Photos, comments, opinions of your scope/sights and mounting system on Marlin 1895.

[MCMXI]

I'd really appreciate any photos, descriptions, comments, opinions on what optics/sights you have on your Marlin 1895. If possible, please include information such as why you chose what you have (what do you use the rifle for), do you like what you have, pros/cons etc. I'd like to mount a scope of some sort on my XLR and was thinking of a 1.5 - 5x or similar but soon realized that the scope (typical minimum eye relief of 3.6") would need to be pushed so far forward that it would be up against the forward-most ring using a standard base such as the Leupold quick release one-piece base. Another option is to use a scout scope with an eye relief of 9.3" mounted on an XS scout scope base but I'm not sure if this is a good solution. If there's a way to have both form AND function then that's the way I want to go.

Thanks.

 

[MCMXI]

Well, this thread generated a lot of interest didn't it!

In case anyone else ever faces this decision and uses the search engine, after much thought this is what I bought and installed on my Marlin 1895 XLR and Guide Gun, both in .45-70.

XS Lever Rail with ghost ring sights

The rail only weighs 75 grams = 2.6 oz and it fits like a glove and it looks a lot better than the photo below. I chose the rail for one reason ... OPTIONS. I plan on using the Guide Gun with the ghost ring sights (for now) but I plan on adding a 1.5 - 5x Vari-X III to the XLR. With the rail in place I can position the scope correctly i.e. not pushed all the way forward against the front ring. Also, I'll mount the scope with Warne quick-release rings so that I can mount it on the Guide Gun if necessary. Maybe in the future I'll buy a scout scope too and with quick-release rings I'll have all kinds of options for the two Marlins including ghost ring sights, scout scope or regular scope.