Scoping Marlin 1895GS - Advice for friend

[Triumph]

My friend is a new hunter in Ohio and shoots a Marlin 1895GS (45-70). He has XS Pic Rail with ghost rings and wants to mount an intermediate or long eye relief scope (see photos).

The first photo is a pic of his rail and the second is the setup he is shooting for.

His shots will be between 50-150 yards and he is determined to scope it.

The question is whether to choose intermediate or long eye relief along with scope recommendations.

Thanks for any help!!

 

[greyling22]

He'll want a 7-9" eye relief scope. I'd look at the Burris or Weaver scout.
Long eye relief is more like 20+" and is for pistols.

 

[Fred in Wisc]

Unless he's in love with the scout scope look, a traditional mount will give a WAY wider field of view. I'd stick a low powered variable on there with a conventional mount and call it good.

By the way, that gun can be VERY accurate. I have a 45/70 that does 1/2-3/4" 50 yard 3 shot groups with 405gr cast bullets at about 1400fps.

 

[X-Rap]

Looks like that rail ties into the rear sight dovetail. Have him check to make sure the barrel is clocked at 12:00. Mine is canted slightly and was hard to detect until I put a receiver sight on it. It's pushed way over to the right. That monolithic rail might not be as forgiving.
The intermediate ER is what he wants in a forward mounted scope. I'd go Leupold if I did it again (I have a Burris on a Scout Squad). Don't know if the whole Scout thing is all that but that gun would be a good candidate.

 

[Triumph]

He'll want a 7-9" eye relief scope. I'd look at the Burris or Weaver scout.
Long eye relief is more like 20+" and is for pistols.

Thanks greyling, I was confused on intermediate vs. LER

 

[Triumph]

Unless he's in love with the scout scope look, a traditional mount will give a WAY wider field of view. I'd stick a low powered variable on there with a conventional mount and call it good.

By the way, that gun can be VERY accurate. I have a 45/70 that does 1/2-3/4" 50 yard 3 shot groups with 405gr cast bullets at about 1400fps.

Fred, thanks.
He is married to that rail & ghost ring set up. I guess he wants back up.
He also agrees on accuracy of that gun. Guess I'll have to get a 45-70

 

[Triumph]

Looks like that rail ties into the rear sight dovetail. Have him check to make sure the barrel is clocked at 12:00. Mine is canted slightly and was hard to detect until I put a receiver sight on it. It's pushed way over to the right. That monolithic rail might not be as forgiving.
The intermediate ER is what he wants in a forward mounted scope. I'd go Leupold if I did it again (I have a Burris on a Scout Squad). Don't know if the whole Scout thing is all that but that gun would be a good candidate.

Thanks X-Rap, I'll have him check that mount.

 

[Llama Bob]

I own the Leupold FXII scout and have shot the Burris scout scope. I recommend the Leupold. It seemed a little nicer optically. The scout should end up mounted basically as far forward as possible. Warne quick detach rings work well.

Given the short range application of the gun, I think a Scout scope is appropriate as compared to a traditionally mounted scope.

 

[greyling22]

I own the Leupold FXII scout and have shot the Burris scout scope. I recommend the Leupold. It seemed a little nicer optically. The scout should end up mounted basically as far forward as possible. Warne quick detach rings work well.

Given the short range application of the gun, I think a Scout scope is appropriate as compared to a traditionally mounted scope.

That's good info about the leupold Bob. Everything I had read up to this point indicated the burris was lighter, had more FOV, and was preferred by most folks.

Also, the listed weight on the weaver scout scopes is wrong. They are weighing the whole package: scope, box, papers, etc. I don't know why they do this. http://www.scoutrifle.org/index.php?topic=582.0 here, about halfway down, a guy named ranchdog put his weaver scope on a scale and took I picture. 6.9 oz.

if you want variable power, they make 2-7x scout scopes. there is a burris ($300), a leatherwood ($120), and a vortex crossfire ($150?) that I know of, and there may be more.

 

[Llama Bob]

That's good info about the leupold Bob. Everything I had read up to this point indicated the burris was lighter, had more FOV, and was preferred by most folks.

I've never compared them directly for weight or FOV, but the Leupold specs a larger FOV which makes sense since it has a bigger bell and more unobstructed objective lens diameter. The roughly 95% larger effective objective lens are also should make for much brighter image (roughly 95%), which is probably responsible for my preference for the Leupold's optics.

 

[dickydalton]

I put this $150 Vortex 2X7 intermediate Scout Scope on my 1895 Guide Gun and it shot 1 1/5" at 100 yards with 405 Remington factory rounds.

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[jmr40]

Forget the forward mount. Buy a 1-4X20 scope and mount it conventionally or just use the peep sight. The mounts on the scope in the photo above weigh more than a 1-4X scope. Having the scope out there messes up the guns balance, they work poorly in low light, or even in a strong back light. On 1X it is faster on target and just as easy to use with both eyes open.

 

[chicharrones]

Keep in mind that the fixed 2.5 power Leopold Scout Scope does not have the capability of focusing the reticle. Not a bad thing for younger eyes, maybe not so good for older eyes.

Regarding field of view, a scout offers plenty of field of view outside of the scope while the traditional scope offers plenty of field of view inside the scope.

With a proper scout scope at low magnification, your eye sees a disc of light on top of the barrel and that disc of light has a reticle in it. It is much like using iron sights on a gun if height over bore isn't excessive.

 

[stoky]

He might want to consider a dot sight, that would put it in the same plane as the target. Or a scope with a 1x low setting and being able to co-witness the sights and the irons.
Something mounted low to the bore would be a + in any case, IMHO. So would be QD.

 

[dickydalton]

Forget the forward mount. Buy a 1-4X20 scope and mount it conventionally or just use the peep sight. The mounts on the scope in the photo above weigh more than a 1-4X scope. Having the scope out there messes up the guns balance, they work poorly in low light, or even in a strong back light. On 1X it is faster on target and just as easy to use with both eyes open.

The whole thing weighs 8 1/4 lbs. It works fine with low light and is way better for me since my cataract surgery. On 2 power it was plenty fast for me and I didn't notice any balance upset.
Is that all you've got?