If you are a bowhunter by nature and switching to a rifle for the first time, then it’s understandable that you might want to stick to peep sight on your rifle as well. If you have no previous experience installing a peep sight on your rifle, you might find it a bit troublesome.
Peep sights are quite fun to use but not that fun to install or set up properly. As I mentioned earlier, you might find it a bit hard to install without a proper guide. Don’t worry, it’s not that hard with a proper guide. Let’s learn how to install a peep sight properly together.
Remove The Stock Rifle Sight
If the rifle you are using doesn’t have a rear sight installed, then you can ignore this step. But if your rifle has one installed, then you will need to remove the stock sight before you begin your installation process.
Most rifles use a wedge-style dovetail ironsight. You can begin slowly unscrewing the dovetail ironsight. Once you are done removing it, you will be left with an open slot where the screw previously used to be. Some hunters may prefer to use some decorative item to hide the holes. But I will leave that part up to you.
Clean The Receiver
If your gun is quite old and you never removed your stock sight before, then your gun barrel’s receiver will have some dirt and residue built up. Then you will need to wipe it clean. You can use some alcohol wipes to wipe it clean and then wipe it clean with a microfiber cloth. While I know you can just skip this process and call it a day, it’s something that I wouldn’t want to skip.
Install The Peep Sight On The Receiver
Now that you have a receiver with an empty slot, you can begin your installation process. On some occasions, the factory front sight height may not be tall enough for your peep sight.
If that happens, then you will need to adjust the sight picture based on your vision. But if you are not interested in eyeballing the picture, then you can opt for a different front sight that has the desired height of your needs.
Now, install the rear portion of your peep sight with the screws provided by your sight manufacturer. As peep sights are most of the time gun receiver exclusive, the screws provided by the factory will always fit. If it doesn’t, well you have the stock screws from your factory rear sight already.
Aperture For Skinner Peep Sight
If you are not interested in buying a new sight completely and want to use the front sight then you can use some aperture adjusters for your front sight. It makes the skinny front sight appear bulky and the height matches your desired height.
Skinner Sight makes some great apertures for your skinny front sights. You can get your desired height and visual matches from them.
Conclusion
And that’s about it. That’s the entire process of how to install a peep sight the right way. Sure, you can just head over to a gunsmith and let them handle the process. But tinkering around your gun yourself is lots of fun.
Hopefully, you now know the installation process of a peep sight on your rifle. I know it’s a lot different than installing on a bowstring, but it’s more straightforward as well. With that said, that’s all for now. Hopefully, you find this guide easy to follow and useful in your process. Thanks for reading, I will see you guys on the next one.
Hi, I’m Brent Hansford. A writer turned hunter & now sharing my love for the sport through writing. As I practically breathe weapons, I firmly believe I’m capable of providing you with new knowledge about firearms and hunting. My mission is to help more people get better at hunting & master the weapons. Let me help with unleashing the beast within you!
