how do you shoot with a "ghost ring" or "One Ragged Hole"?

[woodperson]

Put the sights on. Practiced dry firing at about 10 feet in the shop. Everything looks great and it looks like I could hit an ant.

Go to the range. 25'. All over the place. Not sure what to look at or what the sight picture should be. With a blade front and square notch in the back I know to concentrate on the sights and let it wobble over the target (blurred). With the ring sight I really do not know how it should be. I guess the front sight should be in focus?

I am going to have to get awful close to make "one ragged hole" the way it is now. Any suggestions appreciated. On one of the guns I went from a ultra dot to a one ragged hole sight. I shot a lot better with the ultra dot.

 

[GunnyGene]

This is about the best pic I could find. May differ somewhat from your sights, but the sight picture should look similar. Fuzzy rear, sharp post centered. Your eye should take care of centering intuitively if you can maintain focus on the front post. Takes some practice and a solid shooting position - especially cheek weld. I suggest you use a rest at first to get used to it.

I've been using peeps since '58, so it's pretty easy for me, but they're not for everyone.

 

[Snake45]

Yes, you just focus on the front sight. The theory is that your eye and brain will automatically put it in the center of the ring, or, at least, in the same place every time (everyone's eyes and brains are different).

I've done some work with ghost rings and have never found them to be any faster--and they're sure not more accurate--than a standard GI-diameter peep sight. I'm not a fan.

I readily admit that maybe I just need more experience with the things. A lot more, I imagine.

 

[pisgah]

Ignore the peep -- look through it, not at it, focus on the front sight, put it where you want the shot to go. Trust your eye. Once you get the hang of a peep sight, it is nearly as accurate as shooting with a scope and faster than any other sighting arrangement.

 

[woodperson]

How do you get a good cheek weld with a handgun? I actually try not to do that.

Just teasing. I guess I forgot to say that these 2 sights are on revolvers.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Peep sights/ghost rings work great on rifles. Not so well on handguns. To get a large field of view and for a ghost ring/peep sight to work well it needs to be close to the eye, I would say no farther than 5-6" for it to work for me.

 

[GunnyGene]

How do you get a good cheek weld with a handgun? I actually try not to do that.

Just teasing. I guess I forgot to say that these 2 sights are on revolvers.

I assumed a rifle. Never saw them on a handgun. Learn something new everyday. :wink: That being the case, you might never get a good sight picture due to the short distance between the sights and the distance from your eye. The angles are all wrong. Was this your idea or did someone talk you into it? :wink:

 

[WIL TERRY]

IF YOU'D TAKE THE TIME TO READ E. E. Patridges' book on pistol sights [ YES that PATRIDGE ] you'll know why ' peep ' sights on pistols are at least as helpful as tits on the stud horse.
And so it goes...

 

[Snake45]

How do you get a good cheek weld with a handgun? I actually try not to do that.

Just teasing. I guess I forgot to say that these 2 sights are on revolvers.

Get them off immediately, and get some real PISTOL sights on those poor guns.

There is no such thing as a "ghost ring" for a handgun, regardless of what anyone tells or sells you. The principle doesn't work unless the sight is much closer to your eye than you will ever hold ANY handgun. (And I have no intention of discussing or debating this FACT.)

Seriously. Lose those goofy pistol-peep sights ASAP and get something on there that actually works.

 

[Jeepnik]

One thing to remember, you will not get as fine a sight picture with a ghost ring or something similar. But for old eyes like mine they are fast and accurate enough for most purposes.

As to how you hold, put front sight on target and squeeze.

 

[Dan in MI]

I was intrigued by the thought of the one ragged hole sight long ago. Two summers ago I was able to try it. I was at a friends hog hunting. Borrowed a 4-5/8 BH in .45 Colt with said sights. Two dead hogs in seconds (bang, thumb hammer, bang, speed) at 30 yards tells me they can work just fine. These were itty bitty hogs too. (30 pounders)

So don't poo-poo what you haven't tried. Are they dead nuts accurate? No.

Are they fast? Heck yeah! Minute of hog fast.

All of the look through and concentrate on the front sight posts are correct. As are the "your eye will automatically center the post" comments.

 

[GunnyGene]

For the "old eye" shooters sometimes "tuned" glasses and yellow lenses will improve things. Worth talking to your optometrist about.

 

[Cracker-American]

If it ain't broke then don't fix it. If you can see and shoot your conventional revolver sights why change. If you have trouble seeing and using your conventional revolver sights you might want to give the ghost ring type sights a try. They have worked well for me on my Blackhawk (It was my Blackhawk Dan used to kill his two hogs) which I use almost exclusively for quick shooting hogs in thick brush or night shooting hogs (legal in Florida).

 

[s4s4u]

IMO, the key to shooting with a round rear sight is a round front sight. You center the circle in a circle and center that on the target. One can shoot nice groups with a proper target, round and slightly larger than the front sight coverage. This is a hunting setup, and it is quite effective, regardless of what the naysayers spew.

