Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles New sights for Marlin 336 ques..

i want to get a Williams receiver rear sight for my 336 lever marlin. Can anyone comment on these? does it work? and do i need a new front sight along with the rear?

I tried a scope with see-thru mounts and couldn't take it and the stock sights are pretty basic. I used this gun during deer drives and tight cover. What can you suggest?

I've gat a williams peep on mine for now. I have used it before, and it works well.

I prefer XS sights, most especially their front blade.

The FP-336 Williams, specifically for the Marlin, will mount to same drilling as the scope bases.



My first rifles I hunted with, .303 Lee Enfield, 30.06 Enfield, and a Win. 94 30.30, all had Williams peeps. My Dad wouldn't use any other kind of iron sight, not even maybe! Worked good, stayed put, never a problem.

Me, I have a scope on my Marlin 30.30, and wouldn't use anything else.

I use the Williams FP; my 336 was drilled for a side mount. I don't know if these are made any longer. I use the red Fire Sight up front, and the large, twilight aperature in the rear. It's very quick and easy to acquire.
Karl

If your Marlin has the receiver side already D/T'd for a side peep (and you install one) a higher front side shouldn't be needed.

If you mount a top-mount peep, in the scope holes, then you will definitely need a higher front sight blade to zero the rifle - whether or not it's a Williams FP/5D/WGRS or a standard Skinner.

Williams still makes both styles, the 5D is half the $$$ of the FP due to no micrometer click adjusters. The 5D has sliding adjusters.

Of course, either way, it's an ideal time to change front sight material to one that may serve your purpose(s)(deer drives/tight cover) better than the issue bead - like a bright fiber optic.

Williams markets a FireSight "set" for your rifle, with a peep and a FO front of the proper height.

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Steelhead - +1 on the XS sights! I mounted a Firesight kit on a 336 in 35 Rem and the third shot sent the fiberoptic bead into the next county. Put a set of XS on it and it's never given me a problem.

Big time!

Dober

I think that the XS sights were on sale at Midway, around $65 or so

Did anyone have problems with the XS front site and getting that to fit correctly?

The 336 I recently bought is a side mounted peep design and I bought the Williams sight for the original Model 36 which worked well.

I've used both the side mount on older guns and top mount on newer guns. Did not need to replace the front sight.

I'm of mixed feelings about them.

To repeat what I've said before a couple times:

2 years ago the last day I could hunt I got on good bucks in with bunches of does in heavy brush. I was able to see antlers barely by naked eye and easily with 'nocs. However, peering through the receiver sight on my Marlin guide gun, I could not find the antlers and, with the does milling, I could not identify the buck. I came really close to tripping the sear once but had a twitchy feeling. Sure enough, they'd switched places and I'd have shot a doe I didn't have a tag for.

Last year I hunted the same spot, within 50-75 yards, same rifle, but with a Leupold 1.75-6X instead of the receiver sight, and killed the biggest blacktail buck of my life.

About as apples to apples as a comparison can get. One "made meat", one didn't.

Honestly, in those conditions, I think I'd have been better off with open iron sights than the receiver. While the receiver seems to let me place a bullet on paper more precisely, I think I would have been able to place one PRECISELY ENOUGH with open sights and still have been able to identify which one of the 6-8 deer in each group was the big buck.

Conceptually I like receiver sights, but in practice, my faith in them just took a monster hit.

Tom

Give the XS sights a try. I really like the .100" front sight they offer over the .080". If there is light enough to see that big wide front sight will be visible.

Check out Skinner Sights. I have a set on my Marlin 1894, which I like quite a bit. Like the XS, Skinner's are pretty simple and not as "bulky" as a Williams or Lyman.

Another vote for the XS sights.

I have Williams on three levers...I really like them. Works well even with my 52 year old eyes.

This is not meant as a slam of anyone that uses scopes on levers; I,me,personally hate the looks of a scope on a lever gun. The only thing worse would be a scope on Daniel Boone's flintlock.

I have nothing against scopes, they are a fantastic tool, and I use them on all my bolt guns.