Before I get one, has anyone used the Lyman Tang sight?
I have an 1895 Marlin, and I have large hands. I could use the Skinner peep sight, but I have always liked the Lyman sight?
Does it interfere with normal use?
Before I get one, has anyone used the Lyman Tang sight?
I have an 1895 Marlin, and I have large hands. I could use the Skinner peep sight, but I have always liked the Lyman sight?
Does it interfere with normal use?
I have one on a model 8 Remington, one on a 1907 Winchester, and had one on an 1892. The lever action knocked it back with every cycle of the action, but never seemed to knock it out of alignment. I took it off finally because I didn't want to mar either the sight or the bolt. They do work remarkably well though!
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I'm a tang sight aficionado, but I don't like the way they change the handling qualities of a lever action rifle, as I like to firmly wrap my trigger hand around the tang/wrist. If you're OK with placing your trigger hand thumb along side the tang base, it works.
I have one on a late 1930s win 94 in 30-30, I use it for buck on the move in heavy cover in northern MI cedar swamps and river bottoms and I like it very much. It's set back far enough that the bolt has never hit the sight and it's fast on target. I also have the open sights set to my cast load,the down side of the tang is that it's not good at first and last light . All in all though I like its function and think it looks classy.
For a hunting rifle I prefer the Skinner. I use a tang sight on my 93 Marlin which is primarily for target work. It is a little awkward getting use to placing your thumb along side of the sight rather than over the wrist.
Easy to use. Quick to get accurately on target. No settling of the front bead into a slot as is necessary with a rear-barrel sight. Raise your rifle, eyes on target, ignore the tang sight hole, front sight is already aligned with no thought/effort. Squeeze the trigger.
Tang sights are excellent for those of us with old eyes. When the Buckhorn barrel sight gets too vague and blurred, the tang sight will offer many more years of accurate shooting.
Yes, in dim light, you'll likely want a folding up/down rear-barrel sight.
I have one on a 94 Winchester; it is the modern Lyman Tang sight #2. It is not adjustable for windage. I adjusted my windage by cutting very narrow strips of feeler gauge and inserting under which ever side I needed to change and then tightening the screws and test firing. Took a while and a few rounds, but it works well.
I have a Lyman # 30 1/2 on my 99 Savage. I found it old stock brand new at a gun show, cost me 175$ but it is a fabulous sight, fully adjustable for windage and elevation. The Savage is a 1936 vintage and the sight dates to the late 20's, that's 1920's.
I had one for my Marlins before I switched to receiver sights. They work well but I don't think they are ideal for hunting use.
Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.
Have Skinners on all my lever guns. perfect for hunting, as other say. I just recently got a custom Rolling Block 45-70 with a Tang Vernier. Shot it one range session. Not what I would want to hunt with, again, as others have said. I consider it a target sight. As I have shot a lot of target rifle (some competitive) my entire life, I really like the Tang vernier. It is much like the rear mount peep. On my custom rifle, which weighs ~13 lbs, I can put my eye on the sight cup and the recoil is minimal and sight rolls with the recoil. And recoil is so minimal with the rifle weight that it does not bite my thumb when I wrap it over the stock. I love it.
If you are going to the Tang Sight, I'd strongly recommend the Marbles over the Lyman. Marbles has windage adjustment that Lyman lacks. Either will allow you to shoot tighter groups than you can get with the stock buckhorn sights.
_________________________________________________It's not that I can't spell: it is that I can't type.
I have a Marlin 1893 with a late 1890 mfg Lyman tang sight on it. It is a good hunting sight if you are not bothered by having to place your thumb along the wrist of the stock. I have used this sight for target work in lever action matches but as noted, it does not have deflection correction capability and is very difficult to repeat elevation settings. I had to devise a dial indicator set up to get repeatable settings and am replacing the Lyman with a Hoke tang sight for this season.
With a hunting sight, I have never had to adjust the windage after zeroing the rifle and with high velocity cartridges, have never needed to correct or change elevation after zeroing. With that in mind, my primary hunting rifle, an 1895 Winchester .30-40, is equipped with a Peabody copy of the old Lyman #23 aperture sight.
To paraphrase Ronald Reagan, the trouble with many shooting experts is not that they're ignorant; its just that they know so much that isn't so.
Sight base shimming is what Lyman advised many years ago. Moving the front sight is much easier, and works well, as long as it remains near center. I was buying tang sights 50 years ago, when few cared about them, so I have some originals with windage adjustment - by far, that's the best way to go. Such originals are now collector's items, but the modern Marbles also have windage stems. They look too spindly to my eyes, but I have them on modern single shots like the Brownchester 1885s.
I like tang sights on my lever guns (primarily Savages) and wouldn't change for anything. They put the aperture right in front of your eye where it's supposed to be for optimal optical efficiency.
If you can swing it, stick with older vintage Lyman/Marble's tang sights. The new flimsy models pale in comparison.
To compensate for low light situations, merely switch to a larger aperture. Carrying spare apertures in your hunting pants pocket may or may not be a viable solution, and if not then acquire a Merit Adjustable Iris aperture- a bit spendy but really worth it.
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Once the Lyman tang sight is zeroed for windage via shimming the base, faghettaboutit having to further adjust for windage; and when more elevation is required (as for a long shot) the tang sight stem is easily adjusted up/down as req'd in a few seconds.
If you can live with the tang sight base inteferring with your trigger hand's grip on the wrist of the buttstock, I would suggest setting up your rifle with dual zeroes (short/long range) via swapping out the rear barrel open/iron sight for a folder.
The barrel sights are then zeroed for a relatively close range (say, 75yds); the tang sight zeroed for a longer distance (say, 150yds).
In practical hunting use, the barrel rear sight is "up" and the tang sight folded "down" in case of suddenly-presented game shots, best taken with the barrel sights.
If/when game is spotted at a longer distance, there's usually ample time (with practice) to simultaneously lower the rear barrel sight & raise the tanger for the shot.
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Last edited by pietro; 03-07-2018 at 10:38 PM.
Now I lay me down to sleep
A gun beside me is what I keep
If I awake, and you're inside
The coroner's van is your next ride
Or just use a Savage 99 .22 High Power- with such high velocity that you can sight in at 100 yards and be dead flat right on anywhere from there out to 600 yards. After that it drops a couple inches. You're welcome.
Tang sights generally work well on Winchester lever actions but not so well on Marlins. The bolt comes back farther on the Marlin 1893/336/1895 series and it places the sight in an awkward place for me. I much prefer a receiver sight on a Marlin lever action rifle. That's my opinion, yours may differ.
Me too !! was just looking at my 1876 with its marbles sight ...dont want to drill more holes in the tang but there is room there to move the base an inch further forward (I have already reversed the base to gain some room) that next inch would let me get a proper grip over the wrist .....................................
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |