I have a Savage 99c lever action in .308 that is on "permanent loan" from my father. After talking with him on the phone yesterday I found out that he always wanted to scope the rifle (it's a later model so already has the screws on the receiver). He said he thought it would be cool to use the see through sites so that he could still use his iron sights also. Does any body have any experiance with these sights or a reccomendation of who the quality manufacturers might be? Personally I think of the gun as a thick woods rifle and like just having the iron sights but my dad and I never really got to hunt when I was young because he was ALWAYS working and now that he's retired I want to pull him into the action with me.

Elkloco,

First up I want to tell you that this is an opinion, not advice.

I believe that see-through rings are used by people trying to make a transition from open sights (which they trust) to scope sights (which they're unsure of). To me, it's a comprimise that doesn't work. Try this sometime - - pick up someones rifle that has see-through rings, close your eyes and shoulder the rifle. Now open your eyes and what do you see? The open sights of course. Want to use the scope? Raise your head until it's unsupported by the stock and kind of wobbles around up there and now you can use the scope, but rifle and head may be in two different orbits making it really difficult to use the scope.

If I were just getting into scope sights, I would mount a low power, large field of view scope as low as I possibly could. Then I would practice mounting the unloaded rifle over & over until every time I did I would be looking through the scope with the full field of view.

I have a few rifles with both iron & scope sights installed but never considered see-throughs for myself.

Good luck to your dad with whatever he chooses.

The problem with see-through-sights is also that the scope is mounted too high above the bore center...making accuracy a problem with varying ranges. I thought about doing what your father wanted myself...but am glad now that I followed the advice I was given, and mounted the scopes closer to the bore center.

I have tried the see through rings before and have to agree with the previous posts. They just put the scope too high to shoot in a natural, feels right, shouldering of the rifle.

I have tried the see through rings before and have to agree with the previous posts. They just put the scope too high to shoot in a natural, feels right, shouldering of the rifle.
I am one of those "older guys" who tried using scopes in the early 1950's when no one knew if they were reliable.
I tried looking through the 'see through' mounted scopes and decided against it.
I would advise against it.
Frank

To me, the see through mounts are an abomination. They put the scope too high to use properly and comfortably, and they block some of your peripheral view when using the open sights.

If you are going to mount a scope, recognize that it is the primary sighting system, and mount it so that you don't need to raise your cheek from the stock to see through it. The open sights are now back up, to be used in an emergency, such as the horse falling and breaking your scope. In such a case, simple Weaver type mounts or good quality quick-detach mounts make better sense.

I know scopes can be rendered temporarily unusable by severe rain or snow, but I have had to pass up more shots with open sights - due to lighting conditions - than I ever have with a scope.

I too have the Savage 99 in 308...an absolute great gun and scoping it with a 2.75 power scope just made it better.
I purchased thru Brownells a fold down style sight since my savage came with no rear sight. It's a standard 3/8 dovetail fit. This way I can fold down the rear sight and it does not interfere with the sight picture with the scope.

The scope I used was an old but yet minty Redfield Bearcub 2.75x. The field of view is fine and the German post x-hair reticule will work well in the dense hardwoods. The mounts are Leupold low rise low gloss twist in front and wind adj. rear.

Everyone's in agreement! We must all be right. Gee, isn't this just great?

Awesome stuff guys. I really appreciate the info. I'm going to scope it for my dad and suprise him on his next visit. I'm glad everyone thinks the see through stuff is a bad way to go. I kind of thought they were a bit "cheesy" and I didn't want to do that to this rifle. When I was younger I used to think this rifle was just my dad's beat up old gun that wasn't as cool as the new guns but now I love this gun, much more than all my new rifles and I want it to be my standard medium/big game woods rifle.