.400 NE has brought up some points I guess I should have made clear in my earlier posts. My beads measure 1/16" or a bit finer on my hunting rifles. They are round only in profile, with a flat face, angled slightly, which catches light across it's entire face, not on the sides. They have a sharp edge all the way around. If there's enough light to see open sights, the front sight gleams round from the avilable light. It is quite evident that good scopes allow shooting later and earlier than do irons, but then, this is about iron sights. At rendezvous, guys with silver blades are the ones complaining of having point of impact shifts dependent on the angle of the sun, and asking if anyone has a felt pen handy.
: To have a rifle sighted for a 6 o'clock hold - is that on a 6" bull, 8" or whatever. To hold a 1/16" bead at 6 o'clock, the centre of that bead is going to be several inches below the bottom of the bull, maybe 3" or maybe 4", depending on how much light you have to see. To be sure of a 6 o'clock hold, one must see about 1" of light between the bead and the bull, otherwise the bead creeps up into the bull. For a centre-bull hit to happen, the bullet will be striking 1/2 the diameter of the bull above the 'light' which is above the bead. That puts it at least 6" to 8" above the centre of the bead. On a running shot, or quick shot at an animal at 100 yards, be it a deer or similar sized animal, the bullet is already striking 6" to 8" high, which means a miss over the centre of a deer having a 12" kill zone. Put the deer or pig whatever out at 150 yards, with a bit of a drop inbetween the hunter and game, and the bullet is now 10" or more abouve the bead and several above the animal. Where do you hold, as instinct tells you to put the bead on the animal. Only by luck will it be hit, therefore having the centre of the bead being point of impact only makes sense. the small bead doesn't cover all the target one might think. Huge beads put on model 94 wincheters need to be replaced. With a file and a bit of skill, one can change their mickey-mouse rear U notch into a wide shallow V and replace the front sight with a small ivory bead. Now, you have a hunting sight that works close in, or for that 200 yard shot across the meadow or 'park' as guys south of the border are wont to call them. I have just such sights on my 1978 XTR Big Bore 94 .375. That rifle, with those sights will put 3 fst conseutive shots into 1-1/2" at 100 meters. Good enough for me, and for the 2 moose I shot with it back in the early 80's. Both were 95 to 100 meters away, and both shots were snap shots, fired fast, as only these sights will allow. I tried a Williams Aperature and quickly took it off, puttin the V back on.
; Raising one notch on the elevator gives me a 200 meter zero. It's fast, and repeatable. could it be better - not likely - but I'm open to suggestions.