anyone have a williams peep on a 22" 1895 45-70?

[Oklahoma Rebel]

do you like the sight? is it durable?accurate? and does it work ok with the stock front sight. I found one for around 40 I think it iss not the side mount type, it mounts using the 2 rear scope bolt holes. like I said I have a 2015 marlin 1895 45-70 with the 22" barrel. any info or experience would really be appreciated. thank you, The O.K.KIDD

[tinhorn97062]

I have one on mine and I like it a lot...but it's an 18.5" barrel. The stock front bead worked fine for me, but I swapped it out for a "blade" due to a cosmetic preference.

157517

My initial range trip with the factory front bead showed ~1.5" groupings at 50yds. That load was a Lee 457-340 moving at about 1500fps. I also shot some 525gr loads that day that generated ridiculous amounts of recoil...the sight didn't move at all. So, I would say the durability is just fine.

[3leggedturtle]

I have that same setup, factory front sight worked great, but i replaced it with a Williams firesight" after 50 rounds. I shoot 305 at 1600fps, 350's at 1500fps and 405's at 1400fps and both front sights worked great with the top mounted peep.

[FergusonTO35]

Yes, I have the 5D on my 1895. Now, my rifle is from the 70's and used a very short front sight with a huge bead dovetailed directly into the barrel. I replaced it with a .450 Lyman ivory bead and it works great!

[ericp]

Doubled somehow.

Eric

[ericp]

I have a Williams 5D on my 1895, it's from 2003-04 with a 22" barrel. Front sight is dovetailed into a ramp, factory equipment. Never had a problem getting sighted in with any reasonable load. Williams receiver sights are on all of my leverguns, never had one move when I didn't want it to.


Eric

[flint45]

I think they are just about perfect for a lever gun no problems with any of thease on any gun i put them on.

[NSB]

I've used them on several guns over the years. They're good, but.....a Skinner rear sight is much better. You might want to look at one of them before mounting the Williams.

[Scharfschuetze]

The Williams (Redfields and Lymans are even better) have significant advantages over the Skinner sight if you are going to experiment with different loads or use use your rifle much beyond your zeroed range. If you are only going to use one load at a range at or near your zero range then of course the Skinner is just great. Your sight picture is the really the same with either sight.

Still, most of us here like to experiment with different weights of boolits as well as powders so having the flexibility of a sight with minute of angle reference scales and adjustments is well worth having. With an understanding of MOA values for your rifle and a knowledge of trajectory it is easy to use your rifle from 25 yards to several hundred yards by simply dialing in the minutes of angle needed for any given range or trajectory of your given load.

Another advantage is that you can record your zero for any given load from light to heavy and then return to the specific zero that you need easily as long as you have a good memory or like me (with an old and failing memory :) ), a good record for your rifle and ammo.

Like Tinhorn in a post above, I also use a blade front sight for a more refined or military type sight picture.

Here is an old steel base Lyman 66 on an 1895 Marlin 24" rifle in 45/70. With 55 minutes of elevation available, I can shoot this rifle accurately out much farther than most think is possible.

[cold1]

My 1895 received a 5DTK this year. My eyes have gotten bad and the rear buckhorn wasnt cutting it anymore. The williams has been worth every penny. The front blade is stock, the hood removed, and a little dayglo green paint is on the front post. The paint helps me see the front sight in low light. Mine mounts on the side of the receiver. My 1895 has the 22 inch barrel and is from the early 90s.

[pietro]

.

A top-mount receiver peep sight will be above the factory line-of-sight for the issue barrel open/iron sights, necessitating a commensurately taller front sight blade to be able to zero the rifle @ 100yds.

Brownell's website has a sight height calculator, so the proper height sight can be obtained/installed.


.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

ok thanks for all the inputi wouldn't mind the side mounted one but I saw one that just mounted on top, the aperature moved up and down a ramp, it is mainly a cosmetic decision, and that sight hanging off the side would make it different to carry(for me) and for some reason seems more suceptable to damage, I will check out brownells. also what is Williams web address?

[W.R.Buchanan]

Pietro: the Williams sights windage slide fits in behind the mounting base so it sits right down on the receiver.

I finally got Lyman 66LA's mounted on my 1894 and 1895 Cowboys after removing the Williams sights. The Lyman's have more precise elevation and windage adjustments that are repeatable. The Williams sights are OK but are really better suited to a set it and leave it type of usage.

As Scharf said above if you are moving the sights around a lot, the repeatability factor does show up. The Lyman's have an "Elevation Slide Release," which allows you to push a button and move the sight up or back down to a Mechanical Zero Stop Screw,,, which your gun would have been zeroed to using your flattest shooting load. After that all elevation adjustments would be + for slower loads or bigger boolits. The sight is returned to it's lowest setting and there is a stop set so you don't have to wonder if you are there or not.

This is a serious advantage when shooting lots of rounds at targets. When done you simply push the button and push the slide down to the stop and you know exactly where the gun is sighted in at .

Some Redfield sights, Series 80 versions have the same slide release and stop screw. On the Series 70 sights you just have to crank the screws up or down to get where you need to go and then refer to the scale to return to Mechanical Zero. No stop on that one.

