading out to fire shots.
YMMV

 

[Tanks]

My biggest pet peeve with hoods is that recoil kicks them off eventually. So, no hoods for me. Now, if you are using a rat caliber like a .375, then no issue.

 

[Safari Dave]

I hunted hyenas last year at night with a night vision device mounted to a scope on a rifle with a hooded front sight.

The IR beam bounced off the hood and I couldn't remove the hood to save my life.


My PH had a hand held IR illuminator, so he would "illuminate" the bait from time time to time when he thought he heard something.


(a hyena never came along)

 

[meigsbucks]

My .375 has a hooded front sight. I usually use a scope, but do practice with the irons. I like the additional protection it adds, but really don’t like shooting with it.
Not a DG rile, but a Ruger Scout Rifle has protective wings and I much prefer those.

 

[RLL]

First rifle I bought had a hood. Couldn’t pick up the sights properly and the recoil eventually knocked it off. I found the hood to be a hinderance in the long run, in varying light conditions and situations.

 

[Frederik]

I'm not a fan of the hood my new 7x57 CZ550 still has its hood but I'm sure I will remove it sooner than later.
Added to my list of things to do before hunting this weekend.

 

[spike.t]

First thing I do is pull them off....even if they possibly not supposed to come off....really can't stand them......

 

[zephyr]

Built a 505 Gibbs for a hunt this past August Iron Sights only Hood was used for transportation only ..Just in case carried an extra front sight in a the grip cap

 

[RockSlinger404]

First thing I do is pull them off....even if they possibly not supposed to come off....really can't stand them......

+1!!! On my new CZ550 that was the first thing I did.

 

[BeeMaa]

Had one on my CZ550 375H&H and it must have popped off half a dozen times before I stopped putting it on. It was more of a look than practical application to me.

In all my years of hunting, I don’t recall ever wishing I had one. None of my current rifles have them and I don’t believe I’ll have one in the future.

 

[MS 9x56]

First thing I do with any rifle I buy, if it has a hood I remove it and put it in a box and put it away in my gun cabinet. That box is getting kind of full now but honestly I never found a reason for them. Some say they protect the sight. From what I don’t use a bayonet on my hunting rifles!

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

Personally I do not use a hood on any of my rifles except visiting hunter loaner rifles. I insist that the hoods stay on those, replacement sights are hard to come by.

On the approximately 20 rifles that I take care of and repair for CAMPFIRE almost all are missing their front sight. Many I have been able to put a hood on (from my very limited supply) when those rifles are returned for the next repair session if the hood was still intact so is the front sight. If the hood is missing then so will be the front sight.

I believe the only thing more annoying than a front sight hood is no front sight.

Lon

 

[Wiley64]

Can the hood be removed on a new 375 model 70?