Help: replacing front sight ramp, Marlin 981T

[Bridger]

Well I put a Williams receiver sight on my recently purchased Marlin 981t. Can't stand the stock sights on it. Anyway, I got the windage taken care of today, except I was hitting 10 inches high at 50 yards! Clearly I need a taller front sight.

The front sight is not dovetailed, so it looks like I need to replace the ramp entirely. I'm not exactly sure of what I should look for in my Brownells catalog. Definately seems to be something I can do on my own, and I have the FFL discount with my C&R, so I'd like to do this myself. I'm just not sure what size ramp and specifically how tall of a front sight I should be looking for? Thanks

 

[mainmech48]

Your Brownell's catalog has intstructions on how to measure and calculate the correct front sight height when adding a receiver sight. The Williams page usually has a precalculated table of suggestions for quite a few of the more popular rifles.

IMO, the simplest "fix" if your stock front is a one-piece unit would be the Williams "Shorty" ramp. IIRC, you may actually be able to use the stock screw to secure it, although Williams is very good at supplying all necessary hardware with their units if that's not the case. If the blade is secured into the ramp with a dovetail, it's a simple matter to remove it with a light hammer and non-marring punch and replace it with a higher new one.

Follow the intructions in the table, do the calculations, and buy whatever type of blade for the ramp that you like. Personally, I like the "Fire Sight" fiber optic beads on a .22 for general field use. Pick the blade height that, when added to the height of the new ramp (both given in the catalog) add up to the figure you calculated from your measurements. The whole thing sounds more complex than it actually is, and the installation itself is DIY with common tools.