Marlin 336 Sights

[bdgackle]

I bought a Walmart special Marlin 336 last night. It came with the "buckhorn" open sights. Took it to the (indoor, 25 yard) range to try and sight in, and ran into a problem. I was able to tap the windage in okay, but elevation is an issue. With the rear sight on the lowest notch, the rifle shoots dead on at 10 yards, and is 2" high at 25 yards. Running through ballistic software, this indicates that my shortest zero is at about 400 yards. There are no elevation adjustments that I can see for the front sight.

My understanding is that fixing this problem requires either raising the front sight post somehow, or lowering the rear sight. I was thinking about taking a file to the bottom of rear sight ramp (the little piece that comes off) to make it skinnier, but maybe someone here has a better idea? Would deepening the rear sight notch be a good option?

I'd like to keep the factory sights for now, XS ghost rings are in this gun's future, but that is a couple of months off.

Seems that the cost of shipping this rifle to Marlin would get me halfway to those ghost rings, which would seem to be a solution. If anyone can think of a reason I SHOULD send it back, though, please tell me (ie, does this suggest a bent barrel or something?).

For those wondering why I'm sighting a rifle in at 25 yards, I don't have access to a longer range right now, so my goal is to get the near zero to 25 yards, and assume that's pretty close to a 200 yard zero. I figure that until I'm shooting 1" groups from field positions at 25 yards, there isn't much to be gained by walking further anyway. If anyone knows of good public outdoor shooting within two or three hours of Seattle, please feel free to chime in!

Thanks!

 

[dakotasin]

wait until you can shoot the gun at 50 and 100 yards. don't put too much stock in ballistic software at this point either.

remember, a bullet crosses l.o.s. twice - on the way up and on the way down. until you can shoot it longer, you really have no idea where it will be at the longer ranges.

also, my 336 buckhorns were pretty close at 100 yards. i did, of course yank them in favor of a peep-receiver sight (much, much better than barrel-mounted open sights imo).

last, it is no big chore to change your front sight. it drifts out pretty easy, and then replace it w/ a different height.

 

[ECVMatt]

I would try and get to a 100 yard range..

I would be willing to bet that you could get that Marlin zeroed.

I love my XS sights and recommend them when they fit the budget.

Matt

 

[bdgackle]

Thanks for the info. I'll be getting out to a longer range ASAP. Here in Washington, all the outdoor ranges are private, and most of them have waiting lists. I'm on one of said waiting lists... but for the moment I'm stuck with 25 yards.

I hear you on ballistics software, though. I just checked that to see if maybe what I was seeing was reasonable, but I understand that for the most part the numbers the computer is spitting out are just educated guesses. I'm fairly certain that I'm seeing the near zero at 10 yards, since the gun is shooting higher at 25 than 10... but, I suppose the difference could just be due to changes in sight picture too.

Would a place like midsouth have different sight blades? Any others you would recommend?

 

[ECVMatt]

you might check Midway and see what Marbles

had to offer. They make lots of different front sights and they a pretty cheap.

Let us know how it works out.

Matt

 

[rcmodel]

Were you shooting off a bench & forend rest by chance?

Carbines like yours require a firm hold on the forend, or they will recoil up off POA some before the bullet gets out of the barrel.

I'd try a couple different shooting techniques at 100 yards before I started dinking around with the sights.

Every one I have messed with came pretty well sighted in right from the factory.

rcmodel

 

[foghornl]

When I bought my Marlin 30AW in 1990 or so, I had to make 1 "click" adjustment on the rear sights to put it dead on @100Yds. Shot a bit high, IIRC before the "click"

 

[bdgackle]

What do you mean by a "click" adjustment?

 

[goon]

If for some reason your Marlin won't zero with the elevator in, take the elevator completely out and see what you got.
I've seen a lot of .22 rifles zeroed this way.

But I also think you'll see more promising results when you get a chance to shoot a little farther.

 

[JustsayMo]

PM'd you about a local range open to the public.

Also are you shootng 150 grain bullets?

In my Marlins the 170 grainers shoot a bit lower.

 

[daveit]

Check these out...

http://skinnersights.com

He does custom-made peeps and front sights. Good prices and great service. Do some searches on here and rimfirecentral.com for some great recommendations.