Rodd-n-Bobb's Beacon

[Semisane]

I have three guns with peep sights, the only iron sights worth a darn for my eyes.

Now, the problem with peeps is that they aren't worth a darn in the first golden fifteen or twenty minutes of first light or the last twenty minutes before dark.

NOT ANY MORE!
Check this out.

Most sporting goods stores sell the Rodd-n-Bobb's BEACON for use when night fishing with a float. They cost three or four bucks and come in red or green. (They also make handy bore lights. Never go to a pawn shop without one.)

You pull the plastic bulb out a little to turn it on, and push it back in to turn it off. The self contained battery lasts for over twenty hours.

Here's what it looks like turned on.

If you use electricians tape to mount one of those little suckers a few inches behind your front sight, LIKE THIS;

Your sight will glow LIKE THIS;

Believe me, if you can see the deer well enough to place a shot, you will be able to see the sight just fine through the peep.

I keep the light and tape mounted on a small piece of plastic that came in some packege or other, and just peel it off to place on the barrel. It goes back on the plastic when I take it off.

No, no. There's no need to thank me - just send money. :grin:

 

[necchi]

Ingenious use of a lighted bobber!

And I've come to expect that from you ya tingkerer you,,
Semi-sane indeed :thumbsup:
Carefull, they lock up Gallilao for his hubirc ideas, :haha:

 

[Bill Hall]

Be careful, that could be interpreted as "spot lighting" by some eager young game warden. Bill

 

[Semisane]

:haha: Well, I guess it could Snowdragon, if you were shining critters from a few inches away (about the effective range of the light) :wink: It's really no different than a Tritium sight which generates its own internal light.

 

[BrownBear]

Ingenious idea, but I'll be checking with our game wardens before I try it. Alaska regs are pretty rigid about artificial lights, and this will definitely make them twitchy. I'd rather know their opinion beforehand than have a judge read it to me in court.

 

[Poor Private]

Dang, another ingenious use of that bobber light. I use the thing for a bore light. I keep it in a #11 cap tin. It will go down a .22 barrel great to take to a gun show. But be carefull when you carry it in your pocket. I forgot to remove mine and went thru the wash and fell out of the pocket in the dryer and just fits through those tiny holes- Scared the manure out of the wife because it lit up. :rotf: Hate to think what the next person who used the dryer thought.(laundramat) :rotf:

 

[mykeal]

I use them for bore lights also, but this is a great idea. I almost always have one in my pants pocket just in case...

Had one in my pocket one night last summer, and I either forgot to turn it off from earlier in the day or it turned itself on. Removed my britches and folded them over a chair back on retiring that night. SWMBO woke me from a sound sleep somewhat later to get up and find out what the green glow was coming from over in the corner of the bedroom. Turned on the bedside light, and of course the glow went away. Turn off the light and it came back. Searched all over with the light off, not believing that my pants could possibly be the source (it must be coming from outside, a beam shining on my pants over the chair back, perhaps). So while I'm standing at the window peering outside looking for the intruder with the green flashlight beam (did I mention I had been sound asleep?) SWMBO got up, stuck her hand in my pants pocket and said, loudly, with authority, "What the h___ is this?" Turned off the bore light, went back to bed and attempted to resume that sound sleep state to the sound of giggling next to me.

 

[longcruise]

Be careful, that could be interpreted as "spot lighting" by some eager young game warden

Yep! In CO it would be unlawful during any ml hunting season. Think it would be ok during regular rifle or small game though.

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Ditto on illegal for PA. he folks here get really anal about somethings. Glow sights are fine, but none with any electrical ilumination.
Technically here, a half soled frizzen is illegal. Somebody at the commission knows nothing about firearms. No Breech loading flint or percussion guns (Sharps, Ferguson, Hall, Smith, etc) are legal for hunting deer or small game. Yet the 2mm Kolibri with all of it's 7ft lbs of muzzle energy is legal. (Any center fire is legal for deer)

 

[paulvallandigham]

As close as that light is mounted to the front sight of the rifle barrel, I doubt that much, if any light goes past the front sight to illuminate anything. To be guilty of SPOT-lighting game, a light has to actually be capable of throwing a beam far enough to actually light up game at some distance. No one is going to be arrested for Jack lighting, or "spot-lighting" deer with a glowing front sight.

Having said that, This is a solution to a problem that cannot reasonably exist, for most hunting. If there is Not enough daylight out so you can clearly identify the game animal, and its sex( for deer hunters) as Well As the Area Behind the game, you have No business taking ANY SHOT AT THE GAME.

Remember your basic Ten Commandments of Safety: Be sure of your Target and the Backstop before firing a shot. When in doubt, DON'T SHOOT.

There is NO way you can justify taking a shot in the dark at any game. That is how other hunters are " mistaken" for game, and shot- some killed every year. It doesn't matter if you have some device that makes your sights easier to see in the dark. If its Not light enough to see Blaze Orange ( safety garments), its not light enough to be shooting at anything. You can't know who else has wandered into your background, unless you can clearly see it, and them.

Of course, there are some game species that can be legally hunted at night, with spot lights- such as raccoons, and varmints. State laws vary, so check them. This kind of illuminated sight might just be the right gear to help make a clean kill under those conditions. You still have to be very careful about choosing your backstops, however.

Think about it. Avoid a needless tragedy. :hmm:

 

[Semisane]

Enjoyed your pontification Paul. But the simple fact is our hunting hours down here in Louisiana are 1/2 hour before sunrise to 1/2 hour after sunset. During the early and late part of that period it's quite easy to see and identify a deer, and place an accurate shot if you can see your sights.

