Introducint the next generation - open sights or scopes

Heym SR20

Well-Known Member
Introducing the next generation - open sights or scopes

I am introducing my daughter and nephews to the joys of shooting. My instinct is that they should learn to use open sights first before becoming reliant upon scopes - any thoughts on the matter.

And if anybody has a little BSA Cadet pellet gun or similar that is looking for a good home please do let me know - I am not sure if there is anything similar on the market these days.

Many thanks

Heym SR20
 
Hi There,

I believe your thinking along the correct lines and yes there are suitable Air Rifles of decent quality made just for this such as the :-

Weihrauch HW25
Weihrauchs smallest rifle makes an ideal first gun for the junior shooter. A 2-stage trigger, rifled barrel and adjustable sights all make this an accurate target practice rifle. This gun is not full power , producing about 5 ft/lbs but perfectly adequte for 15 metres. If you want the best for your junior , this is the gun.
Weight 4.2lbs
Length 37.5inches

Trouble is that the HW25 is £135 :eek:.

I tried to search for the origina Model 27 which I feel also might be suitable but could not find one.

Whatever you do aviod the cheaper Chinese mades one s as they are dreadful to awful :rolleyes:.

There is also a Cometa 50 which are Spanish and I believe they are tied up with what's left of BSA nowadyas. Good luck in you quest :).
 
One thing to watch is that I suspect that lot of kids are put off new activities because the adults, who know better, make them do it the way it was done in the old days. "Why when I was a kid there were no telescopic sights and we had to lie in a sewage pit to do our shooting..." etc.

I figure most kids today will never have to shoot with open sights in real life and they probably want to do their shooting the way dad does his so I see no reason for them not to use whatever they want, which is likely to be the fancy looking optics, and I can't imagine how it will have any ill effect on their performance in the future.

So, I'd let the kids pick the sighting method that takes their fancy as I suspect this will encourage them to keep at it and to enjoy it and if they want to try different sights in the future then there is nothing to stop them. I would guess that when we first got guns dads made their kids start with long bows because "that was the we it was done when I was a lad" and this overlooks the fact that kids are the future rather than the past.
 
One thing to watch is that I suspect that lot of kids are put off new activities because the adults, who know better, make them do it the way it was done in the old days. "Why when I was a kid there were no telescopic sights and we had to lie in a sewage pit to do our shooting..." etc.

I figure most kids today will never have to shoot with open sights in real life and they probably want to do their shooting the way dad does his so I see no reason for them not to use whatever they want, which is likely to be the fancy looking optics, and I can't imagine how it will have any ill effect on their performance in the future.

So, I'd let the kids pick the sighting method that takes their fancy as I suspect this will encourage them to keep at it and to enjoy it and if they want to try different sights in the future then there is nothing to stop them. I would guess that when we first got guns dads made their kids start with long bows because "that was the we it was done when I was a lad" and this overlooks the fact that kids are the future rather than the past.

Totally agree and would add, shoot lots of tin cans and not too many paper target groups! JC
 
I am introducing my daughter and nephews to the joys of shooting. My instinct is that they should learn to use open sights first before becoming reliant upon scopes - any thoughts on the matter.

And if anybody has a little BSA Cadet pellet gun or similar that is looking for a good home please do let me know - I am not sure if there is anything similar on the market these days.

Many thanks

Heym SR20
Heym - what part of the world are you in? I've a Cometa break-barrel that I started my son off with, and he's now outgrown. As it's 'surplus to requirements', you're welcome to it FOC if you want it? It's, ermmm, 'basic', and is never going to win prizes for super-duper accuracy BUT it will knock tin cans down (and clobbered a few scaly-tails at sensibly close range) and will teach someone the difference between the sharp end and the blunt end. Let me know!

ATB,

Merlin
 
I am, perhaps, an old stick-in-the-mud. However...

My first airgun had open sights, and I shot with open sights for many years until I was given a telescope sight when I was about 14.

I still use the Webley Hawk and an air-pistol, both with iron sights, for target practice.

I tend towards the view that starting someone young shooting using open sights:
1. is cheaper
2. perhaps allows the beginner to appreciate the relationship between sights, eye, target and barrel more straightforwardly.
3. Does not enhance wobble in a way that a 'scope sight might.

The best parrallel I can think of is probably learning to drive: one wouldn't teach a youngster to drive an automatic car in the first instance - they need to be able to drive a manual (even if only just in case), the discipline of which also helps them appreciate the mechanical things going on with the vehicle.
 
I have taught all my brothers kids with a BSA meteor and a Webley Falcon that belonged to me and my brother when we were growing up. I could never get them to hold the rifle correctly with a scope on but once they had got the grasp of holding the rifle correctly. The girls never carried on but his son is now using my BSA supersport with a 4x scope on it.
Be carefull of an eye hitting the scope, it can put someone off for life.
Few big tin cans and an iron sighted meteor or similar should get them interested.
I love iron sights and still use my MK1 BSA airsporter for rats around the rearing sheds (it hasn't even got a scope rail).

Ezzy
 
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