See-Through Rings

happy new year all! i have a question for you all in regards to scope rings. i have a 13 year old nephew who i took hunting this year for his first ever hunt. he lives in another state so the time i get with him to practice shooting is very limited. i found this year that he was having an extremely hard time acquiring deer in his scope even though we had the power turned down to 3x. he has not had any experience in hunting and i felt bad for him missing out on a couple deer because he simply could not find them in his scope. it reminded me of when i was younger trying to learn the ways of the rifle and having the same issue. it also reminded me of how my father remedied that issue by setting me up with a lever-action 30-30 with "see-through" rings. i was able to co-witness and acquire a scope picture much faster. my question is, has anyone ever used "see-through" mounts on a bolt action rifle? i have only ever seen them on lever and pump action rifles. i think if i was to get him some see-through rings for his .243 it might help him to learn and acquire things faster until he can become more proficient. im not interested in getting a whole new setup for him just modifying his current rifle.

I've not used them but I have seen them on bolt action rifles, I think you're onto an excellent idea. If you set it up and take him to the range you should be able to tell if it helps and it will be a simple matter to change back if it doesn't.

Years back they were very common on hunting rifles for a variety of reasons.
Snow dropping on the scope lens wasent the least of them. Of coarse the good flip caps
werent around then either. I have a set on an 88 Winchester which is a solid top action.
No reason the same rings wouldnt work with a bolt gun. Without looking i believe they are
Quick site. Several companies made them including as i recall Weaver. A Google search should
locate some still in production.

As yobuck said, they can be practical if your scope fails you for some reason. However, they require you to mount the scope higher than ideal for other reasons. I think they are worth having on a lever gun b/c you normally have to mount the scope pretty high to clear the hammer anyhow.

If it were me, I'd encourage him first to practice "pulling up" and seeing through the scope properly. What I tell my wife and nephews is this:

"Look out the back window and pick a target... keep your eye on the target... now, without taking your eye off the target, pull up the rifle and move the scope into your line of sight... " you should be able to "slide" or "insert" the scope into the line of sight and instantly pick up a good picture in the scope.. Do it 10x then rest. Pick up a while later and do it another 10x and rest. DO that every other day or so for a while and you'll get good at it and feel a whole lot more comforatble handling the gun in general.

I am working on the same thing with my 9 yo son. he practices on his own now with his bbgun and I can see it helping him on the range and in the stand. Hopefully he gets to put his new practiced skills to work this weekend. last weekend of Deer season down here in FL.

I've tried them. They are complete garbage in my opinion. They are weak and too high for a good cheek weld with the scope.
Sounds like he is looking INTO the scope not THROUGH it.
Proper instruction rather than a band aid cure will be far better in the long run.

It sounds like he is closing his non aiming eye? The easiest way to find anything thru a scope in my experience is to use both eyes. My dad taught my brother and me to shoot with both eyes open, and in my case everything I shoot, scopes included is done that way.

I have zero use for see through rings. With the quality of toady's optics I would not even consider using them. The young man needs to practice bringing the gun to his eye instead of his eye to the gun. Either that or he has an eye dominance issue.

The ones I have had were poor quality.

Practice, practice, practice.
Training.....even self training will always trump inferior gadgetry to try and compensate for lack of practice.

If he has trouble using a scope with both eyes open you might want to try a quality red-dot. No magnification means no eye strain and the weaker eye will not be affected by the dot the dominate eye sees.