Marlin front sight "hood"

[Prof]

I have a Marlin 1894C and two Marlin 336's. All three carbines have a metal "hood" over the front sight. What is the purpose of the "hood"? To prevent glare, protect the front sight, what? I find it distracting to see it in my sight picture. Can I remove it? Thanks for any advice you can give me.

 

[Fatelvis]

The hood is there primarily to control the amount of light on the blade. It will make ambient lighting less of a factor, reducing point of impact shifting. It also protects the blade somewhat, but removing it isnt a problem, it slides right off (either forward, or backward), and is purely preferential. Good shootin`!

 

[ChristopherG]

Mine's off. Just didn't like the look of it, and haven't had any problem with sight acquisition through a Lyman rear aperature sight--including fast acquisition, as in shooting 3-gun with my 1894 in .357 (highly recommended!).

 

[Bill St. Clair]

I toop the hood off of my 444P early on. Works fine with my Wild West Guns ghost ring rear sight.

 

[Prof]

Thanks, gentlemen. I think I'll take the hood off my 1894C and give it a try that way. I appreciate the help!

 

[JohnKSa]

Hoods control the light that hits the front sight and also protect the front sight from damage.

Unless the hood is carefully designed, it can actually make accurate shooting with an aperture rear sight more difficult. If you're using an aperture rear sight you'll probably shoot better without the Marlin hood.

 

[priv8ter]

Not needed

I have an 1894C, and the hood over the front sight flew off after 15 rounds. I was a little concerned at first, but then I decided the front sight was easier to pick up that way when shooting into shadows.

greg