Winchester 94/1967

[stephen59]

I have a Winchester 94 which I use to target shoot.I've been grouping about 3-4inchs at 50 yards with open sights. Normally I would put a scope on it and shoot longer to 100yard.
My eyes are older now. I believe only shooting what I can see.
I've noticed in my research that peep sights seem to be the way to go weather tang mounted
or receiver mounted. How accurate are they? My goal is to shoot under 2" groups at 100 yards. Is this possible? I appreciate your advice.
Stephen

[J Miller]

I have a Winchester 94 which I use to target shoot.I've been grouping about 3-4inchs at 50 yards with open sights. Normally I would put a scope on it and shoot longer to 100yard.
My eyes are older now. I believe only shooting what I can see.
I've noticed in my research that peep sights seem to be the way to go weather tang mounted
or receiver mounted. How accurate are they? My goal is to shoot under 2" groups at 100 yards. Is this possible? I appreciate your advice.
Stephen

Stephen,

Welcome to the forum.

Yes 2" at 100yds is very doable with peep sights. It's doable with open sights if you can see. And it also depends on your sight picture too. Well ... for me it does. I use the 6:00 hold and set my target right on top of my front sight. The bead is the bull type of hold just does not work for me. If I can't see the target, I can't hit it.

If your 94 is a 1967 vintage like the topic title indicates it will already be drilled and tapped for side mount receiver sights. Either a Williams FP 94/36 or a Lyman 66A will mount right up without any gun smithing at all. Might not even need a new front sight unless you want to go from the bead to a post.

Joe

[stephen59]

Thanks for the advice. Is there much advantage with the tang style verses the receiver style peeps?

[KCSO]

The military at one time determined that the average eye could focus iron sights of the 03 type into 4" groups average at 100 yards. Peep sights and a good hold should be good for 1/2 that easy and target peeps with a Hadley eye cup will bring you down to about 1 1/2" or less pretty easy. I use to shoot a #4 Enfield with Parker Hale peeps out to 600 yards and 100 yard groups were as good as the gun was capable of holding, always under 1 1/2" at 100. If you do peeps get an adjustable eye cup or several disks for hunting and target and depending on the light you may on any give day have to have a larger or smaller disk.

[J Miller]

Thanks for the advice. Is there much advantage with the tang style verses the receiver style peeps?

Stephen,
I don't know. I don't have enough experience with tang sights to make a valid comparison. From other folks posts here, some really like them, some don't (I'm in that group), and some are non committal.

KCSO,
I think the military has underestimated the accuracy of peep sights. I know that years back before my eyes hit that 40 year old slump and I got fat and arthritic, I could easily do better than 2" groups with the larger aperture that comes with the Williams and Lyman sights on any Win 94 I owned. And the No 4 Mk 1 I had then would do an easy 1" group all day long with the small hole in the flip up sight.
Those other apertures will surely help, but I'm firmly in the belief that 4" groups at 100 yards with a peep sight is terrible.

Joe

[Pisgah]

The advantage of a tang sight is the increased sight radius. It IS an advantage, but it does not come without cost. The tang sight is inherently more fragile than a receiver sight (which is why I won't use one without a backup, like a barrel-mounted folding rear), and some folks find its location, which just about always requires the shooter modify the way he grips the stock, is a pain in the buttocks.

A receiver sight can certainly give you great 100 yard accuracy. Be aware that such a setup can be "tuned", even actually "focused" to give you a sharp sight picture. A finer front sight, or a front sight with a different shape, can help a bunch (for instance, I have found a thin silver blade ideal for me). And trying different-diameter rear peep inserts will eventually give you a razor-sharp focus.

[stephen59]

thanks to all of you for the info. I'll give it a try and keep you posted. Stephen