Yes, a peep sight will help, probably (As all eyes differ). I have an 1894c JM and ran a Skinner rear with the factory front for a long time, worked well to 100yds. I eventually changed the factory bead front for a Skinner blade, the better to see it against busy backgrounds. Also worked well to 100yds.

Advice? Get a Skinner rear and try it, maybe at 25yds and 50yds. See where she's printing. The rear is adjustable for height (Some models windage also), so should be fine but variation in loads and weights mean its try it and see. Then adjust as needed.

 

Reciever peeps help a lot!
Having to change out the front sight is more dependent on the shooter I think than the rifle.
Even Skinner can't tell you until you shoot it and see were it is printing.
Changing out front sights gets easy after awhile.

 

Thank you for all the quick replies. I noticed that Skinner has a peep sight for the 1894 but also has the express Edition. Is there pros and cons to either one?

 

I just put a Ranger Point with a 0.125" aperture on my 1980 1894C a few weeks ago, and am quite happy with it - I like the ease of adjusting windage & elevation with the supplied hex wrench, and not having to change out the factory front sight.

At the lowest setting, with the stock Marlin gold bead front sight it seems to be zeroed at 145 yds, using 158 gr .357s (tried a few different loads, at various distances out to 50 yds and kept track of where the groups landed at each distance, then played around with a Ballistics calculator to see what zero-range that equated to).

 

Guy, is that .6" sight height measured from the bore's center?

Thank you,

AC

 

Yes - I measured from center of bore to top of the front sight (I assume it's the stock Marlin gold bead) with a dial caliper

 

Wow! Those cloverleaf sights are slick! I maybe rethinking the skinner. Is there any downfall to the ranger point sights compared to the skinner? Other than the skinner has been out much longer

 

I can't compare the two as I have no experience with the Skinner sight. I can say I'm happy with the Ranger Point Precision peep. I'm using the round peep with a .125 insert, not the cloverleaf. It's compatible with the stock front sight

 

If you like a post front sight better than a bead, in conjunction with the aperture rear, Skinner front post is very good. It's all steel, .10" wide and serrated so the surface facing the shooter is non-glare. It comes tall, and after installation, a range session with a flat file brings the hits up to the correct POI. A little cold blue and done. My 1894 hits a little high above the post at 100 yards, and dead on at 135 yards, my personal limit for iron sight hunting.

The advantage to a .125" rear is more light at morning and night, or more light if your old eyes need the bigger aperture. As I got closer to 70, I drilled my .093" aperture out to .125". Much better.

 

Aperture sights helped my with my "old" eyes, but I must say that the front sight I prefer is the XS post with the white line. I works better in low light, yet I can still use the post in bright light.

 

does xs have low profile front sights that would be compatible with the low RPP peep? Xs sights seem to keep popping up while searching around

 

My favorite front sight is the dovetail Marbels 1/6 inch bead that can be put on the octagon barrels.

 

Thanks guys, I made up my mind, going to order the fiber optics cloverleaf rpp. Talked to someone up there today and they said probably 95% of people order the cloverleaf over traditional so going to give it a go. As for the front sight , I like the rpp fiber optic but think I may try the factory gold bead that I have now first. Maybe a orange paint pen for the gold bead? Also going to put the dove tail filler where my old rear sight is. Does anybody have any suggestions or tricks on installing the rear sight or Dove tail filler? Another question I was worried about is what will these upgrades do to the value of my gun? Being that it will not be all original , will it deplete the value quite a bit? This forum is great by the way, thanks for all the help!

 

Did RPP says if the rear barrel sight has to be removed? Will if be in the way if let on? I am about to go with this same set up up on a Marlin 336 .35 (1969) and a Marlin 39A .22 (1979).

Ron

 

I was also thinking of doing the rpp loading gate, rpp large lever loop and possibly the RPP ejector. That's why I was worried about the value of the gun