 

[woodperson]

Went back to the range today. Shot much better with these sights. If I concentrate on getting the front sight on the target it seems to work fine. I moved back to 25 yards. It worked okay there too. I know I am going to stick with these sights for a while. I doubt my hole is as big as the one shown just above. I am at .218 ID with a pair of calipers. I do know that I reamed one that was smaller a little and it seems to work better. Easier to see the front sight. I am not a good shot and I think the sighting accuracy is good enough for me. I just need to get the shot off smoothly.

I like the pictures of the round front sight. Not sure how I am going to do that to my Blackhawks. Never really liked the stock front sight anyway. Maybe find some one to mill of the sight and cut a slot? Other suggestions?

Thanks for all the comments and insight.

Bill

 

[Dan in MI]

If you look at the pics the "round" front sight isn't. There is a round insert into the square blade. I would assume it needs a patridge blade to start with though.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

This is a love / hate situation for sure. Not for me,you can have it !

 

[powder smoke]

I fall in the Love category, got them on two of my revolvers and going for more.

I like them works for me. ps

 

[Snake45]

If aperture sights work for someone, that's fine. But please stop calling them "ghost rings" because they clearly are NOT on a handgun. Calling a handgun peep sight a "ghost ring" demonstrates that one simply doesn't understand the whole ghost ring concept.

 

[gramps]

Ok Snake, educate me on the difference please.
gramps

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

Hay ma , pop some corn... Here we go again!

 

[s4s4u]

If you look at the pics the "round" front sight isn't. There is a round insert into the square blade. I would assume it needs a patridge blade to start with though.

When shooting you don't even notice the frame around the fiber optic.

 

[Chuck 100 yd]

The eye naturally will seek the center of the peeps aperture to gain the most light as possible. You do this without thinking about it and the only thing you have to concentrate on is aligning the front sight with the target. For this to happen the ghost ring or smaller opening must be close to the eye and will not even be in the picture since you simply look through it and do not need to center the front sight and target in it by trying to align all three at once like must be done on a handgun. Thus it can not truly be called a ghost ring on a handgun but it's more like a buckhorn sight with the top closed.
Now you tell one !

 

[Snake45]

The eye naturally will seek the center of the peeps aperture to gain the most light as possible. You do this without thinking about it and the only thing you have to concentrate on is aligning the front sight with the target. For this to happen the ghost ring or smaller opening must be close to the eye and will not even be in the picture since you simply look through it and do not need to center the front sight and target in it by trying to align all three at once like must be done on a handgun. Thus it can not truly be called a ghost ring on a handgun but it's more like a buckhorn sight with the top closed.
Now you tell one !

Close enough! :wink:

 

[woodperson]

Been a while now since my first post about this. I needed the front sight higher. So I filed a groove in it and pinned and soldered a section of 5/32 brass rod along the top of it. So it makes a 5/32 bead sight for the front. Took me 2 tries to get it the correct height for the loads I use. Overall I like it and the large ring and the front bead will stay on this revolver. It is not perfect but it is pretty good. It is set up to group to the center of the front bead with my fast loads. With the cowboy loads I shoot off the top of the bead. Wish I could find some 170 grain lead bullets for it. (.41 Mag)

I have gotten really tired of the red dot sight on my other revolver so I took it off. Trying whether to do another round addition to the front sight or not.

If I get the sights worked out I may buy another gun and put the red dot back on this one. But for now I am enjoying shooting the lighter 9mm and .357 loads without the cumbersome and heavy sight on top.

 

[GD1656]

Isn't this like the sight that Sixshot sells---? Maybe ask him ?

 

[mike campbell]

For "precision" shooting at bullseyes, I found the peep was not as good as a square post and notch. But for "accuracy" I never found a better iron sight for hunting.

For target shooting, my "precision" goal with a handgun has always been 5 shots in one hole at 25 yds. Once I manage that, I attempt to sight in the gun for "accuracy" ... making that 5-shot hole coincide with the bullseye. For me, 5-shot holes with irons are easiest come by with the square post and notch... a benchrest....and closing one eye, while taking all the time I need.

For deer/hog hunting, I want to take that one-hole load and put them all in the kill zone...very quickly...shooting offhand....in the woods...with both eyes open. That's where the peep sight with a gold bead up front excels...as in shooting 1 gallon milk jugs at 50 yds, offhand, quickly, with both eyes open and practically never missing.

Pretty much the same reason a big fiber optic is better than a post sight for speed shooting.

 

[pisgah]

One would hope the OP has figured it out in the past 16 months...

 

[ditto1958]

Ignore the peep -- look through it, not at it, focus on the front sight, put it where you want the shot to go. Trust your eye. Once you get the hang of a peep sight, it is nearly as accurate as shooting with a scope and faster than any other sighting arrangement.

Yup. What he said. There’s a reason military rifles have had them for years. They work.

 

[woodperson]

"One would hope the OP has figured it out in the past 16 months."

Not completely.

I am a slow learner.. But thanks for the thought.