Sights on Lever Rifles ?

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Shawnee

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Hi All...

Since there seem to be several demented folks around who are guilty of actually liking those pitiful ol' lever guns maybe we can drum up some good discussion of sighting for the Marlins and Winchesters and Henrys and others. Glad to hear about any sight (even factory sights) but am wondering, in particular, if anyone is using one of the "Red Dot" style sights on their lever rifle(s).
I put one of them on a lever .22 and, besides being more accurate than I was expecting, it is doubly sweet because I can still carry the rifle at very near "point-of-balance" in one hand and that, to me, is one of the coolest things about an iron-sighted 94 or 336.
All opinions/experiences welcome ! :)
 
I have a nice 1.5x4.5 Bushnell I wouldn't hesitate to mount on a Marlin. I like receiver ghost ring apertures for lever guns, but my old eyes ain't gettin' any better. Scopes help, especially in low light.

I really ain't into electronic sighting systems. I would be into night vision on a hog gun if I could afford it. Danged things cost too much, though. Maybe I ain't with it, but there's just something about relying on electronics I don't like. Maybe it's my hatred for this computer. I've threatened it with a 12 gauge several times in the past.
 
I personally don't have a red dot on my levers. But I will be mounting one on a Henry today for a friend. I have dots on several rifles, and wouldn't mind having a dot scope on one of my levers. I just don't.
 
I have one on my 50 CAL. it does work good. Same time though i put that Down i pick up my (pathetic 30-30) as SHAWNEE SEEMS TO THINK. Then i do the same shots getting the same results.


SO my question What is the point of this thread. If you cant shoot then ok.

However if you have iron sights and you practice on iron sights then you will be able to learn and adjust to shoot iron sights. Maybe you should just go read a book and stop trying to bash down on lever action rifles. If you do not like lever action rifles fine. But keep your negative comments to yourself.



Since there seem to be several demented folks around who are guilty of actually liking those pitiful ol' lever guns
Click to expand...

BAN THE ORIGINAL OP
 
I've a set of the XS Ghost rings and a "scout" optics mount on the way...probably going to mount a reddot on it when I get more funds...

Or the XS sights might get hijacked for my Marlin Camp 9 carbine...don't know yet. I might order a set of Skinner sights for the Camp...
 
As a matter of function, I think a red dot's a good idea.

As a matter of aesthetics, mounting a short, runty 40 +/- mm tube atop a 20mm wide action is simply going to look weird.
 
I put the Williams site with the red fiber sight on my 30-30 Win'94. Definite improvement on that gun. You can see that here: http://www.pixagogo.com/7789414121 That other gun is a Puma in 357. I just bought a Henry 22 mag that I put a Millet red dot on for night time critter duty. You can see that here: http://www.pixagogo.com/9777704129 Click on a pic to make it bigger, then click on original at the top to really blow it up. Never used a red dot before. Still getting used to that, but it does work better than open sights for my aging eyes. First time use with a peep sight also. But I'm trying to come up with a reduced load for plinking with my 30-30. At first I thought I couldn't hit worth a darn with the peep. Factory ammo proved it was my reloads. The Henry is quite accurate with the right ammo. The Winchester can group pretty darn good at 50 yards if I do my part, but it has a lousy trigger compared to the Henry. And the Puma is a hoot to shoot even with the factory sights and my cheapie reloads. I like my lever guns. They're just flat fun to shoot.
 
Marlin 1894P .44 Mag Guide Gun.

Scope:
Leupold M-8 2x EER pistol scope.
XS Sights Lever-Scout mount.

Back-up sights:
Williams FP receiver sight.
1/16" Gold Bead front with Winchester Model 70 style Round hood.

IMHO: Marlins Wide-Scan hoods suck for accurate shooting!

ScoutScope.jpg


1224.jpg
rcmodel
 
Pretty much the same, Leupold scout scope on rails.

I have the XS sights in the safe, will be installing them when I get around to it.

marlin.jpg
 
Hi TKComer...

Nice ! That Henry is a good-looking gun fersure ! Uncooperative eyes are behind my interest in the reddot style sights too. :D

Hi RCmodel...

How are the optics on those EER scopes? Do they give plenty of eye relief and are they pretty bright even in low light ?

Hi Scrat...

LOL ! Cron's right, Scrat. You can put your new charcoal-burners back in their holsters. I happen to be one of those "demented folks" who dotes on 30/30s and lever guns in general. ;)
 
I prefer ghost ring or buckhorn sights for 100 yds or less shots with pistol caliber carbine levers, and tang mounted creedmore style sights for full size big bore stuff if longer shots are needed. I personally witnessed a Korean War vet a couple years ago put up a 6" group at 500 yds with a creedmore equipped 1886 Winchester in 45-70, he punked lots of people at the range with heavy barreled and scoped bolt rifles, and the nice man even taught me how to properly shoot my Garand prone after I bribed him with a hot cup of coffee and some conversation. the moral is, Beware of old men with an old beat up rifle, they can probably make you look silly.:)
 
How are the optics on those EER scopes? Do they give plenty of eye relief and are they pretty bright even in low light ?
Click to expand...
Most excellent!

