Range report - ghost ring on Marlin 1894CP; Ruger PC9 and NYC law.

[AlexI]

Hello all,

I went to the range yesterday to try my 1894PC carbine with the XS Ghost ring sights I just installed on it. It was hard to say (due to short range and my limited shooting skills) how much accuracy was lost compared to regular sights, but I do think ghost rings are somewhat less accurate. On the other hand, target picture is SO much better, and it is SO much faster to aim with ghost ring that it more then makes up for lost accuracy, at least on a carbine intended for fast short range shooting. I am definitely NOT disappointed!

Also, it turned out they rent (and can sell, they function as FFL dealer as well as range) Ruger PC9 carbines. I still don't understand why they think these are legal for sale in NYC (they use 10 rd pistol mags, and NYC limit for rifle magazines is 5 rd). They seem to think pistol magazines are somehow exempted even if used in a carbine, which I haven't seen anywhere in the law. Stupid laws can be interpreted in many ways... another dealer told me right away that all carbines using pistol magazines are illegal in NYC... this legal situation really sucks!
I ran 50 rds through one of these babies anyway, and it was kind of fun to shoot. But I was glad I chose my lever action in .357/.38 for a pistol caliber carbine instead of one of these semiautos. Compared to my Marlin, the Ruger looked ugly, and felt rather uncomfortable with its wide plastic body and protruding magazine. I think I made the right choice, just as long as I'm not going to get into any extended firefights where Ruger's detachable magazines would give it an edge over lever action.

Care to comment?

Alex.

 

[dude]

I did like the Ghost ring sight-picture better on my CP but found I shot better with the origional factoy sights and put the rear back on.......leaving the AO site up front.

The PC-9 I shot was clunky and HEAVY, I'll stick with the .30 Carbine. I was suprised to find that many LEOs have a PC-9 or .40 in the trunk of their squad cars so they must perform well enough.

 

[AlexI]

Yes, it did feel heavier then I expected, looking at its short length and a lot of plastic used in its construction. And there was more of a felt recoil and muzzle jump then I expected. The recoil was still light of course, but I thought there will be almost none of it with 9mm out of a not very light semiauto. It was noticeable by contrast with shooting .38s out of my Marlin with its barrel porting, which felt more like shooting .22LRs.

Alex.

 

[Kor]

Here's what I did on my own 1894CS:

Xpress Sights also makes a replacement ghost-ring that is threaded for Williams sight apertures, which is what I put on my Marlin .357. This is not offered with the sight base, only as a separate, replacement part - I had to buy the sights and the extra aperture as well, which was about $12 IIRC. The Williams aperture inserts are about $3 each, so I got a set of 3 different-sized openings. For zeroing and best accuracy from the bench, I screw in the medium or small aperture, and for HD duty I take the aperture out, leaving the ghost-ring alone for faster sight acquisition.

The heavier-than-expected recoil of the Ruger PC9 can be attributed to its heavy blowback bolt, which weighs close to a pound and slams back and forth for every shot.

 

[AlexI]

Hi Kor,

that threaded ring sounds really interesting! Did you call XS Sights directly to order it? What about the set of Williams apertures, do XS Sights sell it as well or you had to order it separately from someplace like Brownells?

Thanks.
Alex.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Goood for you, AlexI!

I think I made the right choice, just as long as I'm not going to get into any extended firefights where Ruger's detachable magazines would give it an edge over lever action.

That's one way of looking at it. Another way: It's not the number of rounds fired that count in a fight-- It's the number of good hits. It is absolutely not necessary to fire off half a magazine at a time, whenever you get a target. Unless you anticipate doing some house-to-house fighting or the like, a real life fight is more of a shoot one or two, duck, maneuver, assess, shoot one or two, and so on.

A lever gun is easy to keep topped off when there's a lull in the action. One can slip a round or two, into the loading port, keeping the piece ready for immediate action. Handy as detachable magazines are, there are a few seconds in which the arm is a single shot, even if you haven't blazed away a whole load. The manually operated action encourages aimed fire, as opposed to spray-n-pray. Very few domestic criminals have the sheer numbers, much less the stomach, for human wave assaults.

Overall, I prefer a rifle-cartridge long arm. However, the relatively inexpensive handgun ammo encourages more live fire practice, and I know several guys who can do some very creditable rapid fire, shuckn' a lever action.

Your Marlin with a loaded magazine and five to ten rounds in a butt cuff makes a neat little package, with no need to carry an extra magazine separately.

Glad you're happy with your carbine.
Johnny

 

[Kor]

AlexI, I just got your e-mail...

When I first purchased the sights for my Marlin about 3 years ago, I ordered everything through Brownell's. According to their current catalog(#55, p. 268), they are still offering the .218" internal diameter, 7/32 X 40tpi threaded Replacement Apertures for $12.00(#006-112-213). The apertures are actually $7.04 each(p. 270), I will double-check tonight whether you should get the 3/8" shank or 1/2" shank.

I just checked out www.xssights.com and I could not find the .218" threaded aperture offered. At the 2000 SHOT Show I asked Ashley Outdoors why they had not offered the threaded aperture as part of a sight system instead of as an add-on part only, and I was told that the standard .191" aperture gave better results than the .218" aperture in their prototype testing. But, you may still be able to order it from them over the phone, or by requesting it specifically through e-mail.

 

[Kor]

Sorry for the slow come-back...

The apertures I use personally are the 3/8" size, I got a 3-pak of the standard apertures and another 3-pak of the "Twilight Apertures" with the "light-gathering brass ring" around the outer diameter of the insert. I personally prefer the "Twilights" slightly, so that's what I keep with the rifle in an Eagle Industries buttstock pouch. I also like to keep a rifle-length .357 Boresnake with it.

The long-shank apertures shouldn't be necessary, unless your sights are zeroed with the aperture screwed REAL low in the rear sight base - mine works fine with the standard inserts.