Tips and Advice for Using Semi-Buckhorn Sights?

[mhayd93]

As it says in the title: Does anyone have any tips or tricks they have learned to use this sight-system quickly/effectively? I have a Marlin 1894C in 357 and a 336 in 30-30 that both have the factory semi-buckhorn rear and brass bead front sights. No matter how hard I try, I just cannot get consistent with these sights (at least not consistent and quick). The brass bead just seems to never provide enough contrast unless the sun is blazing and there are clear skies; also it seems that I end up having a lot of the target obscured when fitting the bead in the rear notch.

I can get good accuracy with the sights when I really slow down, but given the purpose of the rifles (especially the 30-30) I am trying to figure out how to use them quicker. I tried Skinner peep sights once on my 336 and loved the set-up, but even with an extra tall front sight I never had enough elevation adjustment to keep my 160grain FTX loads from flying 5-6 inches high.

Any help is appreciated!

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[DirectDrive]

You could try a fiber optic front sight.
Williams Gunsight, Ranger Point Precision (and others) make them for lever guns.

 

[mhayd93]

You could try a fiber optic front sight.
Williams Gunsight, Ranger Point Precision (and others) make them for lever guns.

Wow, I wish I had discovered Ranger Point Precision sooner; looks like they have an excellent peep sight system that works with standard height front sights!

Thanks for the info, the Ranger Point sights might just be the solution I have been looking for.

 

[DirectDrive]

Wow, I wish I had discovered Ranger Point Precision sooner; looks like they have an excellent peep sight system that works with standard height front sights!

Thanks for the info, the Ranger Point sights might just be the solution I have been looking for.

RPP peeps sit lower than Skinner peeps.
Skinner peeps are IMO, better build quality although they sit higher.

 

[thorborg]

It's been many years since I have been able to work those iron sights and even then not much good over 50 yards. I've converted all to reddot or scopes except for one 99 in 300 savage I have with a Marvel peep. I do quite well with that and has a large adjustment window for elevation. if you are into the mods you should look into that. finding parts for mine is difficult but I've seen some newer ones that you can get different aperture sizes; large for fast find hunting or smaller ones for pin point shooting.

 

[arrowshooter]

Two best ideas above, Fiber in the front will get you started and you can end it there. Want a little better? Peep in the back. Your groups will shrink substantially.

Also, set your sights so you float the target on top of the bead.

 

[mhayd93]

Thank you everyone for the help; sounds like going with a fiber optic front sight is a good starting point, I will try that and see if that solves my issues.

 

[Spitpatch]

Good plan. Williams Fire Sight is an option we installed on a Marlin .44 Magnum. Later, she also opted for a Williams receiver sight.

The Skinner rear requires a different front sight height than factory. Skinner has the formula for picking the right one if that is the route you choose.

 

[Flopsweat]

A really quick and cheap fix is to paint the front sight florescent orange. I get to keep the same sights for a few more years as my eyesight degrades. You will of course need to clean the sight very carefully first or even rough the surface to get the paint to stick well, but it can really improve your speed and accuracy. I've also put red dots, holographic sights and an ACOG on some of my more modern guns.

 

[DirectDrive]

If your focus on your firearm is not great, but you can see at distance...
Try 1X reading glasses when target shooting.
$10 at the drug store.

 

[arrowshooter]

Thank you everyone for the help; sounds like going with a fiber optic front sight is a good starting point, I will try that and see if that solves my issues.

Cool. When you are shopping, try to get a sight that is as close to the height of your current sight as you can get so as you don't run out of rear elevation adjustment. I am pretty sure that they are measured from the bottom of the dove tail.

 

[mhayd93]

Regarding the color of the fiber-optic; what tends to be better all around for sight acquisition, red or green? Or is it really just one of those things that is simply a matter of preference?

 

[Flopsweat]

Regarding the color of the fiber-optic; what tends to be better all around for sight acquisition, red or green? Or is it really just one of those things that is simply a matter of preference?

Do you hunt mostly in the desert or forest?

I like orange the best, but I've read that the eye picks up yellow the fastest. So I guess of the choices, red for me.

 

[arrowshooter]

I have Red and Green and to me the Green is a touch brighter in low light.

 

[mhayd93]

Do you hunt mostly in the desert or forest?

I like orange the best, but I've read that the eye picks up yellow the fastest. So I guess of the choices, red for me.

I hunt almost exclusively in the Coast Range so it gets to be pretty thick forest that I'm packing the 30-30 in.

 

[jbett98]

I find that having the original front sight hood on my vintage Winchesters helps me acquire the front sight.
I did dab some appliance white enamel paint on the front bead to help it stand out in low light conditions.

 

[Flopsweat]

I hunt almost exclusively in the Coast Range so it gets to be pretty thick forest that I'm packing the 30-30 in.

So there may be green in your field of vision more often than red. Red might be less likely to get lost against the background.

 

[RVTECH]

If your Marlins are drilled and tapped on the sides of the receivers you can use the William's 94/36 receiver sight below.

If your Marlins are NOT drilled and tapped on the side of the receiver then they will be on the top and you can use the William's WGRS as below. This one is modified to fit the Henry properly but is designed for the Marlin.