Airforce Open Sights
Hey guys,
Looking around on here, it appears that everyone uses a scope! Anyone out there shoot with iron sights, particularly with the Airforce open sights?
Thinking about picking some up for my .25 TalonSS, but would like to hear some feedback before I spend $75 on a few little pieces of plastic.
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Viewing 13 replies - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
Hey Awny –
socal s&w wrote:Yes, I have both a scope and a red dot mounted to my Condor 25. Works great for close up, fast work. Mounted the dot on the left side of the tri-rail as I’m right handed….mostly. It happens to have a solar battery power to it with a battery back up, I like it a lot!
Interesting!
How did you mount it on the side. Is there a special extension for that?
Awny
Yup, on the left side of the tri-rail, just below the scope. Bought a picatinny to 11mm adapter and it fit right on no prob. It sometimes helps with zeroing a new scope as it allows me to see about where it should be. I just fine tune from there. I happened to find a deal on a Zeiss dot from a ‘going out of business’ store a couple years ago and picked it up for less than half price. I use dots a lot in my handgun shooting and I thought that it might work well on the Condor….it sure did!
i am an open sights user (when practical)
meaning: i use them under a given yardage with a given rifle and it’s caliber (this includes firearms) and its intended use.
basically…if’n i’m gonna be shootin’ 100-150 yds, or less with a PB…open sights…farther distances…optics
i originally purchased the AF set of open sights; i am very disappointed with them.
1. very difficult to see the tiny dots (at least with my aged eyes)
2. virtually impossible (for me any way) to get a proper cheek weld with the stock AF setup…the sights are too low and when the accessory rail is added to the upper accesory rail, it makes the rear sight too high… 😕 😕 😕
3. front sight is NOT adjustable (i understand they came out with an adjustable one now)
for open sights on my talon i ended up using a Mendoza rear peep with an AF globe style front target sight…they can be quite accurate at ranges out to 50-60 yards.
but like others have said, in order to realize the accuracy these rifles are capable of, a good scope is a must.
Interesting!
How did you mount it on the side. Is there a special extension for that?
Awny
Looking forward to read your experience of the open sight.
I put a cheap red dot once on my talon SS and it did not work for me but that’s because it was a bad cheap sight. Wonder how far do I need to go in price to get a good one for the job. I do encounter hunting situations where the fast acquisition is more important that the magnification. Just recently I had o take down a rattler with my talon SS and it was not easy with a Hawke scope that is 3 inch high and target too close to focus. For my dear hunting rifle I use see through mounts to get the best of both worlds. Not an option here.
Awny
I have an EOTech 512 on an AR that I never shoot and was thinking it may be a fun option. It would look kinda silly on a Talon and wouldn’t provide anywhere near the accuracy that the rifle can produce, but it would probably work well enough for shooting squirrels.
Needed some pellets so I went ahead and ordered the AF open sights while Pyramyd had the 10%+free shipping sale last weekend. Should have it on my rifle by next weekend. Can’t wait to try it out!
Yes, I have both a scope and a red dot mounted to my Condor 25. Works great for close up, fast work. Mounted the dot on the left side of the tri-rail as I’m right handed….mostly. It happens to have a solar battery power to it with a battery back up, I like it a lot!
Have you, or anyone here, considered using red dot sights as an alternative on AF guns. They are far lighter and good for fast acquisition too. Sure they don’t offer the magnification and accuracy of optical scopes but they may serve the middle ground between open sights and scopes. Any thoughts?
Awny
Thank you all for the great information.
I normally walk around in the woods or desert with my rifles so I was thinking the less weight and easier target acquisition, the better. I normally don’t shoot small game past 50 yards or so while out so the distance a scope provides isn’t really an issue. I have a UTG 4-16X44 accushot that is on the rifle now, but I’m quite a bit slower with a scope than with irons… not to mention the extra pound or so.
I’ve always been drawn to irons on my powder guns for the increased challenge as well. These PCPs are so damn accurate when scoped and benched, it makes it really hard to miss. It might be fun to give the squirrels a bit more of a chance! LOL
I have used the AF sights.
I was at one time a real a iron sight whore, having collected many older Lyman sets and used for BPC shooting, two wind gage spirit level MVA sets that ran 700 bucks per rifle. I loved the sights on my various M1A’s and a Garand or two so the AF sights interested me. I eventually bought a set of used sights and put them on a Airarcher set up and for that task they were just under okay status, but I seldom shot past 35 yards with the set up.
If you really like good irons you will probably be disappointed.
A far better set up would be a set of AR sights with conversion bases to fit the Condor, if you can get them at the right level.
Personally, I never was a fan of glowey thingy sights.
As for the AF sights, most people do not like them because these type of sights fall short of the capabilities of these air rifles. I guess they are OK for short range, but most would opt for a dot sight under those circumstances.
If you just had to have open sights, maybe you should seriously consider the target sight set that AF offers. They cost a bit more, but the results will be much better.
You might also give some thought to rigging some AR sights.
Most opt for scopes as they are just far more effective. I have never used the stock AF Talon open sights. I guess they could be fun for plinking.
Viewing 13 replies - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)
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Hi,
I use open sights on the talon to actually practice indoor for high power rifle competition.
The rear sight is the A-F Aperture like the one used on the A-F Edge. The front sight is an AR-15 post with a weaver to dovetail adapter.
I use this indoor on a 25-30ft range and it works great. Simulates really well the AR-15 sights and provides great practice and trigger time.
Cheers
Chris