MVA tang sight on 1894, refinish called for?

[stubbicatt]

I put a MVA sight on my 1894 in 30 WCF. Really nice sight. I bought two bases, one for the 1894 the other for an Italian 1873 repop. The repop is off at the gunsmith to have the second hole drilled in the tang for the sight base. I reckon I'll use the same sight staff on both of them.

Something I noticed is that one of the 2 sight bases erected the staff perfectly vertical, the other it was canted towards the rear. I reckon I'll take that up with MVA, as that can't be right. The finish of the MVA components is bright and shiny and very attractive.

Now that the new tang sight is installed on the old 1904 Winchester, the rifle itself looks rather unattractive. :) I think I need to get that rifle refinished! Dang it sure is ugly! The barrel is a nice black color with some nicks and a little pitting, but the receiver or frame is not a pretty sight, and the lever is pretty faded too, as is the magazine tube and buttplate. The wood is solid, but I reckon once I refinish the frame, the wood will look pretty sad, so I guess I'll be refinishing that too.

I suppose refinishing it will reduce its collector value, but... a nice restoration or refinish may be in order.

[ajjohns]

Tuff call. I know what you mean as I have a Winny 92 in 25/20 that's kinda the same way. But, mine was drilled and tapped at some point in it's career for a scope so I just leave it as is. It's a shooter, so I just let it do it's job. It's hard to decide sometimes when there's so many pictures of nice rifles out there that have been reworked.

[rpludwig]

I can relate, have a 1902 '94 in 32-40, finish is trashed, less than 20% remains, put a Marbles tang sight on it, really looks outta place (but shoots much better now). Not gonna refinish the rifle, but giving thought to "un-finishing" the Marbles to better match the rifle!

[Wind]

Hey there S-cat -- It's easy to adjust the MVA staff. It needs to be perpendicular to the top of the receiver. The hole in the staff spring is elongated. Loosen the screw and stand the staff up in the correct position. Tighten the screw!! I use a padded square to square things up...

162407

I kinda like the juxtaposition of the new sight and old rifle. If you separate them down the road, things will be as they were - no harm, no foul. Here's an MVA on a 125 year old Marlin...

162408

Hope this helps. Best regards. Wind

[ironhead7544]

I would "antique" the sight to make it match. Or have it done.

Pics?

[stubbicatt]

Thanks fellas. I'll shoot it for awhile as-is, and think it through some more.

Thanks Wind for the suggestion/advice on the tang sight base for adjusting vertical. I shall attempt to adjust it so that it is vertical as you posted.

Wind, the MVA Hadley eyecup has to be seen to be believed. Really a piece of beauty.

I really appreciate the idea of "antiquing" the sight base, it is something I hadn't thought through.

Regards,
Stubb