I never learned to shoot iron sights until well into my shooting ‘career’. I started with a scope equipped rifle and had an idea in my head that iron or open sights were of little value. As time passed by the error of my ways became apparent and with the acquisition of various types of iron sight equipped rifles I learned not only to shoot well with them but also the value of metallic sights. The hitch of course is time. Aging eyes and open sights tend not to be good bed fellows long term and though my eyes are only approaching 50 I have already conceded to reading glasses and know the day will come when I will not be able to achieve the same sort of groups/scores as once I could.
Of course not all open sights are created equally. Some are crisp and concise whereas others are a challenge to young eyes let alone old ones. The best sights are on my Lee Enfield SMLE and Husqvarna bolt action. Both have a deep ‘U’ shaped notches on the rear sight and crisp, broad blades up front. Sight picture is very good. In contrast my Carcano has a terrible rear sight consisting of a very deep ‘V’, wide at the top and a thin replacement blade on the sharp end. Consistent shooting with this combination is hard work.
Of course not all open sights are created equally. Some are crisp and concise whereas others are a challenge to young eyes let alone old ones. The best sights are on my Lee Enfield SMLE and Husqvarna bolt action. Both have a deep ‘U’ shaped notches on the rear sight and crisp, broad blades up front. Sight picture is very good. In contrast my Carcano has a terrible rear sight consisting of a very deep ‘V’, wide at the top and a thin replacement blade on the sharp end. Consistent shooting with this combination is hard work.
Not all CBA members are competition shooters myself included and many of us merely enjoy the challenge of producing accurate ammunition for a purpose be it plinking, hunting or just inquisitive experimentation. Either way it’s always beneficial to have sighting equipment that allows for easy of use and can aid in reflecting the true accuracy potential of a firearm and/or load. The answer to a better sight picture on the Carcano came in the form of the SeeAll Sight. SeeAll makes a range of parallax free, single plane sights that use shaped Polycarbonate to magnify a reticle on a green background. Eye relief is not a consideration and the sights can be mounted on rifles over or in front of the action, on handguns, shotguns and muzzleloaders. This was particularly attractive in the case of the Carcano as it is fed via an en bloc clip so mounting any sort of sight over the action is out of the question short of being offset to the left. Not a holographic sight per se as one might expect to picture the likes of an AimPoint with an aiming dot hovering in a lens but more device incorporating a semi illuminate reticle the shooter looks over to align. Best of all the sight does not require batteries.
As I was planning to travel to the USA with my family I bought the sight online and had it delivered to Indianapolis where we would be visiting. My host was good enough to mount the sight on his M44 Mosin Nagant carbine via Picatinny/Weaver base and away shooting we went. After bore sighting the sight with its triangle/pyramid reticle was adjusted to print approximately 3 inches high at 50 yards to allow for ball park zero at 100 yards with the reduced loads furnished for the rifle. Aiming the sight is very intuitive. Being a single sight plane device it is just like an aperture sight in so much as the eye need only focuses on one item with the target in the background. No pesky rear sight to align. The black triangle/pyramid is a piece of cake to line up and the 12 inch gong at 100 yards was as easy target. Upon returning home installation on the Italian stallion was easily achieved by mounting a Weaver style base from the receiver ring to the rear sight and sliding the Seeall sight into place. Too easy.
As I was planning to travel to the USA with my family I bought the sight online and had it delivered to Indianapolis where we would be visiting. My host was good enough to mount the sight on his M44 Mosin Nagant carbine via Picatinny/Weaver base and away shooting we went. After bore sighting the sight with its triangle/pyramid reticle was adjusted to print approximately 3 inches high at 50 yards to allow for ball park zero at 100 yards with the reduced loads furnished for the rifle. Aiming the sight is very intuitive. Being a single sight plane device it is just like an aperture sight in so much as the eye need only focuses on one item with the target in the background. No pesky rear sight to align. The black triangle/pyramid is a piece of cake to line up and the 12 inch gong at 100 yards was as easy target. Upon returning home installation on the Italian stallion was easily achieved by mounting a Weaver style base from the receiver ring to the rear sight and sliding the Seeall sight into place. Too easy.
Shooting on the Carcano on my home range the SeeAll proved to have been a worthy purchase. Initial use in Indiana had been purely gong ringing and whilst immensely enjoyable the real accuracy potential had yet to be explored. Shooting at 50m/55y using a proven load of a NOE 269 145 in 13 BHN alloy over 13.8gr 2400 the little rifle printed 5 shots into just over one inch and demonstrated that the sight is plenty precise for most applications. One disadvantage was the low light conditions in the shooting bays required artificial illumination so is something to consider for potential users.
Pros and Cons?
Pros: Light weight 6160 aluminum body, low profile, no sight relief consideration, economical with entry level USD69.95, two options of reticle (triangle/pyramid or cross hair), Picatinny/Weaver compatible, easy elevation and windage adjustments, no batteries, suitable for all types of firearms.
Cons: Not well suited to poor light conditions, adjustments are no click controlled or graduated, non magnifying, reticle not well suited to ‘hold over’ sighting though no worse than open sights, not super precise for fine target shooting.
Would I recommend the SeeAll? Absolutely. It’s a little gem. That it is so affordable and versatile makes it a winning combination. Better than a good aperture and bead front sight? Probably not but then not all shooting irons are suited to such. In the case of my Carcano the SeeAll fits the bill.
https://seeallopensight.com/
Jeff.
Pros: Light weight 6160 aluminum body, low profile, no sight relief consideration, economical with entry level USD69.95, two options of reticle (triangle/pyramid or cross hair), Picatinny/Weaver compatible, easy elevation and windage adjustments, no batteries, suitable for all types of firearms.
Cons: Not well suited to poor light conditions, adjustments are no click controlled or graduated, non magnifying, reticle not well suited to ‘hold over’ sighting though no worse than open sights, not super precise for fine target shooting.
Would I recommend the SeeAll? Absolutely. It’s a little gem. That it is so affordable and versatile makes it a winning combination. Better than a good aperture and bead front sight? Probably not but then not all shooting irons are suited to such. In the case of my Carcano the SeeAll fits the bill.
https://seeallopensight.com/
Jeff.