I have about 6 Lyman Tang sites on various 1899's/99's that I have purchased over the years and just picked up my first Marbles which is shown below. It got me to thinking what opinions are out there concerning the two. I really do not have one but I'm sure some of you guys probably do. This is probably on par with the argument about whether the .303 Savage is better than the 30-30 Winchester when it comes to killing deer, but I'd love to hear what people got to say.

Besides, it seems like it has been kinda slow lately and tonight I've also been trying to decide if Bushmills is better than Knob Creek. I think I'll need to do do one more taste test to reach a statistically significant conclusion. LOL!

How about which model do you prefer? My Lyman 29 1/2 seems to near the top of the list.

Are you talking to yourself or answering yourself? Good drinks?

Lyman and Bushmills are what I would go with. Nothing wrong with Marbles and Knob Creek, either. Pretty much a matter of taste in both cases. Both sights (and both Whiskys) will get the job done. I just happen to like the Lyman, mainly for the positive locking lever of the post-#1's.

If your starting Early in the day I like the bushmills in coffee, later I like either one on ice.

I like the marbles for the height locking ring.

MAC, About those sights, I like the Marbles because it is spring loaded, "Flexible." If you bump the sight it can give or move, to spring back a moment later. The Lyman sight would probably be locked in the upright position and then if the sight was bumped it could be damaged. Here's hopin' no damage occurs to either one of those sights. You've got a good looking Marbles there, you'll like it.

I use both, but I like the Lyman a little better because the sight can be folded down out of the way better than the Marbles. I use an O-ring to lock the elevation adjustment in place on the Lyman. I also prefer screw in apertures to the flip down insert or standard ring.

I go with Romac. The Lyman 29 1/2 (with folding mini peep inside the big peep) or 30 1/2 (with removable target disc) are the best commonly available tang sights for the 99 .... because they have windage adjustment as well as elevation. They are frequently on ebay, are beginning now above $200, but are worth it. The budget choice is the Parker Hale Sportarget, also has windage, click adjustments, actually a better made sight than the Lyman but not in demand and goes much cheaper when they do, infrequently, show up for sale.

Hmmm, Guess that's why this 1A I bought was "altered". I paid for a little education on this one. The flip-down was gone and it had been tapped for a set screw. Should've bought the Stroebel's first. I wondered why this was done after I discovered it was not factory. The stem and adjustment ring are snug. DonW

I like both the Marbles and Lyman sights, but im a bit more partial to Marbles, Marbles knives, Marbles safety axes, and Marbles game getters, all high quality collectables. Don

Here is a first variation marble. This is the only one that I have ever seen. It only has the Oct 20 03 patent date and not the November 05 date. It has some slight variations from the later one. Base is different, MSA instead of marbles etc. It is on the left in the top two pictures and the right in the last. Notice the bump under the stem is shorter in the middle picture. I am guessing this was increase to allow for more writing (extra patent date and Marble etc). I like the hard to find sights!

Blair

For what it's worth....my gunsmith says Marble's had it all over Lyman in tang sight's.

I notice in Blair's bottom picture that the base on the right side seems to have been dressed down a bit on its right side. Was this done to adjust windage rather than hammering away on the front sight?

A little off topic but does anyone that has a Lyman stem wanna swap for a Marbles stem? Screw in aperture type preferred (aperture not necessary) but a fold down works to.

Bidding ended today for one similar to mine on Gunbroker. It sold for $225. They seem to be getting pricey, although this one still had the box.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.asp?Item=123305185

This is what I'm up to this year so far. Some harder to find ones, the Lyman 1A's I don't keep to long, same with Marbles S1's except for the two pictured but they have alot of condition so I keep those two. The ones normally found on Ebay don't interest me much, to easy, I like a challenge.

Joe ,

the tang sight front and center .... disc cup on backwards ?

How did you do that ?

Naw, that sights correct, it's a Savage #30 for the Savage model 29 rimfire.

Joe, top left sight has two holes in the "T" at the far end. What can you tell us about that one?

