Iron Sights have been a staple of handheld firearms since their inception, with rudimentary sights being found on powder-pistols and hand-cannons from the late 14th-Century. Easy to align and use, reliable, and affordable for both consumers and manufacturers, iron sights have proven themselves to be the standard for any modern firearm, hence the reason that most firearms come standard with a set. But a question many have is what’s the method behind the madness, what’s the science behind how they work?
In this guide from our team at Angry Bear Arms, will cover all you need to know.
Iron sights consist of two main components, the front sight and the rear sight. Your goal is to align the front sight and rear sight and have the tops of each sight level with one another. Then you simply aim the sight at your target and pull the trigger; but remember, it’s important to keep your sights level through the trigger press, so make sure that your grip is on point.
A slight variation and upgrade to your iron sights are night sights, the front and rear sights glow at low light levels, and are great for use when you don’t have an abundance of light. While Sigs tend to come equipped with night sights, for other brands they are often seen as an aftermarket upgrade. Aftermarket sights can be extremely beneficial compared to your standard factory sights, as they allow for better visibility and easier target acquisition at different distances.
A majority of iron sights for handguns, like the ones sold by Angry Bear Arms, are what are known as open sights. Open Sights allow the user to reliably gauge where their shot is going to land within a certain distance (depends on the firearm and ammunition). The way this works is a slight optical illusion, the front sight is slightly longer than the rear sight to compensate for the gap between the two ends of the barrel. If properly aligned the bullet will fire along its bore-axis (the imaginary line which runs parallel to the center of the firearm’s barrel), and will follow a slightly downward trajectory due to air-resistance and gravity (which is why it’s important to account for the distance of your target when aiming).
Iron rights ensure that a bullet will be fired along its bore axis, but it is up to the user of the firearm to account for the parabolic arc bullets take. This also means that a misaligned shot will miss its intended target by a larger margin if it is farther out, as its angle will forever be askew from the intended path once fired.
Now while you have your factory iron sights, there are also different upgrades to your iron sights to fit different attachments such as suppressors, or to help you aim in low and no light scenarios.
Suppressor height sights are exactly what they sound like, sights that help you still see clearly even with a suppressor mounted on the end. When you mount a suppressor on your firearm, the thickness can get in the way of standard iron sights, which is why suppressor height sights were created. They enable you to aim over the the attachment.
Night sights are just like standard iron sights, but as stated above, they glow. No they’re not glow in the dark, instead, they are made of something called tritium, which glows 24/7. These are great for your concealed carry firearm, as many defensive scenarios occur in the dark, and these sights fit on your gun like regular iron sights, so you can fit it right in your holster with no issues.
While iron sights are great, you can always upgrade to things like optics. Upgraded optics like red dot sights that mount on your gun serve the same purpose as iron sights but do so in a way that makes it easier to scope in and determine a shot’s trajectory. Simple digital sights like red dot sights, work by having a curved semi-transparent mirror that reflects only red-light.
The mirror reflects the light in a beam that runs parallel to the firearm’s bore axis, which takes the appearance of a red dot when the user is looking through the site at an angle roughly parallel to the bore axis. As opposed to having to precisely line up an iron sight, a red dot sight gives more of a range of angles one can scope in at with some degree of precision.
With the simple knowledge of how firearm sights work a firearm user can take their marksmanship to a higher level. Understanding what scoping in does and its limitations for longer distances, as well the understanding that slight misalignments while aiming in lead to massive changes in trajectory, place a heavy emphasis on properly scoping in on each shot. That being said, knowledge is one thing, application is another, the only way to ensure that one is aiming better with each shot, is to practice the fundamentals.
When it comes to having some of the highest quality night sights and iron sights, Angry Bear Arms has you covered, with superior clarity, they’ll help you shoot straight every time!
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