Front sight help for a Marlin 1895?

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Wardo1974

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I have a 1990's Marlin 1895 in .45-70. It came standard with a 22" barrel and half-mag.

I've never liked the front sight and I don't know what I could get to replace it. It's a hooded ramp front sight that's screwed to the barrel.

I just want a simple unhooded bead type (sort of like what came on the 70's version of the same rifle), but they typically drift into a dovetail , which my barrel doesn't have.

Does anyone here know where I could get a different sight I'd like better? I honestly don't know where to get one. Thanks!
 
Wardo1974 said:
I have a 1990's Marlin 1895 in .45-70. It came standard with a 22" barrel and half-mag.

I've never liked the front sight and I don't know what I could get to replace it. It's a hooded ramp front sight that's screwed to the barrel.

I just want a simple unhooded bead type (sort of like what came on the 70's version of the same rifle), but they typically drift into a dovetail , which my barrel doesn't have.

Does anyone here know where I could get a different sight I'd like better? I honestly don't know where to get one. Thanks!
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The ramp itself should be dovetailed, no?

The sight hood slides-off without much effort you should then see how the front blade slides into a dovetail cut in the ramp itself. You should also see at least one of the two screws that fasten the ramp to the barrel. The other is under the blade itself I believe.
Drift out the blade and add whatever aftermarket one your heart desires. Or a gunsmith could easily cut you front dovetail in the barrel if you have to have that style, but I don't see the advantage.
I have a drawer-full of Front sight hoods, soon as I get a new Marlin I pop off the hood until I go to sell it.

If you go with the XS/Ashley sight combo the front ramp-post is one piece IIRC.
Be sure to visit skinnersights.com in the FAQ section there is a ton of useful info regarding sight set-up.
Hope that helps.
 
I don't think anyone makes what you want, if you do find one it will be fragile. The sight would still need to be the height of your current one, without the ramp the sight alone will be tall, skinny and fragile.

The hood comes off by sliding forward.

Williams and Marbles both manufacture sights with different sized and colored beads.
 
re

True enough, Sun and Steel, the ramp`s dovetailed, but I wanted to ditch the thing altogether. I haven`t attempted to remove the entire thing from the barrel, but it looks like it is screwed in...so even if I got a smith to dovetail it for any other front sight, there would still be a couple screw holes in there, no?

As for height of the bead - why would that matter? If I got a lower one, I would simply re-sight it in to accommodate the shorter bead.
 
Lodi said:
I don't think anyone makes what you want, if you do find one it will be fragile. The sight would still need to be the height of your current one, without the ramp the sight alone will be tall, skinny and fragile.

The hood comes off by sliding forward.

Williams and Marbles both manufacture sights with different sized and colored beads.
Click to expand...

Skinnersights manufactures a tall front blade for early marlins with the dovetail slot in the barrel. But I have to agree that the ramp is probably the stronger design of the two.
 
Wardo1974 said:
As for height of the bead - why would that matter? If I got a lower one, I would simply re-sight it in to accommodate the shorter bead.
Click to expand...

Correct. Just make sure that there is enough adjustment and that you can still see the sights correctly. Do the math before cutting barrels, a little goes a long way.
 
Wardo1974 said:
True enough, Sun and Steel, the ramp`s dovetailed, but I wanted to ditch the thing altogether. I haven`t attempted to remove the entire thing from the barrel, but it looks like it is screwed in...so even if I got a smith to dovetail it for any other front sight, there would still be a couple screw holes in there, no?

As for height of the bead - why would that matter? If I got a lower one, I would simply re-sight it in to accommodate the shorter bead.
Click to expand...

You'd be amazed how fast you can run out of elevation when you dink around with the front sight. Been there, done that :p

You're right, you'd be left with two holes by removing the ramp, but if you had a new dovetail cut in the barrel you would eat one hole up for sure.
 
You'd be amazed how fast you can run out of elevation when you dink around with the front sight. Been there, done that
Click to expand...
Ain't that the truth :bangHead:

I replaced my last 1895's factory front bead with a fiber optic sight, mind you it was a simple dovetail and I had several different heights to choose from ;)
 
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