I have a Marlin/Glenfield Model 60 that was given to me by my (now gone) dad when I was about 10. It's been beaten up and treated pretty roughly. When I got into shooting about 6 years ago, I brought it out and tried it. The factory sights were not great, and I couldn't shoot it very well. I found out the rear sight would slide around in the dovetail. I wound up replacing the factory sights with Tech Sights. These sights are great and allowed me to zero the rifle and it would hold zero.
After shooting it a while, I found the taller front sight made a flaw evident. The front sight holes are off to the left. I thought it was just my eyes, but I had to run the rear sight all the way to the left to get zero. After testing last week and shooting some different ammo through it and my Henry H001 I discovered it's not all that accurate. The Henry groups around 1" at 50 yards with ammo it likes. The Marlin is more like 2" or maybe a smidge more. I know I'm comparing a scoped rifle to an iron sighted one, but I can typically hold just over 1" with an iron sighted rifle at 50 yards if the rifle is up to it.
Now for the question. I don't want to get rid of it as it has some history with me and my family. I'm considering re-installing the factory sights and leaving it alone or moving the scope on my Henry over to the Marlin. The scope on the Henry requires a chin weld instead of cheek weld, which gets awkward sometimes. I know how to fix the loose rear sight now, and the front sight is low enough the off-center hole isn't an issue with the shorter sight.
So there it is. I have three choices. Careful readers will notice none of these options will cost more than $10.
Leave it alone and use the crooked Tech-Sights. If I do this, I'd install a dovetail filler.
Re-install and zero the factory sights and shoot it for fun in its original configuration.
Re-install and zero the factory sights and add the scope from the Henry. This seems redundant I know, but if there are iron sights on the gun, I'm going to get them squared away even if I add a scope later.
After shooting it a while, I found the taller front sight made a flaw evident. The front sight holes are off to the left. I thought it was just my eyes, but I had to run the rear sight all the way to the left to get zero. After testing last week and shooting some different ammo through it and my Henry H001 I discovered it's not all that accurate. The Henry groups around 1" at 50 yards with ammo it likes. The Marlin is more like 2" or maybe a smidge more. I know I'm comparing a scoped rifle to an iron sighted one, but I can typically hold just over 1" with an iron sighted rifle at 50 yards if the rifle is up to it.
Now for the question. I don't want to get rid of it as it has some history with me and my family. I'm considering re-installing the factory sights and leaving it alone or moving the scope on my Henry over to the Marlin. The scope on the Henry requires a chin weld instead of cheek weld, which gets awkward sometimes. I know how to fix the loose rear sight now, and the front sight is low enough the off-center hole isn't an issue with the shorter sight.
So there it is. I have three choices. Careful readers will notice none of these options will cost more than $10.
Leave it alone and use the crooked Tech-Sights. If I do this, I'd install a dovetail filler.
Re-install and zero the factory sights and shoot it for fun in its original configuration.
Re-install and zero the factory sights and add the scope from the Henry. This seems redundant I know, but if there are iron sights on the gun, I'm going to get them squared away even if I add a scope later.