Ayone use a tang sight on a full load 30-30 or 32Sp?

[Canuck Bob]

I know this gets kicked around a bunch but I get tang sight envy about once a year. My question is about the effect of factory type ammo recoil and eye safety. If you regularly shoot a tang sighted thumper please jump in. I know Kirk added a MVA sight recently and reports on that rifle would be much appreciated!

It seems at one time lots of guys shoot Winchester's and Marlins with these sights. The only report of a tang safety problem I know of is Mrs. O'Connor on a BC hunt in one of Jack's stories..

[vancelw]

It's the second shot where I have to watch eye safety. The recoil of the first one sometime makes the rear sight end up slanted forward or backward. Any slant at all cuts out light available to the eye, but a backwards slant can poke you.

I've got one on my .38-55 that I shoot hot loads in. It's very accurate, but I just don't like the tang making me change my grip.

[JerryB]

I have had a Marbles tang sight on a 1951 Winchester 94 30-30 carbine since 1958.I have shot factory ammo in it most of the time and I still have both eyes. As far as I can recall it never has even come close to scratching my eyes. I reckon at 76 now folks back when I was young failed to warn me about the danger of tang sights.

[hondo1892]

I have an old lyman on an old 94 Winchester carbine in 32 spl and never had any issues. You might have a problem if you have a long neck and like to slide your face as far forward as you can. But other than that I don't see any problems on a 30 wcf or 32 spl. I really like my original Lyman because it has the flip down aperture. Makes it easy to go from ghost ring to long rang peep quick.

[BenT]

I don't think there is enough recoil to worry about it. I have never had an issue.

[cshold]

No problem here.

[jnyork]

Lever Action silhouette shooters regularly shoot 40 round matches with tang sights and loads that approximate factory power. No problems .

[M. M. Wright]

My 1886 on 45-90 carries the Marbles tang sight and it's never been a problem course I stop at 300 grain bullets because it won't stabilize 405s. I will admit that it has tapped my glasses from the bench but never in the field. I tend to crawl the stock when shooting from the bench and I like keeping my thumb beside the grip instead of around it.

[C. Cash]

After watching my sons Marlin 22 blow up in his face and his eyesight saved by shooting glasses, I would resolve to always having eye protection. He still caught some brass in the face as did my buddy sitting next to him. That's the bigger issue I believe. We are rolling the dice if we do not wear it, even with the pip squeak cartridges. I would go with a good pair of polycarbonate sun or shooting glasses and then the tang site in the eye becomes a moot issue.

[Canuck Bob]

Cash, I use prescription safety glasses at work and always while shooting. They are well rated and wraparound. Glad to hear your son and friend weren't too injured, wow. Any idea why the gun let go? I guess I can hijack my own thread!

I have a nice 94 in 32 Sp I am probably going to setup with cast bullets and targeting. Hobies levers with the Lyman tunnel front sights have always attracted me to the idea. Plus the visual advantage of a close aperture sure is substantial to my vision. I have a pellet gun with a fine target aperture. They are clunky things but can a guy ever dial them in and sharpen up the sight picture.

Casastahle, that bottom group made me drool!!! More details please?

[6pt-sika]

I shot lever silhouette for a few years and in that time I used an 1895CB 45-70 , 336CB 38-55 and a 336CB 30-30 with tang sights . The loads were all cast but at very good velocities that closely proximated factory jacketed loads . Now these were all new Lyman tang sights and I had no issue with them moving after the shot . They did however sometimes get into the web of my hand from the way I held the gun .

On some of the older period Marlin's I had I had old Lyman tang sights and some of them would move . However I think they moved because they'd been used a good many years and were most likely a bit worn in the hinge area .

[cshold]

Cash, I use prescription safety glasses at work and always while shooting. They are well rated and wraparound. Glad to hear your son and friend weren't too injured, wow. Any idea why the gun let go? I guess I can hijack my own thread!

I have a nice 94 in 32 Sp I am probably going to setup with cast bullets and targeting. Hobies levers with the Lyman tunnel front sights have always attracted me to the idea. Plus the visual advantage of a close aperture sure is substantial to my vision. I have a pellet gun with a fine target aperture. They are clunky things but can a guy ever dial them in and sharpen up the sight picture.

Casastahle, that bottom group made me drool!!! More details please?

The old girl just liked one brand over the other for some reason
She really likes those Federal 150's.
Okay with me, they're priced better

[C. Cash]

Bob......yes Sir it was Winchester Wildcats that were double? charged by the factory. Somehow, my gun shop guy did not get the recall notice. You can see the gouges on the safety glasses where the metal hit dead center where the eye is. Thank you for the kind word.

[Rusty]

We put a tang sight on Jr's Rossi 92 right after he got it. Never had issues with the eye but I didn't like what it did to the grip. I always figured the thing that made leverguns so handy was the ability to carry them with your hand wrapped around the grip area, fingers in the loop ready to go any second. After the tang sight was installed it seemed the only way to comfortably carry was with the receiver in hand.

