Better iron sights for Savage MKII .22LR rifle?

[Hellbore]

I have a Savage MKII .22LR rifle I just bought. I like it except for the sights. They SUCK!

The front sight blade is rather thick, not lending itself to pinpoint accuracy. What's worse, the rear sight notch is WAY too wide. When you are aiming, the front sight blade doesn't fill up the rear sight notch. This is very annoying to me.

My grampa's Savage .22LR rifle has a very thin sight notch and is easier to aim with. My dad is a very good marksman and he can shoot with great accuracy with that old rifle, but with my rifle he says he can't hit much because of the sights.

Anyways my point is, are there aftermarket sights that I can put on this gun that are more precise?

 

[arcticap]

I think you're lucky that your Savage came with sights. My Mark II LV heavy barrel doesn't have any, but then I knew that when I bought it. You have some options I guess. You have to decide what you are going to do about that front sight. Can it be easily replaced or can you make it thinner? Then you can decide what to do about the rear sight. Maybe you can add a little
narrow notch to a deeper depth in the center of the current one so you have a 2 step notch. This new notch would be for windage for more precision shooting and the upper notch would aid in quick moving target aquisition like for hunting. Otherwise, you are going to have to find the right sight set to purchase and install. Sometimes, gunsmiths will have old sights salvaged from
obsolete rifles that they may be able to fit for you, but then you won't always have a lot of choices. Are you sure that you wouldn't be interested in one of those inexpensive 4X20mm or 3-7X20mm Bushnell or Tasco rimfire scopes? They serve their purpose and because they mount so low to the receiver, you can still maintain good cheek contact with the stock. A little magnification here and there might really be an aid to good accurate bullet placement. Otherwise, you'll have to go somewhere like to Marble's or Williams sights etc. and risk still not being happy with their designs or prices. Good luck.

 

[Dread Pirate 257 Roberts]

How is the front sight attached to the barrel? I'm looking at a picture on the Savage web site, but it is not detailed enough to tell.

The most common, easily-replaceable sight is a 3/8" dovetail sight - there is a dovetail cut across the barrel and the sight with a matching dovetail base is tapped onto the barrel from the side. If it is this type, you have a veritable plethora of choices from Lyman, Marbles, Williams, etc., available from Brownells and Midway, for example.

If it's not dovetailed, options are fewer.

If there is no dovetail and you can get the sight off, you can get a gunsmith to put on a ramp with a dovetail, like a Williams shorty ramp. Now you have to decide if that's worth it for you, and with a potentially higher front sight, your rear sight may not adjust high enough.

Is there a groove or holes for mounting a rear sight on the receiver? If you make the front sight thinner, and it's already too thin for the rear sight, you might want to look into an aperture (peep) sight for the rear like a Williams 5D or FP.

 

[Hellbore]

Looks like it is in a 3/8" dovetail and staked in place.