I have a Redfield Olympic on my #4 Mk1 Enfield and it is a superb sight but I do have to crank the knobs to get there and back.

The one thing the Redfield's do have are the coolest knobs on any 'Micrometer Sight' Those big round knurled knobs are simply perfect!

In the last pic below you can barely see the stop screw on that Lyman 66LA it is about at 4 o'clock next to the Elevation Knob. You can also clearly see the Elevation Slide Release Button on the rear of the sights base.

Randy

[pietro]

Pietro: the Williams sights windage slide fits in behind the mounting base so it sits right down on the receiver.



Thanks, Randy - The OP mentioned that the aperture slides up/down on a ramp, so,I believe he bought a Williams WGRS, and not either a 5D or FP.




I saw one that just mounted on top, the aperature moved up and down a ramp



.

[Beerd]

WGRS, Williams Guide Receiver Sight

http://www.williamsgunsight.com/gunsights/gunsightsdefault.htm
..

[FergusonTO35]

The Guide receiver sight is great too. I have them on my H&R Huntsman muzzleloader and Henry H001T .22 rifle. One piece of advice, many of the Guide sights require long shank apertures. The H&R does, the Henry (standard dovetail) does not. Also, if you need alot of correction or you like to constantly adjust for different loads then the Guide is not such a good choice.

[pmer]

I bought the WGRS fire sight set for the same Marlin as the OP's but the front is too high. I have been raising the rear mount but still not high enough. I think it needs about .150'' or so.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

did the wgrs work ok with the stock front on yours pmer? does your gun have the ramp type front or just dovetailed to the barrel? thankyou for the input everyone

[Oklahoma Rebel]

oh and I stick to 405 gr boolits at 1500 or less ( no chrono but would guess my loads run at about 1350) I need to find someone to let me use their chronograph sometime to find out what my base load shoots at

[michaelcj]

I have one of the Williams the OP questions on my Browning 1885 45-70 with a Lyman 17-A front. Works great, No issues.

[Geezer in NH]

Williams fool proof on an 1895 marlin I bought in 1976. Sighted in with Federal 300 grain hollow point. Never changed the sight setting until the Fire sight front came out, changed the sight setting for that and have not changed the setting since must be 12-15 years now and still using the case of ammo bought at Kmart [1970's era] for 3 bucks a box on sale.

[northmn]

As to durability I have used the Williams 5-D for years and on rifles that get carried on a 4 wheeler and tractor. They stay sighted in. This use is about the only use in which I use a receiver sight as I prefer a good scope for deer hunting. While I ahve done some work in better mounting to carry the rifles, at one time before I worked on better shielding, they took quite a beating going through the brush.

DEP

[pmer]

did the wgrs work ok with the stock front on yours pmer? does your gun have the ramp type front or just dovetailed to the barrel? thankyou for the input everyone

Sorry, I should've been more precise. My 45-70 is a micro grove with a ramped front sight and folding leaf rear sight. The WGRS fire sight kit has a front and rear. The front is taller than the original front and the original front sight is too short. With the Williams rear mounted on the back scope mount the Marlin front was too low. The Fire front is low making it shoot high and I was shimming the rear.

I guess I temporarily dropped it to load 38 Special though and didn't get back to the Marlin. I also shoot a 405 grain at 1500 and some 1800 too. I like the peep / fire set up and it should be good to go after I get back to it. the sight height will be lower than that for a scope but a little higher than with the Marlin sights.

Dang, now I'm confused about sight heights LOL but it is shooting high with the Williams sights on and the rear all the way up.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

I decided to go with the basic skinner rear sight and get the 1/4x .500 front sight. with the 22 inch barrel it shoud get me close, but I can always file the front down, rather order too tall than too short. anyone have this setup?

[Hanshi]

My 1895 has the Lyman receiver sight as does my Win 30/30. The Marlin 39A has a williams and I use one for years on my 1894 .44 mag. They are both good, rugged sights.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

anyone have feedback on the basic skinner sights? it is on the way in the mail but thought id ask if there were any tips or mounting issues? hopefully it'll just bolt right on, I also order the 1/4" and .500 tall front. I'm guessing it will be to tall, but I figured I would set the rear maybe 1 1/2 or 2 turns up from bottomed out and then shoot,file, till it is sighted, that way I have plenty of upwards movement, but a little downwards too, in case I ever do go with a lighter boolit. sound like a reasonable plan? thanks
Travis

[Oklahoma Rebel]

look out! bump!

[Scharfschuetze]

It should just screw on.

Before shooting, you can bore sight the new Skinner by removing the bolt from your Marlin and then secure the rifle solidly and direct the rifle towards something small and distinct that is a few hundred yards away. Center that object up in the bore while looking through it and then adjust your sights to where the object is in the center of the bore and also centered up in the sight.

That should save you some ammo and get you fairly close to zero. It should at least get you on paper.

[Oklahoma Rebel]

ah, thank you, sometimes I swear im losing my mind. I don't know why I didn't think about it,been wanting one of the lazer bore sighters for a while. I will definitely do that. thanks for reminding me!
Travis