Help with iron sights

[bluecowdawg]

I have a question regaarding a Marlin 336. I decided to hunt with it this year and actually the first day i took it out I shot a doe.The rifle is a Spikehorn model and i love it,the deer I got was only about 55 yards away so it was an easy shot ,and I think this rifle will be absolutely perfect walking through the woods for shot that close or closer.My question is this,as I set in the deer stand and watched a feeder some doe's and a little 4 point came to feed so I took aim,I was not planning on shooting any of theses deer,but as I aimed I noticed that my front sight post at 100 yards covers half the animal. What do I do about this? I keep reading how the 30-30 is good out to 100-150 yards but the way I see it ,it is only good to 0-60 yards,as far as the iron sights go. I dont want to sound stupid but can I fix this without mounting a scope? I just think it looks better without.

 

[dfariswheel]

You buy a new front sight that's narrower.

Most any gun shop can order one for you, or you can buy it yourself direct from Brownell's, Midway, Williams Sight Company, or Lyman.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

Or you zero for a 6 o'clock hold. Put the target on top of the sight when you aim, and ajust the sights so the bullet strikes at the top dead center oif the bead. I like to zero a .30-30 for around 150 yards that way.

 

[quatin]

Here's a stupid idea, I have a cheap marlin where the front sight covers a 12 inch target from 100 yards. For now I just elevation adjust it 6 inches low so I can see what I'm shooting at. But what if I just file down the front sight so it's narrower? Obviously not to be done on an expensive gun...

 

[Vern Humphrey]

The sight is removeable. You can take it out, file on it, replace it, or get another one to put in the same slot. You won't damage the gun by filing the sight to your tastes.

 

[SwampWolf]

bluecowdawg, I know this is sort of off your question but, after you get the front sight to your liking following the excellent advice given by previous responders, you might want to consider installing a receiver sight as made by Williams and Lyman for your rifle. I've used "peep" sights on various rifles (including my Savage 99, Winchester 94 and 1886, an older Remington 760, a Marlin 39 and a Beeman airgun) for many years with great success. The biggest advantage of a receiver sight over "conventional" irons is that, once you become familiar with them, you'll find peeps are far quicker to get "on target" than the usual open sights are. The reason being that, instead of having to align the front sight with the rear as with conventional irons, with a receiver sight the only thing necessary is to put the front bead on the target and squeeze...Your eye will automatically and naturally center the front sight in the rear aperture. A secondary advantage offered by receiver sights is the relative ease of precise sighting-in- you use a screwdriver to change windage settings instead of a hammer and drift pin. Of course, you may well have already knew of all this stuff and, if so, please forgive me for butting in .

I certainly agree with your opinion that the little carbine looks wrong with a scope. Though I understand and appreciate the advantages afforded by scopes (I have them installed on more than a few rifles), subjective aesthetic considerations aside, it is my opinion that a scope always detracts from the handling characteristics of any rifle. I've always believed that the popularity of the 30-30 cartridge over the years is not based so much on its ballistics as it is on the handy little rifle it was always chambered in-a handiness that is compromised when you stick a scope on top of it.

 

[rockstar.esq]

An unconventional answer is to use globe type front sights like the high power competitors use.
http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=511637
Please note that they were originally developed for Rolling blocks for Creedmore shooting so the historical hystericals won't slay you for thinking about it. Should you be unknowing of globe sights imagine a 1" tube with a stamp metal cutout of a reticle, a post, a circle, or whatever positioned inside the tube. That tube is mounted as your front sight and a rear peep sight is used. The net effect with a circle insert is that you have concentric rings on your target without covering the point of impact. Plus you retain your "field of view" as you would with the buckhorns allowing moving shots to be taken. Either way the globe sights can and will likely deliver the optical precision of a scope. Any doubters should carefully examine what high power shooters do with them at ranges past 1000 yards.

 

[bluecowdawg]

Swampwolf

No, you are not butting in this is exactly what i asked for.Yes i love this little rifle,for the way it carries, its balance,its handy as hell and i sware i can raise this rifle to my shoulder and be on target(out to about 60 yrds ) just as fast as a shotgun.Im tellin yall its super quick.I love it i love it i love it( i would insert a smiley here but there aint one to show how much ILOVE THIS RIFLE .I have thought of the peep sights, but never thought they would be as fast to line up,but i guess i wont know unless i try them.

Rockstar
I have seen these before and often wondered about them as well.Maybe ill try these. decisions,decisions,decisions

I also have the same rifle (336) with a 18 inch barrell,i guess i will experiment on it, im not as much in love with it as i am the Spikehorn

I thank yall for yer comments and suggestions,now i guess i just gotta make up my mind.I will let yall know what i do.

 

[mustanger98]

a 1" tube with a stamp metal cutout of a reticle, a post, a circle, or whatever positioned inside the tube. That tube is mounted as your front sight and a rear peep sight is used. The net effect with a circle insert is that you have concentric rings on your target without covering the point of impact. Plus you retain your "field of view" as you would with the buckhorns allowing moving shots to be taken. Either way the globe sights can and will likely deliver the optical precision of a scope. Any doubters should carefully examine what high power shooters do with them at ranges past 1000 yards.

My Remington 521-T wears a Lyman 17A and I have the complete set of inserts. The best group I ever shot was with this rifle and a circle insert across the bench at 25yds... sub-.50" eight rounds out of ten and the two flyers weren't that far out.

