Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers scope mount and ring choice

Well,I got my SIL a Marlin 1895G. It's what my daughter said he talked most about wanting. He doesn't know I've got it.

Anyways,I'm not sure if he'll want to scope it or not but I may as well get some opinions and be ready. Does the scope need to be mounted as low as possible due to the stock configuration? I've got an El Paso Weaver K2.5 60-C that was redone by WSRS to use. So what mount/ring set up are y'all using?

No help on the scope here as I went with a set of Brockmann ghost ring sights. I am 52 and wear glasses. I love the sights. Someday I may be forced to use a scope and when I do I will use Talley mounts and a low power Leupold variable. Ring height is kind of individual to the shooter IMHO.

I APPRECIATE the reply.

I've been keeping the idea of open sights in the back of my mind. My SIL's in his mid 40's and is an ol'country boy so open sights may be what he goes with. The factory ones are ok but I've read good reports on Brockmann sights. We'll see.

As far a scope/scope mounts go,I read a scope base review where the Marlin 1895G owner said his experience has been that unless your setup is as low as possible it's hard to get a good sight pic in combination with a good cheek weld. I've got plenty of rings and scopes to use so I'd only need a base to find out for sure. AGAIN,we'll see.

Yes, use as low as possible rings/mounts combination as the gun will allow. The stock is set up for iron sight usage, so if you use a scope/rings/bases combination that's too high your cheek won't be on the stock. If you do scope it you'll also want to get a hammer extension because it's tough to get to the hammer with a scope on, especially with gloves on.

On my guide gun (sold it to a friend's kid this winter) I used a Leupold mount and std rings most of the time. Seemed a little heavy but certainly rock solid!

A Warne base and Burris Zee rings seem like a good lighter weight option though I've only used that on 1894s, not 1895s.

For optics on my .45-70 ... well, I'm not much one to suffer silently, if I don't like something I change it. I twice had Leupold 1.5-5Xs on it which seemed ideal on paper but irritated me in the field and used both a 3-9X Vari X II and a 2.5-8X Vari X III at one time or another. Finally for the last year before I sold it, it had a 1.75-6X VX III on it which was, IMHO, the best of the various setups I tried.

Most of the serious load work I did with that gun was while I had the 2.5-8X on it. I got it down to under .75" center to center for 3 shots at 100 yards with 52 grains of H4895 under a 400 grain Speer flat point. That ain't too bad for a lever action. It shot clean through a deer if you can imagine that. My gun never responded well to higher velocities than that, didn't do very well with Hornady 350s either flat point or round nose, wasn't consistent with 300 grain hollowpoints, but it sure rocked with the 400 grain Speer.

One other thing I did ... I put a Wild West leverguns trigger in it which gave me a better trigger pull than any factory bolt action I've seen in a long time, in fact, better than some professional trigger jobs on bolt actions I've had done. Well worth the money IMHO.

Tom

my choice would be weaver style base and Warne QD rings high enough to clear hammer and thumb. Easy off and on for the scope .

THANKS for the input,guys.
I gave him the rifle today and it seems he's leaning towards some aftermarket open sights.

My combo is:

weaver 1 piece base
Warne quick detach rings
3-12x44 Burris Signature w/posi-lok

go with the XS package, ghost rings and the scout scope mount. a leupy 2.5x scout scope is all you need for <250yrd hunting. doubt you'll be making shots farther then that with a 1895G....

Amphibious - That's the set-up that I'm using on my 45/70 and it works great!

I don't like the scout scope setup. The one I handled had the rifle's balance point moved forward in a way that was awkward, at least for me.

One real plus for the scout scope, if it works for you, is that sure makes it easy to get your thumb to the hammer, no issues with hammer extensions, small space, etc. I didn't find it a problem w/ a regular scope but someone else might.

I reckon whatever you choose, if you can find someone else that's already tried it who'll let you handle their rifle, you'll have a better chance of seeing what does, and doesn't, work for you cheaper than having to buy and try all the options yourself.

Tom

I prefer the QD Talley rings and bases and I would get one og those side extensions for the Marlin hammer is it were me, then you can mount the scope very low and not have a problem cocking the rifle.