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I finally found and purchased an 1894 chambered in .44 Magnum. It's a sweetie too. The gun is pre-safety and looks to have been manufactured in 1977 (the year after I graduated from High School)!
It's so "fresh" the action needs to be used to loosen it up a bit!
Now I have a .44 to go with my .357.
Talk about guns that will tame those hard shooting handgun loads! Target loads are hardly felt.
I may put peep-sights on both of these lever-guns...any suggestions as to nice peeps for these rifles?
Since the pre-safety Marlins are drilled and tapped I'd put Lyman 66LA's on the 44. And I'd have the .357 drilled and tapped for the same sight as well. I'm not thrilled about the sights that use the scope holes to mount in.
My thoughts on those sights are thus; They are easy to adjust, you can set multiple sight in spots on the little plate and quickly adjust the elevation with the quick unlock button.
Yes, the current ones aluminum but so is the Williams sights.
That's a nice pair of Marlins.
Joe
***Be sneaky, get closer, bust the cap on him when you can put the ball where it counts .***
I too have a 1894C which I put Williams on and an 1894SS which . . . I haven't decide yet, still thinking the Williams and what others recommend, Skinner looks like a great option too!!
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” — 1 Corinthians 2:9
Yep, very nice!! Seems to me that alot of folks like the smooth stocks such as your .44, but I have always liked the checkered stocks. Which do you prefer? Does your rifle have a plastic butt on the stock or a pad of some sort? .DT
WILLIAMS OR LYMAN RECEIVER APERTURE SIGHTS WORK FINE ON EITHER OR BOTH.
YOU ARE IN FOR A BID SURPRISE THOUGH IF YOU THINK THE 1894 44MAG WILL MAKE THOSE HARD KICKING 44MAG PISTOL LOADS SEEM LIKE PUSSYCATS. THINK I AM KIDDING ? YOU JUST GO SHOOT UP ONE BOX OF 50 44MAG FULL LOADS AND YOU'LL BEGIN TO FEEL PUNCH DRUNK AND WILL BE SO GLAD TO SEE THAT AMMO BOX RUN DRY !!!
AND SO IT GOES...
Thank you for your kind remarks. There is a large collector's show coming up the end of the month here in KC...(10 minutes from our home...he he he!)
I'm thinking I'll wander aimlessly and see if I stumble on to one of the old steel Lymans...if I do find one worth the money...well, I may just bring it home. I have used Williams peep-sights and have found them very user friendly.
I sure appreciate the suggestions...I was not sure about the model numbers folks that know lever-guns prefer.
The butt-plate on the .44 is the plastic factory unit. I do prefer the smooth stocks...I have no idea why?? The only lever-gun I own with chackering is the 1894c....my 9422, 39As, Levermatics, Model 94 all have smooth wood.
Terry,
I do appreciate your comment about the hard pounding factory ammo...I have only shot my 240gr SWC loads with 7gr of Unique so far...cake loads. I better close my trap before I eat my words! But I can not imagine this gun will be as painful to shoot as my Super Blackhawk with those evil factory equivalent loads. My hardest rockin' .357 Magnum loads are no issue in the 1894c.
She's a beauty. Didn't know they had checkering in '77. I have a '76 vintage my dad bought me new when I was 16. This is hands-down my favorite firearm. I put a Williams 5D sight on mine years ago, and never looked back.
Illegitimus Non Carborundum Akā, ʻo ka poʻe hilinaʻi aku iā Iēhova, e ulu hou nō ko lākou ikaika;
E piʻi ʻēheu aku nō lākou i luna, e like me nā ʻaito;
E holo nō lākou, ʻaʻole hoʻi e māloʻeloʻe,
E hele mua nō lākou, ʻaʻole hoʻi e maʻule.
`Isaia 40:31
The Lyman 66 you need for the Marlin is the 66LA. Winchesters use the 66A because they have much more of an angle at the top of the receiver and the Lyman sight is shaped accordingly. The 66LA is flat on the back for the Marlin receivers.
If you go with a Williams FP or ewww 5D you'll need the FP 94/36 version because it's flat on the back to be used with both brands. There used to be one called FP 94 and it was shaped like the Lyman 66A with the angled top on the base.
Hope I haven't been too confusing.
Joe
***Be sneaky, get closer, bust the cap on him when you can put the ball where it counts .***
I have a wgrs on a marlin and an H&R, and some fp sights on others. I much prefer the wgrs. It has a lot less "stuff" sticking out, up, and off of the gun. It has good adjustment friction and does not shoot out of zero. it's just ready all the time. sighted the gun years ago and it still shoots where the bead is... just too simple.
I'm one who doesn't care to mess with sight settings. I prefer fixed sights, and learn to shoot the gun.
Terry Murbach wrote:WILLIAMS OR LYMAN RECEIVER APERTURE SIGHTS WORK FINE ON EITHER OR BOTH.
YOU ARE IN FOR A BID SURPRISE THOUGH IF YOU THINK THE 1894 44MAG WILL MAKE THOSE HARD KICKING 44MAG PISTOL LOADS SEEM LIKE PUSSYCATS. THINK I AM KIDDING ? YOU JUST GO SHOOT UP ONE BOX OF 50 44MAG FULL LOADS AND YOU'LL BEGIN TO FEEL PUNCH DRUNK AND WILL BE SO GLAD TO SEE THAT AMMO BOX RUN DRY !!!
AND SO IT GOES...
Personally I have no problem with the low priced Williams sights. The older Lyman sights are nice but they are more expensive and harder to find.
I second the comment about recoil. Light .44special loads will seem almost like a rimfire. However load up some stout .44mag loads, even better if you have 300+ grain bullets, and you will definitely know when it goes off.
On the recoil talk, the reason I sold my 1894 in .44 was due to the recoil. I'm not sure if it is the straight stock to blame or the plastic butt piece, but I couldn't enjoy it. Much prefer the .444 loaded down to .44 levels. It has the pistol grip stock and a nice recoil pad on it. Even top loads of H4198 at .444 power doesn't bother me, but something 'bout the .44 did. Just don't do like I did and let it go, get you a good sims pad and it'll be good. Wish I had known what a good pad was capable of before I let mine go .DT
I like the Skinner sights, but that is the only peep sight I have used.
D. Brian Casady
Quid Llatine Dictum Sit, Altum Viditur.
Advanced is being able to do the basics while your leg is on fire---Bill Jeans
Don't ever take a fence down until you know why it was put up---Robert Frost
I just put an XS Sight Systems ghost ring on my Marlin Guide Gun. I have several guns with the Lyman 66 and Williams aperture sights on them as well. They are all three great sights. You should at least check out the XS sights before you make up your mind. Though I've never tried them, I hear very good things about the Skinner sight as well.
"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen" - Samuel Adams
I have a Skinner peep sight on my 1894SS, which is entirely satisfactory. As for recoil, it seems pretty mild standing up, but it'll getcha from bench rest.
.***
.DT
