Best Peep Sight for Marlin 1895?

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Walleyewhiz

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Hey fellas. Made a trade for a lovely JM stamped Marlin 1895 in 45-70. I am thinking of going with a peep. For those of you that run peep sights, which do you prefer? Skinner, Lyman, Williams, etc...

Finally, where is the easiest place to get one. If you have one gathering dust shoot me a pm.

Thanks.
 
Williams FP are second to none for modern rec sights. The old excellent Lymans are all steel, but used ones are costly.
 
An old steel Lyman would look great on that gun, would function perfectly...and would indeed be expensive! For value, I'd give the nod to Skinner.
 
My preference is the XS sights for the 1895 Marlin. I like the winged version that's available through Brownells.

I have one Skinner for a different gun and am having trouble recommending them. I really don't like how the aperture is held in place by a sacrificial piece of lead shot. On the XS system, the post of the aperture is held in place by flats machined into the threads. Does it really matter? Probably not but I may be missing something. My 2 cents...
 
Beaver Skin said:
My preference is the XS sights for the 1895 Marlin. I like the winged version that's available through Brownells.

I have one Skinner for a different gun and am having trouble recommending them. I really don't like how the aperture is held in place by a sacrificial piece of lead shot. On the XS system, the post of the aperture is held in place by flats machined into the threads. Does it really matter? Probably not but I may be missing something. My 2 cents...
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None of my 15+ Skinners have had a "sacrificial piece of lead shot"?.

 
You asked for best, that would be an old steel Lyman or perhaps Redfield. The new alloy Lymans are junk. Williams are OK, and Skinners work well too.
 
I thought XS stopped shipping to Canada, and that as a result Brownells wouldn't ship them here either. If I could purchase another couple of XS high Weaver ghost rings, I would. It seems that IRUNGUNS brings in XS shotgun sights, but I didn't see rifle sights on their website.

I've used Skinners, I like them, and didn't see lead shot on any of them.:confused:

I have a Williams FP on my 94 Winchester, but one must be cognizant of the delicate nature of gallows style peep sights; I've seen quite a few with bent arms. The Williams FP on my grandson's CZ 452 Scout is an excellent sight, which I mated to a Ruger barrel band front sight base with a brass faced rectangular post.

My favorite peep/ghost ring is NECGs CZ and their new Ruger style, but you won't find a NECG rear sight on a traditional lever gun unless you mount a rail or a Weaver base on it, and the Weaver version of the NECG sight is less desirable in my opinion.
 
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Skinner is fantastic. I have the express on my 308mx and the winged on my 336 and both work well. As it is shorter, the winged rear sight allows for the use of a scout mount.
 
Regarding the sacrificial lead shot....its there, you just need to look harder! :p

If you remove the small set screw on the side of the sight that you loosen to raise or lower the aperture, low and behold there is a piece of lead shot that goes between the screw and the aperture post. It is soft lead so as you tighten the set screw the lead deforms against the aperture post introducing friction to keep the peep from turning while protecting the threads on the aperture post.

I don't know if they are all set up this way but this is how my sight for a TC Contender is set up.

If you go to Skinner's website and look under "special items" you'll see a $4 item called "Skinner Spares". Those two little lead shot balls are what I'm talking about.

Again, it really doesn't make a difference but the "flats" milled into the XS sight don't allow the aperture post to turn while the Skinner sight can be turned even when tightened down, though it is a tough thing to do and not something that would happen by accident.

Boomer - I just received a set of XS sights for a Marlin 39 last week from Brownells...no issue shipping to Canada. Perhaps XS registered their company allowing exports of the product to resume?
 
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geologist said:
I have a Wild West ghost ring. I like its ruggedness and winged protection.
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Yes. All steel, very rugged. No clicks for elevation or windage though. I added one side screw to get more elevation range. My rifle is a Winchester Model 94 AE, not a Marlin 1895 - basically the same ghost ring sight set up.

Not sure if those sights are still available any more from Brownells and Wild West Guns does not ship directly to Canada - well, they were not the last time I tried to get another of their ghost ring sights.

Today, I can read on their site that they have dealers in the UK, Germany and, of all places, Russia. Canada, no. Russia, yes. Go figure !
 
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