Keeps you from losing them. I don’t have scopes on most of my lever guns but the ones that do still sport the irons. If you never plan on getting rid of the gun and don’t want the sights, you can probably sell them for about $50 and get that much closer to your leupold

 

I would have to agree with NickMc. If you remove them you will lose them... I would only remove the rear sight if the scope will hit it. If you see the front sight in the BOTTOM of the scope view the easy solution is look at the crosshairs and not the sight... I just put Leupold VX-3i (2.5-8x36) on two marlins and left the rear sight in place with no clearance issues. If you decide to sell the rifle someday you'll most likely sell easier and for more with all the original parts to it.

 

I only remove the rear sights if the get in the way.

 

I see you are in the Finger Lakes region. Lots of moisture.
Has anyone suggested to you to wax your firearms? I know it sounds kinda goofy, but an old black powder shooter turned me onto it decades ago and it has saved my guns!
I have a lot of acid in my blood and I am hard on tool steel surfaces. My dad wouldn't let me handle his micrometers and measuring tools!
But after I learned about waxing my guns I haven't had an issue. At all!
I use Johnson's Paste Floor wax, the stuff in the yellow can. Several of the guys here swear by some of the gun specific waxes but I am yet to try them.
3 times, wax on, rub off. In front of the TV with an adult beverage of your choice. Use a microfiber towel, you will get a nicer surface.
I have rifles in the back of my safe that haven't been touched in years that look as good as when I stuck them back there.
The wax has no effect on the bluing, obviously the wood, or color case hardening. You have nothing to lose but a bit of effort, and your guns will look better than they ever have. And stay that way.

 

Thanks for the thoughts so far. I do plan on waxing the gun after the current hunting season is over. I have been blasting with hair dryer and applying more oil to exterior surfaces after coming in from rain and snow.

 

I removed them off one of my rifles that wears a low power scope. The only reason I did was because I did not like seeing the front sight in the scope. That rifle is going to get trimmed as well. Valid point about losing the sights though. I just found two Marlin rear sights that I thought I had long lost haha.

 

You can buy fancy waxes but Johnson's paste wax works just fine. Leave the iron sight's on.

 

I was going to remove the front sight on one of my friends Marlins. He told me not to remove the front sight because with the hood off that keeps the gun from falling over when you lean against a tree in the woods as the sight holds in the tree bark. I didn't bother even saying any thing else. I guess he had a different idea than I had so it is still on there.

 

I agree with PaulMooney seeing the front sight in scope also bothers me.

 

I like the sights removed. If I'm not going to use them there's no sense in them being there. All they do is snag things. Check out my thread in the collectors forum where I have a pic of a Glenfield with sights removed and dovetails filled.

 

On all my Marlins I have peep sights installed. I remove the stock sights and put them in a small plastic bag labeled as to which Marlin it is for. They get a shot of WD-40 in the bag to prevent them from rusting. I then fill the rear sight dovetail with a blued blank to finish the peep sight job.

 

On all my Marlins I have peep sights installed. I remove the stock sights and put them in a small plastic bag labeled as to which Marlin it is for.

Which then gets tucked away never to be seen again.

 

+1. I installed peep sights on my Marlins and the original rear sights are in safe storage. I was married to a woman who died, so I filled the dovetail on Stainless with a modified rear sight base that was on her 25N. Now whenever this rifle goes out, she's along for the ride. It's the little things that make life bittersweet.

 

I have the Alaskan rear and removed the buckhorn.
Used the Ranger Point dovetail filler.
With a scope I'd remove the rear if it got in the way of the bell.
Otherwise I'd leave it.

 

If it was my rifle I would leave them on. Ranger Point Precision sells a dovetail filler that does a nice job of filling in the void left by the removed iron sights.

 

I took off the rear when I installed a peep, put a dovetail filler in the slot, that was 40 years ago and I have NO idea were it went...