As you probably know, you can't see the front sight through a peep in low light - at least I can't. (Sometimes it's even difficult during the day in deep woods.) The glowing front sight allows me to place an accurate shot at a clearly identified target during legal shooting hours.

 

[BrownBear]

We don't even have legal hours, so I'm well acquainted with your situation. I think what's likely to happen is the light will magically appear on my barrel once I'm out of easy view, then magically fall back into my pocket once the light is up. Man, that light really is PFM!!! :rotf:

 

[paulvallandigham]

We had a HUNTING "Accident " fatality reported here in Illinois, just a couple of years ago, where two hunters entered the woods in the dark, using flashlites, and the first hunter was left at his tree stand, while the second walked another 50 yards to get in his stand. When he arrived, someone was already in a tree stand not 6 feet from his stand( he had put up the prior evening), so he decided to return to the first hunter, but turned his light off since it was just beginning to get gray in the eastern sky over the ridge. The First guy shot his friend right through the heart at about 10 feet, "thinking he was a deer". Since there was another witnesses to the "accident", ( the unknown hunter in that other tree stand, the time of the shooting was fixed very accurately, and it was clear to all who investigated that the shooting occurred well before legal shooting hours, and when it was too dark to identify a target, much less what was in the background.

You have to be working hard at violating safety rules to kill your hunting partner at 10 feet.

Of course the victim had walked back on the same trail he used when he walked away from his killer earlier, and that would also be a Zone of Safety violation for the shooter. You don't shoot game that is between you and the expected location of another hunter, unless you absolutely know that the hunter( he's moved, and you know his exact location,) is Not in the background.

Dead hunters make the Main Stream MEDIA laugh with glee, and not only diminish our sport, but obviously injure and kill people needlessly. The TV anchors Love to see "Opening Day" for Deer seasons, and always give a count of the death toll for the given states. Then the late night comics come out with their standard "jokes" about deer being able to shoot back at us. We hunters control our own destiny, and that of our sport, and way of life.

If I am "Pontificating", I think I have a good reason. More of us need to "Pontificate", IMHO.

I have been hit with birdshot while hunting, some by true accident, and a couple of times by someone who was shooting too low to be safe, and just didn't give a darn if he shot someone down range, even when he knew we were there.

Another time, I was shot AT with a high powered rifle, many times, and missed. I took exception to that incident, and fired a few slugs back. The guy stopped shooting at me, and ran away.

That is why I don't have much of a sense of humor about the subject of gun safety in the field. You may have other thoughts. :surrender: :hmm: :hatsoff:

 

[ohio ramrod]

Paul your experience is much like one I had in the late sixties. I took my muzzle loading 28 gauge rabbit hunting in an area where I was the only one with permission to hunt. When I kicked up the first rabbit the swamp erupted with about ten shots all around me. I returned to the car thankful to not be hit. :hmm:

 

[ohio ramrod]

Peep sights are often usless in the woods which is why I have a fold down one on my rifle. Also in regards to safety when not light enough to shoot. I have often watched deer on a snow covered field and could clearly see the deer and the background but not the sights well enough to shoot. Here in Northern Ohio it is usually "legal" to shoot about 1/2 hour before I can clearly see my sights so the "bobber" idea is worth investigating, :idunno: :idunno:

 

[MSW]

Paul,

Pontificate to your heart's content- there are way too many folks out there in the woods who don't seem to understand that this is a potentially dangerous thing, and that this isn't some stupid video game: there is no 'reset' button on a 30-06.

By the way, I did have to escort a fellow off my property (which is clearly posted, not because i "don't believe" in hunting, but because there are way too many 'flatlanders' who ignore such notices, thinking that they're just suggestions, and I have some very expensive livestock) and he was really upset that he ended up leaving an expensive high power rifle in the woods as he got into a Lexus.

I am given to understand that silt and saltwater are not good for precision machinery.

You wanna come back with the police? Good luck, you go find one, and convince him or her that you were in the right, and then find my place again, and we'll talk about your burden of proof. "Til then, go away and stay gone, OK?

Never saw or heard from anyone, and that was a decade ago.

Go in the woods and put a hurt on Bambi if you want, but play by the rules.

(end of tirade)

 

[Semisane]

Oh, the pontificating is fine Paul. We're all used to it and, as stated, I enjoyed it. I didn't even mind the subtle implication (perhaps unintended) that I may be a incautious or unsafe hunter.

But your statement "This is a solution to a problem that cannot reasonably exist, for most hunting" is clearly inaccurate.

 

[BrownBear]

Hey Semisane-

How close to the sight have you tried mounting the light? I'm guessing that a pinpoint of light moving through the woods will attract critter attention like any other movement.

I'm wondering if you partly taped over the light like "blackout" lights in WWII and got it close to the sight, it wouldn't be very visible, if at all. It wouldn't take much light at all to bring out the back face of a silver or white sight while not being visible from the side or front.

 

[Semisane]

BrownBear, I put it about an inch behind the sight with the face of the bulb recessed about a quarter inch into the tape shroud (see the third picture). The light hardly shows at all, except on the sight.

I've thought about covering the light completely with the tape and poking a small hole in the tape in front of the bulb for light to strike the sight. Haven't tried that yet because I really don't find it necessary. You may give it a try though to see if you like it better.

 

[paulvallandigham]

putting a glowing front sight on a gun helps you see the sight. But it doesn't help you see you target, or the background so you can determine its safe to take the shot. That is why its an answer to a problem that should not exist.

You are entitled to your opinion. After 25 years of reading Hunting Accident reports, I have failed to find ONE accident that didn't involve violating at least 5 of the 10 Commandments of Gun Safety. People really do have to work at it to have an accident. :hmm: