Open Sights Aiming Question

[MG5150]

G'day All

I recently acquired a Lee Enfield .303.

It's got open sights and the dealer told me it was zeroed for 400m, which is the closest distance, and to aim low if it's anything shorter than that.

Just checking if this is correct?

I used a ballistics calculator with the ammo details (174g FMJ by PPU) and it said 11.45 inches high at 100m so I guess to aim about 30cm low.

I'll knock up a big 1mx1m target next time I'm at the farm and do some proper testing but would love a steer in the right direction.

Also, any tips for shooting open sights?

Cheers.

[Wapiti]

My tip, using any open sights, is to NOT use a strict 6'oclock hold as taught in pistol shooting (which I've never done anyway), but instead, "modify" it a little and have the point you want to hit cut in half by the tip of the front sight.
Many range shooters will poo poo this, but when wanting as precise a hit as possible on animals, especially with all different critters having completely different vital-zone sizes, this works perfectly for me.
To me, target shooting is not game shooting.
A modification to this I've tried, is having the tip of the front sight at the 1/3rd up from the 6'oclock bottom of the complete diameter of the chest vital zone.
Unless it's rabbits in the farmhouse yard, forget headshots.

Anyway, that's what I do with both normal open sights and peep sights, which if it's at all possible, I ditch the primitive standard sights for peeps. Ghost rings actually.
I believe a No.4 has peeps?
How much of a step up was this idea? Heaps.

[MG5150]

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I'm afraid I don't know what a 6:00 hold is, do you mind explaining that?

[Wapiti]

It's where the top of the front sight is sat at 6 o'clock of, say, the circle of a target down at the range.
This is so that you can see the whole target or bullseye.
So, imagine the whole black bull on a paper target is floating above the front sight, with the tip of the front blade at the 6 o'clock position.
The idea is to not to obscure the target, supposedly it's faster.
But in the bush, it's unsuitable.

Can anyone see the problem with this "shooting range" way of shooting in the bush?
At the gun club, all the targets are at known ranges, all are at known diameters, so you know where to aim or hold-off or adjust to hit your X or 10.

In the bush, the vital zone of the animal varies wildly, the animal and it's size vary wildly, and the ranges vary wildly.
Not trying to be a smartarse, but in the bush the 6'oclock hold everyone teaches nowadays at clubs is to me, the recipe of making animals suffer unnecessarily.
So the strike point of my projectile is at the very tip of my front sight, and usually, because iron sights are so close to the bore centreline (unlike the massive scopes everyone needs nowadays), the effective range you can shoot in the bush is all the same POI with open sights.
Because hopefully, nobody shoots at an unknown size pig or a deer at 250m with open sights. Again, just my opinion.

[Wapiti]

gay6oclock.jpg (663.04 KiB) Viewed 303 times

[bladeracer]

G'day All

I recently acquired a Lee Enfield .303.

It's got open sights and the dealer told me it was zeroed for 400m, which is the closest distance, and to aim low if it's anything shorter than that.

Just checking if this is correct?

I used a ballistics calculator with the ammo details (174g FMJ by PPU) and it said 11.45 inches high at 100m so I guess to aim about 30cm low.

I'll knock up a big 1mx1m target next time I'm at the farm and do some proper testing but would love a steer in the right direction.

Also, any tips for shooting open sights?

Cheers.

SMLE, or a No.4 or No.5 Rifle? The SMLE has an open rear sight halfway along the barrel, the No.4/5 has an aperture site on the receiver.
I don't remember where mine was zeroed when I got it but it could be zeroed anywhere after all these decades. The only way you'll know for sure is to put a target up and poke some holes in it.

Whereabouts in Vic are you? If you're close to Little River get along to the Military Rifle Club shoots, and be sure to attend the ANZAC shoot next year. If you're up near the border get onto LERAA and go along to their shoots at Rankins Springs.

My brother-on-law and I used my SMLE and it was shooting high left for both of us at the ANZAC so I need to get out in the paddock and zero it soon, and we both need to get some practice. I'm hoping to drag another mate to the ANZAC next time as well.

As for using the sights, I really can't see the front sight at all so I use the sight protector ears. I think I've got the sight set at 200yd currently and from memory I think we were about 150mm high at 100yd, 200mm high at 200yd and 300mm high at 300yd - I didn't take notes. When I shot at Rankins Springs I was using different sight positions but was holding on the bottom edge of the big target boards as I couldn't clearly see the aiming points. According to my notes from then for the 200m targets I was using the 350yd position to put my shots 600mm high. At the 300yd targets I was using the 425yd sight to put the shots 600mm high. I did work out a hold at 500yd but on the day the targets blew over so we dragged them back to 500m which changed my hold. I didn't record the hold I used for that.

I'm using 174gn Bertram Bullets on 38gn of AR2206H at 3.050" making 2300fps.

[MG5150]

So what you're saying is have the front sight halfway through wherever you want the bullet to hit?

Like so?

Screenshot 2026-05-19 at 9.28.56 pm.jpg (325.73 KiB) Viewed 247 times

Was the 6:00 hold based on a specific distance?

[bladeracer]

I agree, dead-on is the only viable zero for field shooting, though it's only going to be zeroed at two distances - between those two points you'll want to hold low, and past the far zero you'll be holding over. If you have significant bore-to-sight offset, at close distances you'll want to hold high as well.I have some of my pistols set up for six-o'clock hold for ISSF targets (100mm high at 25m) and some zeroed on centre at 25m for practical shooting, simply because it's hard to make out the sights against a black bull. I don't set any rifles up for six o'clock hold. However, for long-range target shoots where I can't see the aiming points on the target boards, I'll work out holds that let me sit the entire target board on top of the rear sight, and place my bullets half the target height high at that distance.

It's where the top of the front sight is sat at 6 o'clock of, say, the circle of a target down at the range.
This is so that you can see the whole target or bullseye.
So, imagine the whole black bull on a paper target is floating above the front sight, with the tip of the front blade at the 6 o'clock position.
The idea is to not to obscure the target, supposedly it's faster.
But in the bush, it's unsuitable.

Can anyone see the problem with this "shooting range" way of shooting in the bush?
At the gun club, all the targets are at known ranges, all are at known diameters, so you know where to aim or hold-off or adjust to hit your X or 10.

In the bush, the vital zone of the animal varies wildly, the animal and it's size vary wildly, and the ranges vary wildly.
Not trying to be a smartarse, but in the bush the 6'oclock hold everyone teaches nowadays at clubs is to me, the recipe of making animals suffer unnecessarily.
So the strike point of my projectile is at the very tip of my front sight, and usually, because iron sights are so close to the bore centreline (unlike the massive scopes everyone needs nowadays), the effective range you can shoot in the bush is all the same POI with open sights.
Because hopefully, nobody shoots at an unknown size pig or a deer at 250m with open sights. Again, just my opinion.

[bladeracer]

So what you're saying is have the front sight halfway through wherever you want the bullet to hit?

Like so?

Screenshot 2026-05-19 at 9.28.56 pm.jpg

Was the 6:00 hold based on a specific distance?

Yes, but only if the target is close to your zero distance. If you zero the rifle to be dead-on at 100m say, at 50m you'll want to sit the target on top of the sight as your bullet will be a few inches high, and at 200m you'll want to hold your sight above the target as your bullet will be a few inches low.

Yes, six-o'clock holds are distance-specific, but so are all zeros.

[Tinker]

The idea of a 6 oclock hold is it's more consistent. It's much easier to sit the round black target just on top of the black foresight, rather than try to judge when it's in the middle of a black target. It's not "gay", it's just only useful for target shooting.
Which is why the military use "tin hat" targets, which are a horizontal half-moon. You're then aiming at the centre of the circular target, with the half-moon just sitting on top of your foresight.

standard tin hat.jpg (22.06 KiB) Viewed 222 times

[No1_49er]

G'day All
I recently acquired a Lee Enfield .303.
It's got open sights and the dealer told me it was zeroed for 400m, which is the closest distance, and to aim low if it's anything shorter than that.
Just checking if this is correct?
I used a ballistics calculator with the ammo details (174g FMJ by PPU) and it said 11.45 inches high at 100m so I guess to aim about 30cm low.
I'll knock up a big 1mx1m target next time I'm at the farm and do some proper testing but would love a steer in the right direction.
Also, any tips for shooting open sights?
Cheers.

After looking at the several answers that have been offered, not one of the respondents enquired about what type of shooting you intend engaging in.
Service Rifle Target, or field??
Dependant on your intention will have a huge bearing on what the correct "answer" should be.
Apparently, a 6 o/c hold is "gay". How so, when a "top-hat" or even an ISSF target is presented. In those cases, a 6 o/c aim is definitely preferred.
Field shooting is a different thing, altogether.

For further discussion, it would be preferable if you indicated what specific type of shooting you want to participate in.

[Wapiti]

Like this mate.
Probably could've drawn it to be more forward in the centre of the heart-lung zone, but you get the idea.

Using a 6 o'clock hold on a living creature, of an unknown exact kill zone size at every-shot different ranges is unacceptable and is not acceptable for bush shooting, unless you consider shot placement something that you can get a few shots at to get right, something only a paper target at a range that just sits there allows.
To me, there is no argument and is unacceptable on a living creature, unless of course you'd find wounding acceptable. Which I'm sure a mature, mentally stable person does not.

likethismate.jpg (673.39 KiB) Viewed 120 times

[bladeracer]

I would say the opposite, holding dead-on when you are at a distance that you know your bullet will be high or low is unacceptable on live targets. Hold dead-on only when your target is close to the distance you are zeroed at. If you are closer than that hold a little under your target, if you are further than your zero distance then hold on the top of the target. This technique was used for centuries before adjustable sights were commonplace, and still is.

A good example of a slow but potent cartridge that has been used for hunting all types of game for 150 years now is the .45-70. I don't know what the "normal" zero distance was back in the 1870's (for hunting) would be but I would expect it to be quite close for taking jackrabbits and turkeys and such. If you zeroed it at 50yd it'd be maybe 6" low at 100yd, and 18" low at 150yd. If you zeroed it at 100yd it'd be about 3" high at 50yd and 10" low at 150yd. You can't expect to make good hits holding dead-on at all distances. The .22LR has a similar trajectory but obviously lacked the potency for 150yd kills.

Like this mate.
Probably could've drawn it to be more forward in the centre of the heart-lung zone, but you get the idea.

Using a 6 o'clock hold on a living creature, of an unknown exact kill zone size at every-shot different ranges is unacceptable and is not acceptable for bush shooting, unless you consider shot placement something that you can get a few shots at to get right, something only a paper target at a range that just sits there allows.
To me, there is no argument and is unacceptable on a living creature, unless of course you'd find wounding acceptable. Which I'm sure a mature, mentally stable person does not.

likethismate.jpg

[No1_49er]

Why is there an assumption that the OP intends shooting game?
If his smellie is for target shooting, perhaps a discussion about 6 o/c hold might be appropriate.
Sometimes, shooting is about putting holes in paper; indeed, some people never shoot for meat.