Indoor Range Lighting

In light of day (pun intended) that was a LOT of blather to try and ask a simple question.
I can see iron sights OK outdoors but hardly at all indoors. Seems like it has to be a lighting issue and the mid-range lights are the biggest difference I notice between them. Our indoor range is pretty much a 'basement', low ceilings so it's hard not to 'look at' the midrange lights while shooting. Shooters using dots (including me) don't seem bothered by them.
Do you have lighting between your firing line and targets? Do you think it affects your shooting with iron sights?
Thank you!

Original Post: feel free to ignore unless you need a 'sleep aid'!
Tonight was the beginning of our Indoor/Winter smallbore league. I consider myself fairly new to this whole bullseye game, please bear with me for a (hopefully) brief history. I began two summers ago, shooting our league with my Mk II, I improved through the summer and had fun so I signed on for the Winter League even though I knew that I would miss 2/3rds of the matches (we went south for the winter). On the first night last year I realized that I could not see my sights (despite having shot irons all summer) so I went out the next day and bought an inexpensive red-dot sight and used that until December when it was time to go get warm. Being rather lazy I just left the dot in place when it was time to start shooting Summer League back in June. I had (what was for me) a pretty good season, generally improving by a few points each week (I had lots of room for improvement). I can certainly shoot the same gun/dot for the part of Winter League that I will be here but (there had to be a point to this ramble coming along), after decades of putting it off, then not being able to find one, I finally got myself a S&W 41 (iron sights) and wanted to try using that.
It should not have been a surprise that even though they are 'better' sights on the S&W, I still can not see the irons other than a general blur. I have fired other handguns outdoors over the last year without this much difficulty. The one big (I think) difference with shooting indoors is that we have lights behind the firing line, pretty good lighting on the targets (shining down at the targets from behind a barrier) but also midrange lights (just 'open' bulbs, that seem to me to be a source of interference. They don't appear to bother anyone else (most but not all using dots). Many years ago we had a smallbore gallery rifle team and as I recall we only used those lights when cleaning up or going to change targets. Even in those days I cheated (used a scope) so I don't know that the lights would have mattered very much to me but the guys shooting metallic sights really liked them off.
For those who have stuck with my ramble this long (thank you), do you have lights on between you and the targets? Does it make any difference?

Thank you.

Bruce

Yes.  They do not bother me, but I shoot a dot scope.

Chip

Lighting definitely affects point of aim! Black or darker areas "pull" especially with iron sights and (to a lesser degree) even red dots. The "dark" can be off the paper, too! If the lighting behind the target is not uniform, expect some "pull."

One other point: 6 o'clock holds with iron sights are very sensitive to lighting. Center of mass is far less so. Old eyes work better on center of mass, too.

I have the same problem.

I find that I get the best view of the sights when there is a balance of light on the sights and the target.

If the target is very bright, and the sight is dim, the sights wash out badly--especially over the white.

Try setting up an air pistol setup in your house using a tub of plumber putty as the pellet trap and experiment with the lighting.

Maybe you can practice what works for you and develop a solution that you can bring to your league.

Hi Fire, if possible; open up the notch of your rear sight. 

Tony

Sight lights help.

jmdavis wrote:Sight lights help.

Lighting above and somewhat behind the pistol?

I had wondered about that as we shoot through 'ports' intended to keep some of the heat in the shooters area and as much as possible of the lead 'dust', etc. on the other side where the fans can pull it down range and outside. Our gun are in a pretty dark area when we shoot.
I will have to look more closely at that.

Thanks to all for the suggestions offered.

Bruce

Having lights shining on the sights helps a lot. If you are up there in age, creeping cataracts will cause you to need more light than when you were younger. Having a shield to block out the light bulbs mid range, so they can't be seen by the shooters is an easy fix. Staples and cardboard will do the trick. If you can't get the club to install better lighting at the line, then you may have to give in and go with a dot.

I'm of the other opinion, I like lights off in my shooting lane so the sights are jet black against the lit target. Even lighting on the target is my goal.

Jim

Hi Guys

I contacted NRA rules folks about using headlamp when shooting under roof or inside last year.  To paraphrase their response, If the range officer felt that the light did not distract other shooters, it is allowable.  I've shot in some very dark caves years ago with iron sights and felt I was at a distinct disadvantage as compared to dot shooters.  But It doesn't matter much to me presently since I've gone over to the dark/dot side now.

Happy Friday-Paul from PA