Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin Talk 1897 shooting high

Picked up this 117 yr old Marlin in Louisville earlier this month. Love the gun, lots of finish and good bore. Mechanics are spot on. Its shooting high about 6" with the rear sight on the lowest rung of the riser. Need to lower the rear sight or raise the front. It has a Rocky Mountain front sight blade, and a buckhorn rear. The rear sight blade has a screw that looks to hold the V-part of the rear blade which can be raised or lowered. But its in the lowest position, resting on the bbl. Thinking about making a new higher frt sight blade, or gnawing off metal on the bottom of the rear sight blade. Any suggestions if it was yours. I removed the riser completely in the pic below, it is still shooting 3 or 4" high.

Charlie

I can't tell from the two side view photo's just which sights you have, it looks like the front might be a little low. I would look for a taller replacement front sight, the rear sight has the most value as just a sight and any modifications would hurt that. I have a 1897 in a safe somewhere but it's buried so I can't measure heights for you to compare with yours.

What ammo are you shooting? The early Marlin lever guns, including the early 39's, were not made to handle Hi-Speed and use of that can crack the bolts.

Is that front sight original? Looks short. Has the barrel been shortened? Not an expert on the 1897 by any means and perhaps different barrel lengths were made, but it looks short compared to my 39 and the 1897 linked below. Notice too how the muzzle/crown appears to extend further past the end of the magazine tube in the linked pic vs. yours. But maybe that's just the angle you took your photo at.

Here's a link to an 1897 at Collectors Firearms for comparison: Marlin 1897 .22 - Collectors Firearms

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The [img] tags don't seem to work but the link does open the pic.

Shooting CCI std. Measuring from the face of the chamber, the bbl is dead on 24". Got no idea if the sight is original. Will try to get a pic of the rear sight tomorrow. I am carving up a 1944 silver quarter to replace the front sight blade.

thanks for the help.

Charlie

Front sight on my 39 is a touch more than 1/4", about 9/32" tall. Good luck Charlie.

I wonder if it is shooting high because of the newer ammo it wasn’t set up to shoot. If you had any sub sonic ammo it might shoot truer to the sights, it’s just a thought on my end.

Sorry, I just now read where you discussed the ammo already. Nice old gun there btw, would love to stumble into one of those one day.

Got feed back that the rear sight is too high, probably not original. Have seen a same sight but lower rear blade on another 1897. Could be from a center fire?



Charlie

I gnawed out a front sight from a 1944 quarter. Made it extra large so i could trim it to adjust it with high rear sight. At 25 yds it was DEAD ON. I was hoping to trim it some as it looms large out of the end of the bbl. But the work is done until I can find a lower rear sight. thanks for the help and suggestions.

Charlie

Found a Lyman tang sight for the 1897 in Tulsa last month. Dug out the original front sight that came with the rifle, and it is behaving quite well now.

Charlie

The rear sight looks correct to me. The sight elevator, I can't see well enough to be sure, but it looks like a replacement.
Marlin used "fish hook' elevators on all their rifles up until the 30's. That's what this 1897 should have. They are out there, but have been bringing real good money lately. I'm talking $25 for an original. I think I remember seeing someone selling new repo's on ebay recently. The fish hook elevators will drop the rear sight down to nearly the barrel. They are very thin at their lowest setting.

WB

Edit : I just zoomed your pic. That is the wrong elevator.