[cshold]

We put a tang sight on Jr's Rossi 92 right after he got it. Never had issues with the eye but I didn't like what it did to the grip. I always figured the thing that made leverguns so handy was the ability to carry them with your hand wrapped around the grip area, fingers in the loop ready to go any second. After the tang sight was installed it seemed the only way to comfortably carry was with the receiver in hand.

They're the holy grail for getting older eyes next to a scope.

[Griff]

SAFETY GLASSES are your friend whenever you're shooting, tang sight or not! If you can shoot a scoped rifle and not get tagged with the scope, you can certainly handle a tang sight.

My favorite mdl 94 .30-30 only has the tang sight for a rear sight. And, all my loads are full power factory or factory equivalents.

I just lay my thumb along the right side of the sight, took a bit to get used to it... but a .30-30 doesn't kick all that much to not be able to get a good grip with the rest of the fingers. As for the sight rocking... tighten it up a bit. A couple of my hats can move it... but not just recoil.

[crs]

SAFETY GLASSES are your friend whenever you're shooting+1

On this Miroku 1886 .45-90 with Marbles Peep Tang, heavy loads were causing my thumb to bang my nose ( same for others shooting the rifle), so I learned to lay the trigger hand thumb (I shoot right and left handed) down along the grip to avoid a bloody nose and banged up glasses.



This sight was used by 86er with 300 grain Nosler PP at 2200 fps to take this leopard:


The same thumb position is obviously necessary when aiming with the folding barrel sight with the tang sight folded down.



The barrel sight is best used on close-by large targets such as bison, cape and water buffalo, and elephant. Pic of 86er with problem ele taken with rifle using heavy 450 grain hand loads at close range:


That is all I know about tang sights on lever guns as my other levers all have receiver sights.

[Merle]

I had a Lyman tang sight on my M99 Savage in 303 Savage. The sight never moved even with 190 gr loads, and was very firm to fold. Maybe some of them have excessive wear on the hinge, but I find it hard to imagine how many times folding & unfolding it took to create that much wear.

[Nate Kiowa Jones]

When it comes to eye relief, tang sights are no different than scopes. If your face is too close and you don't have a firm mount on the shoulder you will pay the price.

[william iorg]

It was Paul Curtis wife who lost her eye to a Savage 99 tang sight.

There were several other stories of eye injuries with the injured shooters name in the pages of The Arms and the Man and the early American Rifleman magazines.

I had a Lyman No 2 on my Winchester Trapper and the sight would tap my glasses on most shots.
I have the same sight on my 20" parts gun - Canadian Centennial barrel - and it does not tap my glasses.

[Win94]

Use a tang sight on my .303 Savage whose balistics and reloading components are identical to .30-.30 Winchester. Pushing a 170 grain bullet atop a load of IMR 3031 which is a couple grains over max according to current data. But then my Savage 1899b has a 26" octagon barrel and the recoil isn't even worth mentioning.....

[blackhawk44]

Have been shooting a Marble's tang on my Browning 1895 .30-06 for the last 15 years with no problem. If you hold it tight off the bench, it will do under 2.5" at 200 yards with that tang sight, and I wear trifocals.

[william iorg]

The problems do not appear to have been caused by the tang folding or falling but rather by the stem being driven into the eye when shooting uphill. All of the incidents I have read about involved shooting uphill , either standing or prone.

This picture of the Savage 99 equipped with a tang sight illustrates a slight elevation. As the barrel is elevated the aperture move rearward toward the eye. Shooting uphill from the prone position is a common theme in the reported accidents.

[KirkD]

I use a tang sight on one of my 30-30's and shoot full power loads through it. Haven't had a problem, but I did tap my right glass lens a couple times with the tang sight on my Browning 1886 SRC 45-70. After replacing the scratched lens, I now make a habit of not letting my face creep up to the sight when shooting from a rest. I don' think they would ever be a problem shooting offhand, as the face tends to be a bit further away from the sight. I have simply trained myself to maintain a certain distance from the tang sight, just as a scope guy trains himself to stay a certain distance from the scope.

[Canuck Bob]

Thanks guys. I just revisited and realized I missed the last reports. I like to make sure I've read all threads so I bumped this.

I tried some experiments with using a large od small id target insert close to the eye compared to my hunting insert on a receiver sight. It seems like the sight picture is sharpened substantially and the front sight and target are in focus.

That Savage just looks right with those nice tang sights! There have been pictures of 95s with a mount that carries the sight right back to the start of the comb. Folks shoot them and like them and that is real far back.

[Pete44ru]

When it comes to eye relief, tang sights are no different than scopes. If your face is too close and you don't have a firm mount on the shoulder you will pay the price.

Yep - I've used tang peep sights on a .375 Winchester BB94 and a .45-70 Miroku/Winchester Model 86-EL with full-power factory ammo (Buffalo Bore in the .45-70) without any issues.

Remember, most folk's heads travel right along with the buttstock under recoil, as long as the butt is firmly planted, so it doesn't get a running start at the shooter.


.

[Bill in Oregon]

Scratched a lens shooting a tang peep on a Marlin 336 Cowboy with hot-loaded .38-55s. No issues with lesser calibers.