AO Ghost Ring vs. williams FP peep for Marlin 1894

[spalit]

For my birthday, the good wife got me a Marlin 1894C in .357 mag - the unsubtle hints on my part for the past several months certainly helped.

I'm planning on replacing the trigger with the Wild West Alaska trigger/sear, getting an action job, and was also considering replacing the sights. I have two choices narrowed down for sights. The Williams FP click-adjustable peep with fibreoptic front sight bead, or the AO Ghost Ring w/white post. Not quite sure which one would work the best for me. This is mostly a fun plinking/target rifle for the range, maybe deer hunting in the future with some worked up 180gr handloads, and also do duty as a home defense carbine.

Any thoughts on pros/cons of one vs. the other ?

 

[115grfmj]

Excellent choice in rifle BTW.....

Congrats! I like the XS sights, but I went with the Williams 5D on mine.
For me it was the fact that I didn't have to replace the front sight, you can
get more accuracy out of an aperature sight than a ghost ring at 100+ yards,
and there are a wide variety of peep sizes available to the williams.
I got a .125 twilight aperture for mine. I routinely get 2" at 100yds from mine,
and can put all nine on a paper plate at 200yds.


BTW the 1894c likes the heavier bullet, pretty much anything over 158+
.

Also you'll want something to match your carbine heres mine.

 

[JohnKSa]

WWG also makes a ghost/peep sight. You might want to check it out as well.

Both the A/O and the WWG seem a bit more robust than the Williams sights to me.

 

[Bill St. Clair]

I have a WWG ghost ring on my Marlin 444P. Works great. Needs an allen wrench to adjust, but I rarely need to do that now that it's sighted in. Tough as nails.

 

[Brian Williams]

I like the williams 5D or the FP

But I really like the Marbles Tang sight

 

[roscoe]

I have the AO ghost ring - make me very happy. You can ask for a threaded ghost ring, so you can pop in your Williams peep when you feel the need.

 

[JohnKSa]

roscoe,

That's a good point, and one I forgot to mention. A/O and WWG both sell version of their sights that have the inside of the ghost ring threaded to accept Williams apertures.

 

[Kamicosmos]

Brian,

I've always wanted to put the tang sight on my 1894. How does it handle? To me, it looks like it goes right where my thumb normally wraps around? Also, does it fold down or something? I can see myself banging that thing coming in and out of the safe, doorways, etc.

 

[JohnKSa]

...and doesn't it cover the serial number? I thought that was a no-no.

 

[Brian Williams]

The Tang sight folds down and does not get banged in and out of the safe, it does have some thumb interference. I have gotten used to it and it does not cause a problem any more. The serial number on a newer Marlin is on the side opposite of the loading gate.

 

[GunAdmirer]

One vote for XS (formerly AO) Ghost Ring Sights unless you are looking for a more traditional look or need a greater degree of accuracy. For hunting at 150 yards or less, they can't be beat for speed and visibility. They come with a large and smaller ghost ring if you need a little more accuracy. I put the sight set on a Marlin 30AW .30-30 and it looks great. It was easy to install. The Wild West ghost ring set is also nice and may be more heavy duty, although more expensive. I bought mine from Midway when they had them on sale.

 

[spalit]

Looks like it's the Williams FP then - thanks for all the responses. I'm assuming the fibreoptic front post would be an improvement over the factory front bead?

Also, I took the 1894 to the range today after a thorough de-greasing and cleaning. I was genuinely very impressed by accuracy..

No pics yet, but...

With no adjustments to the factory sights, using S&B 158gr flat-nose bullets; no bench-rest, just sitting with elbows on the bench, I was able to get 1.5" 5 shot groups @ 25 yds. Then I shot 10 shot groups at 50 yds that measured 3.5 - 4". No perceptible holdover at 50 yds. Now i just have to work up the reloads. Anyone got a good 180gr XTP reload that works well in their 1894?

Now my 686P has a companion carbine - there is peace and order in the universe once more..

Also, another question. I'd like to install the WWAlaska trigger/sear on it myself. Any websites with information on taking down a Marlin trigger assembly ? Thanks...

 

[Bullet]

I have the Williams FP with the fiber optic front sight on my Marlin. I like the fiber optic front sight. You sure can see it easy. If your target shooting go with the Williams. If your hunting go with WWG with the fiber optic front sight. I think the WWG would be better at getting banged around.