Thats the one the guy sent me that got his wires crossed.

It's a Marbles R7 for a Remington 12, I wanted a Marbles R12 for a Savage model 7, see where he got confused?

He sent me a pic of the sight stamped R12 last night, looks just like my Marbles Simplex S2 in the far right corner so I'm just gonna swap it back for that one. Hole distance is the same to, I think it was just stamped wrong.

Joe, if you come across another R7 Marbles or a Lyman R12 let me know. I have a Remington 12 that needs one. Ditto a tang sight for a 29. They're the onlyest pumps I have, and can't shoot them anymore due to the blurry rear sights. Funny, I don't remember those sights being so blurry 5 years ago. How did they get that way?

I'll keep an eye out. That one there is most likely going back to him at the gunshow coming up in April and I'll swap it for the one I needed but I'll ask him what he wants for it when I swap him the sight back. Steve99 had dibs on that one but I'll see if he has another one around. Whats with all you guys and the Remington model 12's anyways? I thought we were Savage collectors?

The Rem 12 was a slick little pump but for me it's mainly a nostalgia thing. Somewhere there is a pic of me at 10 yrs. old kneeling with my uncles Rem 12 that I used to kill about a hundred sparrows lined up on the ground in front of me. He paid me $.02 apiece plus free .22 shorts to clean them out of his barn. Big money for a little kid back then. I shudder to think how many holes I put in that roof!

Here's an observation I've made for a long time- it's often harder to find specific sights for an old gun than it is to find that old gun.

So true, thats why the Marbles V6 and S20 ain't going anywhere, might have need for them in the future.

Joe, you're one guy who hasn't lost all his marbles!

I went digging to the back of a closet to look at the old Remington pump that I knew was there but had not looked at in a few years. It's got those holes for the for the Marbles R7 sight just like it should. Funny, I never really paid any attention to them before. I shoot BB caps out of the old gun to harrass the local ground hog population in the back yard.

Almost looks like a Savage model 25 don't it!

That sight mounts to the holes and then the stock, t came with the two tang screws and a small woodscrew for the back, neat.

My Remington 12-C (pistol grip stock) weighs almost exactly the same is my 29A, plus it has the same length of slide throw. The 29 is more accurate though. (Seems to be anyway. Hard to tell with blurry sights!) If I take my contacts out, I can see the sights ok, but then the target is a bit blurry. Even at that I've been using them with CCI CB Longs to thin the marauding squirrel population here at the house. Quieter than an air rifle. Both are definite candidates for tang sights.

I bought my Remington model 12 in 1982 for $10 from a neighbors brother a few days after my neighbors funeral. He knocked on my parents back door and my dad invited him in for a cup of coffee. After a little BS he said that his brother had 3 guns and he'd sell them for $100 for all 3. Looking back I was a cheap idiot and only bought the .22 for $10. My cousin Mike who happened to be over at my house bought a pristine Winchester model 1897 in 20 gauge for the princely sum of $40. I laughed at the one in 12 gauge because it had a hammer and I had just gotten an Ithaca 37 the xmas before.

I wish I could go back in time and grab that 12 gauge.

I actually bought that #30 thinking it was an 1899 tang sight that had the peep on backwards to until I started doing some digging and realised what it was for. The best part is that my model 29 is an easy 99% rifle and the tang sight matches it perfectly.

I saw that Marbles tang sight for a Stevens visible loader on Fleabay ended without one bid at $100, I honestly thought that sight would go for that. I'm gonna keep mine till I find a visible loader, saw one up here on a website not long ago for $350 in VG condition but never got around to getting pics of it and within a month it was gone. Oh well, just like any other gun, another one will turn up.

I am working on acquiring a Remington Model 12 now, the MD Arms Collector Show was a bit of a wake-up call that these things are getting way expensive.

Was offered one for $300, a later round-barrel design, seriously considering it.

Gnoaah has a point about it being easier to find a gun than the sights for the gun. So when a Savage 1903 with a Marbles S2 came up for sale, I snagged it just for the sight.