the Marbles barrel-mounted 'aperture' sight

[AJMD429]

It seems nearly everyone who tries this sight says it is both fast and accurate, durable, useable with 'old eyes', good in very low-light situations, and doesn't "stick out too far," as they feared before trying one.

So since I put them on all my shorty leverguns, but just hadn't gotten around to it on my 2015-purchased 454 Casull, I figured now was the time to take some comparison pics.

..... ......so as soon as I can get my Android and Mac back on speaking terms......

See if this workaround works...

The side-by-side comparison:



These were both taken with the camera at the rear of the tang, and cropped the same amount. I think the one is cropped to a higher reference point but the scale should be the same.

Notice how much of the view is obscured by the 'traditional' bullhorn type 'open' sight....not very "open", eh...?




I'd darn sure rather hunt with the Bullseye sight, especially something fast-moving or dangerous, like hogs...!



They are inexpensive, and I highly recommend trying one of you don't like the 'factory' sight on your levergun, and want something either:

• + easier on 'old eyes' than other barrel-mounted sights
  + faster to use when game is moving or for home defense
  + better in low light than other apertures or open sights
  + allows far better field of view than other open OR most aperture sights
  + allows precision shooting by taking the extra second to allow your eye to automatically attend to the smaller ring.

Essentially the best of a 'ghost ring' (speed) with the option of precision.

[Sixgun]

Doc,
I bought one of those a couple of years ago but I have yet to install it on anything. Common sense tells me it should work. It's the sight on the right...gotta get moving on that and find it a home.

The sight on the left is similar and is a very rare sight that's about a hundred years old and was made by an obscure sight maker. Kinda the same "thinking". A buddy came over one time and laid two Ben Franklins down as he wanted it.....well, it's still here and waiting for a gun. This sight came off of an 1893 Marlin 38-55 that was made in 1901 and the only way I W's able to date the sight was that I saw it in my Strobles sight book.-----6

[Blaine]

A straight ghost ring is less confusing, but you have to trust physics, and your eyes. You shouldn't be looking at the ring whatsoever.

[MrMurphy]

Remington made sort of something like that for Rolling Blocks. It was an aperature, but "out on the barrel", not a tang sight, etc. Never seen one except in pictures, but appears to have some of the same thinking.

[AJMD429]

A straight ghost ring is less confusing, but you have to trust physics, and your eyes. You shouldn't be looking at the ring whatsoever.

The straight ghost ring is less confusing perhaps, but when you use this sight fast, your eye naturally just catches the outer ring like a regular 'ghost ring', but if you take another half-second or so to aim more deliberately, your vision will do more of the 'aperture sight' thing and the shot can go from a sure-hit on a 5-gallon bucket at 25 yards in 'snap-shooting' mode, to a silver-dollar sized group at 75 yards or more.

[Sixgun]

Doc,
You have the word "aperture" just like I just wrote it, whatever those little slashes are called.

It IS and aperture....it's just mounted a little further out. On a bench and taking your time.....with good eyes, I cannot see the barrel mounted sight much less accurate than a receiver or tang sight. It's just a little slower getting on target due to the greater distance from the eye.------6

[.45colt]

Last bad winter We had here had more than 3' of snow for months, that didn't melt. the local bunch of deer were starving and every night before dark they would come right up into the back yards lookin for acorns. I had the chance to lay out my levers (Not shooting) and get a real world daily chance to try the different sights on them. I always loved the receiver sights and with out a doubt they proved to be the best. For a barrel mounted sight I bet that Marbles would rock.

[AJMD429]

As a rule of thumb, for the three different length leverguns, I tend to figure:

20" - all-around shooting, so I use the Williams FP, due to precision repeatable and accurate adjustments if I change loads or range greatly, or a scope for low-light conditions.

16" - more likely to be used for 'snap-shooting' than the 20", thus the Marbles, which lacks the repeatable adjustments I might want for longer ranges or varied loads, but the little 16" guns aren't usually ones I use for that longer range stuff, and is incredibly fast to use in a variety of conditions. The little 16" 357 Rossi is the most common woods-walking levergun in our house, and I pretty much always take a pot-shot at the 100-yard gong (6") on the way out of the woods, and seldom miss. On a couple 16"ers set up for night livestock-chores and/or home protection I got all high-tech and put a Burris FastFire-II, along with a LaserMax pistol laser, and a rail for a bright light.

24" - more likely used for 'deliberate' shooting' and/or longer ranges, where the extra sight radius of a tang-sight and good globe front can shine, yet the extra time fiddling with the sight is not an issue. Sometimes I might scope a longer levergun but not as often as the 20"ers I'd likely hunt twilight with.

[Ray Newman]

Mr. Murphy: are you referring to Remington's "Rough and Ready" barrel sight? Saw one once on an original Remington System (AKA Rolling Block). Interesting sight with a large dovetail.

Montana Vintage Arms offers a reproduction that will fit original rifles:
http://montanavintagearms.com/product/s ... rel-sight/

As for the barrel dovetail/cut out, the MVA catalogue sez:

"This cutout is 2.275″ long by .060″ deep, with a threaded hole on one end and a female dovetail on the receiver end.

"The (1) screw configuration is designed for use on original Remington barrels that have the correct cutout. Our base matches the cutout on the original Remington barrel."