The eye relief is actually twice as long as the real "Scout Scopes" from Leupold & Burris. Field of view is about the same, although FOV is not very meaningful with a scout scope, because you are really looking around it, as well as through it..

And you can still find used Leupold M-8 pistol scopes on eBay for half price or less then a new model.

1224.jpg
rcmodel
 
I'd like to have a Marlin with a scout mount and my leftover simmons 2.5x prohunter in it, backed up with AO sights.

But I have to keep putting that off because I'm more worried about the political landscape. Have to buy the stuff that's more likely to get banned first.
 
My Marlin 336 wears a Williams FP-336 receiver sight and Firesight fiber optic front bead. This setup works very well.
 
You have to be carefull with those pistol scopes. I tried the Burris 2X pistol scope on my XS rail, and I can't get it far enough away from my eye to see a full field.

Now I use a Weaver 2X (just right eye relief) with the XS aperture rear with the XS post front.

I hate the XS rear sight, very difficult to adjust, and it mounts with just one screw. I'm going to drill and tap my frame (Marlin 1894 CP .357) to accept a Lyman 66LA.
 
Yep - I had the Simmons mounted on a Savage Scout so it should work. But I ran into the same issue trying to get one to work on it.
But I digress - don't need to hijack this guy's thread.
 
I have XS ghost ring sights installed on my lever guns. My second choice would be a square notch rear sight blade with patridge-style post front sight such as a Marbles sourdough sight.

The sights installed by Grizzly look to be excellent, but probably somewhat pricey.
 
Soon after I bought my Marlin 1894c I put a red dot on it. It was my first experience with electronic sights. The sight is Bushnell Trophy, and it has worked out very well. It has a choice of 4 reticles and 11 intensity settings. It uses inexpensive batteries and they last a long time. If I wanted to spend more money I might have chosen one of the Aimpoint's, but this works well for the plinking I do.
 
I make due with this piece of junk:

336wxsrf7.jpg


I really dig the XS Ghost Rings as a backup in case of scope failure. So far, the zero hasn't changed using the Leupold quick detach rings. My only complaints are that the Scout Mount took a considerable amount of filing to fit and that the scope is high enough that I don't get a perfect cheek weld. Other than that, I'm looking forward to stretching out to 300 yards with the 160 gr. Leverevolution rounds. :cool:
 
I like red dots on most everything, including this 1894c and 1895GS. The 1895 has the newer XS rail with the slot cut for their rear sight, but with the Aimpoint, the main "backup" I've bothered with so far is the double battery cap.

I used to use a Williams peep on my Trapper and it was fine, but the red dots are just too easy.

twoaw3.jpg
 
Back in the late 1960s there was an aftermarket scope system for the Modle 94 that included a LER scope mounted over the rear sight dovetail, as it was before the Cooper inspired SCOUT RIFLE fever it just costed along a few year and then became unavailable. One of my worst gunshow mistakes about five years back was to walk away from a table with that scope and mount on it to look at a piece of surplus steel and wood on another table. Upon my return the table renter was wrappnigit in its original box in a plastic bag and very happy with his new $100 bill. I never learn.

When the first of the red dots came out Bushnell I believe it was had one that was two tubes mounted one atop the other the top tube had pretty much the same light gathering sytem as the Single Points, but projected a dot into a 1X scope one looked through rather than the occluded sight system of the Single point. It was also available on a mount that both replaced the rear sight of a '94 and clamped on the barrel may have been the same mount for that matter.

Neither sold that well, because they never got the buzz. At the time I liked them because they did not mess up carrying a '94 like a side mount scope on the reciever did. ALso in those pre Scout Rifle days I thought the forward mounted LER scope was sort of K98k with ZF41 neato.

Everything old is new again.

-Bob Hollingsworth
 
OK, you asked for opinion...

That's right up there with adding a Red Dot to a standard re-curve!

I think it should be a Federal Offense to install any sort of optics mount on a lever gun. Red Dot, or a scope! You should have to endure an interview with Mike Tyson. You should have to babysit Cher, Celine Dion and Britney Spears in the same appartment for a week. Every hair on your body shoud be plucked one at a time by PRINCE!

That'd be like adding a 4 banger Hybrid engine to my F250 4x4 Power Stroke Diesel.. Just because something can be done, doesn't mean that it should be!

YUK! If you can't shoot with iron sights, learn how, or shoot your bolt and semi-auto's with scopes.

ICK, Yuk, ick. Makes me want to puke when I see a scope or Red Dot on a lever gun! It just doesn't look right.

What's even worse are the side mounted scopes on a top eject lever gun. YUK!

I'll bet John Wayne is rolling over in his grave at just the thought of this. Benjamin Tyler Henry and President Lincoln would have you all hanged for such treason!

-Steve
 
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