Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Skinner receiver sight for Marlin .32-40

Mentioned in my RIFLE article on my Marlin 1893 .32-40 that I might put an aperture sight on it. Checked out Skinner Sights (www.skinnersights.com) to see if Andy Larsson made one, but only saw sights for the 1894 and 1895 Marlins. Meant to ask him if one of those might work, but got too busy.

Andy saw the article and contacted me, saying yep, the model for the 1894 would work. Since Skinner Sights is just over the mountains from us in St. Ignatius, Montana, it showed up in the mail very soon, and fit the 100-year-old factory mounting holes perfectly--with enough time left before hunting season to get the rifle sighted-in.

Perfect, looks rather good on that old rifle. Anxious to see the targets you get. What distance are you going to sight in for?

I have a set on a Marlin 1894 44 magnum that I like very much, great sights!

Probably sight in so the bullets land at the top of the front bead at 100--which will allow for holding the bead dead-on a little further out.

Excellent.

Jacketed or cast for putting meat in the pot with it?

It looks good MD. I have a peep on my 1893 Marlin (.30-30) and it suits it well. It is surprisingly accurate - about 1 1/2" at 100 m (our ranges are denominated in metres) for five rounds, using 150 gn jacketed bullets at factory velocity. I think the sight radius helps (26" barrel), as well as the inherent advantage of the peep over an open rear sight.

That’s good to know MD - thanks for sharing!

PennDog

Wish I’d seen this about 8-9 years ago. Have a tang sight on mine. -sniff-

Tang sights are cool!

The one on my Winchester 1886 .33 WCF was one of the spring-loaded Marble's Automatic Flexible Joint Rear Sights. If it got twanged while hunting, it snapped back into position. You could also flick it with a finger to knock out snow or rain.

Have also owned two German guns with tang sights that folded down into a slot in the tang. One was a Sauer hammer drilling in 12x12/.30-30, and the other is my present 9.3x74R Thieme-Schlegelmilch side-by-side double rifle.

The folks at Skinner sights are very nice people and will ship into Canada, so canucks if you need a good receiver sight give skinner a look-see.

Yep, they are cool, and they work far better than most imagine. First time I put my 94 on the 100 yard butt it put two through the X dead center. Never imagined the .25-20 as a sniper rifle, but there it is. :grin; Old guns can still get it done.

Looks good JB, your giving me ideas on the 2 1894's I've picked up in the last couple of years. A 357 & a 44.. MB

I have been using a Skinner "Alaskan" peep on my Marlin 45-70 for a long time. He runs a good business and offers good products. One of the best ideas in my opinion is his offering of the peep that has machined cut outs that accept Talley and possibly Warne scope rings, he suggests medium height rings. So it is possible to carry a little scope zeroed in QD rings in a pack or on the gun and use or remove when one feels the need. I have a Leupold 1.5-5x20 with a German#4 reticle that would work perfectly on my Marlin,

I just have and aversion to putting a scope on that style of a rifle. We all know one of the attractions of those old iron sighted lever guns is how easy they carry with out a scope on top.

Skinner Sights are great, I have one on my Marlin 1894 44 mag and one on my old 10/22.
They are very happy to ship to Canada. I did an article in Canadian Firearms Journal last year about the sights.
The one on my 10/22 gives the rifle a very slim, easy to carry profile. Very cool. Pretty darn accurate although my old diabetic eyes are starting to
make me think it is time for a scope. Be better off buying another 10/22 to scope though.
Jeff

Are you sure those "sights" on those German guns aren't actually light focusers for sharpening the sight picture of the barrel sights? If the "fold down into a mortise in the tang" sight on these guns doesn't have accommodation for windage or elevation, then that was their intended use. Or so I have been led to believe by more than one Germanic rifle expert.

I just put a Skinner Montana on my 1893 last week.
The rifle is a .38-55 with a 26", half-octagon barrel and half mag.
That sight is the bees knees! I had previously mounted a new Marbles which I found uncomfortable to use.
Looks good, great sight picture, and easy to adjust.