One of my shooting buddies competes with a beautifully sporterized Remington '03A3 with FP/TK and some sort of globe front sight. I got into a shoot-off with him once... his rifle against my old Winchester .30-30 with Lyman #2 tang sight and stock gold bead on the front. He's twice my age and competed all his life and his rifle generally does the job with those sights. In the main match with those sights, my friend took 2nd place and I took 3rd. In the bucket match, I won by one hit after 7rds... 3rds in the match and then we went to missing then I hit and he missed. Neither of us misses on purpose and it was a good race between our .30calibers in a field of competition full of .45-70's sighted equally or more expensively.

Thinking of those front sight inserts, I tried shooting a smallbore sillouette match with the 521-T I mentioned earlier. I had the post/bead insert and accuracy/visability suffered some. What I'd like is to get or make a post insert with a pointed top so I could see more of my target and see better where I am on the target.

 

[JohnKSa]

The short answer is that you go to the range and shoot your rifle and the ammo you plan to use.

A smaller front sight will help some, but if you go too small, you will have a hard time picking up the front sight when the lighting isn't good. Same problem with a pointed front post. The tip will disappear and you'll get elevation errors when the light isn't perfect.

The better solution is to use a 6 O'Clock hold with a square post (or even a bead) and do enough shooting at the range to figure out where you're going to hit and how far out you can push the rifle/ammo/sights/shooter combination.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

I have thought of the peep sights, but never thought they would be as fast to line up,but i guess i wont know unless i try them.

A peep sight is faster than open sights -- because you don't need to align the sights -- that happens automatically when you look through them. Many people take off the eyepiece disk when hunting and use the threaded hole for the peep -- a "ghost ring" effect which is very fast indeed.

Again, instead of filing the bead, zero the rifle so it groups on top of the bead. That's the 6 o'clock hold already mentioned. That way, you get the best of both worlds -- precision shooting and an easy-to-see bead under hunting conditions.

 

[R.H. Lee]

Here are some other possibilities:
http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/st...URE+REAR+SIGHTS+&+POST+FRONT+SIGHTS&s=207#207

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/st...54&title="WGRS"+RECEIVER+SIGHTS&s=36202#36202

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/st...6342&title=RIFLE+FIRE+SIGHT+SET&s=45407#45407

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/st...6342&title=RIFLE+FIRE+SIGHT+SET&s=44752#44752

I've got a Marlin 336 with the original "buckhorn" sight I guess it's called. Doesn't work too well for me and needs replacing. Zeroing for a six o'clock hold is a work-around I suppose, but all my other firearms are zeroed to hold the front sight on the target, so it's not a good option for me.

 

[.45Guy]

I'm just going to throw something out for discussion here. While aperture sights are great tools on the range, most receiver sights I've seen from Williams, Redfield, etc. have a very small aperture. While that's all well and good for poking holes in paper in good lighting, what's going to happen when you have a shot at a whitetail at dawn/dusk, or in other low light conditions?

 

[mustanger98]

.45 Guy, Like Vern Humphrey just said about the threaded hole having more of a ghost ring effect... I've done that. About the only thing I'd do different is have a front bead you can actually see in lower light. The eye is still going to automatically center behind the aperture and you're still gonna look at the front sight and the deer. I think I'd try a white bead, which I haven't done yet since most of my shooting's during daylight.

 

[SSN Vet]

piggy back question....

I am also trying to decide whether to do a receiver mounted peep sight, or a scope on my 336.

When you install a peep sight on the receiver, what should you do with the spikehorn? Tap it out of the dovetail and just leave the track empty?

Also, I've heard that some of the receiver mounted peeps raise the line of sight up significantly and require quite an increase in the height of the front sight. Is this a big issue? and if so, is their a way around it?

Finally, I followed a link someone posted here to a lever gun bulletin board that had TONS of postings for each of the popular lever guns out there.....but I lost the link. Any one here know what it's called?

Thanks....hope I'm not detracting from the origonal questions.

 

[SwampWolf]

SSN Vet: Williams and others make an aluminum blank that you can install in the original iron sight dovetail (for aesthetic reasons only as you could just leave it empty or, for that matter, you can leave the original sight in place).
Try Leverguns.com Forum.

 

[DillHarris]

Has anyone tried a fiber optic front sight with a Williams receiver mounted peep sight for low light? It may look a little weird, but would it work?

 

[mustanger98]

Williams and others make an aluminum blank that you can install in the original iron sight dovetail (for aesthetic reasons only as you could just leave it empty or, for that matter, you can leave the original sight in place).

I have that aluminum blank- mine's by Lyman- on my Winchester .30-30 I was talking about earlier. I didn't do it for aesthetics; I did it so that sharp edge wouldn't snag my hand and cut. It ain't all that purty.

 

[JohnKSa]

...most receiver sights I've seen from Williams, Redfield, etc. have a very small aperture. While that's all well and good for poking holes in paper in good lighting, what's going to happen when you have a shot at a whitetail at dawn/dusk, or in other low light conditions?

I have a little box full of apertures with various aperture sizes for use in different lighting conditions. I also have a couple of apertures that have a twist adjustable aperture size that allows you to tweak things in a second or so to perfectly match lighting.

I have a rifle with a fiber-optic front sight and an aperture rear. Seems to work ok.

BTW, the Marlin rifles often have a rear open sight with a blade that will fold down. I leave the rear sight in place and just fold down the blade.