It was a crappy sight anyway....lol

 

Many years ago I did a lot of back pack hunting for deer. No way was I gonna pack a second rifle in when keeping weight to a minimum was premium. Any rifle I took on one of those hunts was scoped with back up iron sights. I've had even top level scopes like Leupolds crap out on he during a rough country hunt. Not fun when you take a spill and the scope gets banged on the ground; then when you look through it the crosshairs are no longer there, or badly out of shape. Scopes these days are tough but even the best of the best will crap out unexpectedly and just at the time you're looking at the king bull of the woods. No way will I ever remove the back up sights.
Paul B.

 

rob42049,
I have done the same thing to my 1955 39A Mountie. If you take that rear sight off and grind that cut off part like the front (diamond shaped) it really looks nice.

 

Where in the blazes did those sights go. they are around here somewhere!

 

Now that we’ve gotten into peep sights, I should say I have Marlins in almost all varieties. Scoped with sights still in place and peep sights with and without the buckhorns still in tact. The buckhorn sights on newer models that fold down don’t bother me with peep sights. I removed the rear sight from an old ‘67 Texan I recently got and put a blank in. But, I also have peep sights on two newer Marlins and have just folded the buckhorn down. When I scoped my guide gun, I never noticed the front sight. I recently moved that scope over to my longer barreled 1895SS and still don’t see it through the scope (even on the 2x setting with Talley low rings). My 336 that is scoped, same thing. So, I’ve never removed the front sights, but on a couple I have removed the rear sight because I installed a peep. Really up to you. I think it’s just easier to keep them on if it has no effect. I only see removing them if the rear sight is touching your scope.

 

I don't buy into the whole "iron sights as a back up" thing.
How do you know if your 'scope west south? When you shoot over the back of that big bull of a lifetime? Probably buck fever. Did you drop your rifle and bump the scope? Could be you also bumped the irons too. Maybe when you look through the scope and the cross hair are cattywampus or missing. Hold on there Mr Buck, let me get out some tools so I can take this POS scope off and use the iron sights! When was the last time you even sighted your rifle in with the iron sights?
Same argument with see thru mounts, except there is no need to remove the scope to use the irons.
If my rifle wears a scope I take off the iron sights, both front and rear.
Just my preference.
..

 

Luckily, Never had to take off the front sights, Had bolt action not come sighted.
I have removed and remounted my receiver sights and they haven't needed to be re-zeroed.
I used all my Henry Rimfire buckhorn sights as dovetail fillers for some of my Marlins.

 

It's against my religion to put a scope on a lever gun. My waffle top isn't drilled and a modern scope would look weird on my Peanut.

Anyway, both the waffle and the peanut have vintage steel Redfield sights and the rear sight removed. For the 39A I used a blank from (I thought) Ranger Point Precision but they do not show in stock right now under the 39A section. Here is what the blank looks like on the 39A.

FYI they (RPP) offer .850" and .900" profile blanks under the 336 parts page. My 39A measures .850" OD at the rear sight and my .30-30 336RC measures about 0.860" so the .850" blank should work for both. I bought the cheap Lyman or whomever mass produces them for the 336 and it looks crappy. This is how it ended up after only two hours of filing to fit then cold blue. I might just buy another RPP part for $34 and be done.

 

YUP!..............I'd take the sights off, too!...............I makes it so much faster and easier for you to lose them, and then you can enjoy the challenge of searching for them, or ordering replacements when you need them, again.............

Don't think you'll ever need them again?............Never, say NEVER!..............

I chuckle at those that are bothered by a secondary focus of the front sight in their low power scope..........With a little training, you can use that secondary focus as a level, to keep you from canting the rifle..........

How about a secondary focus of an oak leaf blowing in the breeze, or tree limb ?..............It's really NO different., and besides, aren't you supposed to concentrating on the intersecting crosshairs, anyway ?

I don't understand why all this secondary focus stuff doesn't bother the MALL NINJA'S who add every type of available conceivable sight, scope, Dot, or halo-graphic sight to their urban AR's, to make them just what a battle rifle never needed to be.........................

Your wants / needs may vary................................

Tom

 

I'm having a hard time understanding how people are losing gun parts.

Label what it came off of and then put it in the same place as all the other clearly marked parts.

 

I'm with Gas Guzzler on this one. The parts go into the Marlin parts bag and then in the all gun parts box. I can find my Marlin parts in a second.