94 Winchester Sight opinions

[bbailey7821]

I just acquired a nice(but not too nice) 30-30 1894 Winchester, 1973 vintage. I'm intending to mount an aperture sight. I'd like to ask the forum for comments/opinions on which is best for some informal target shooting and whitetail/pig hunting. I've been looking at Williams, Marbles, Lyman. What are y'all using, liking, hating, etc?

[Mk42gunner]

While I like the steel sights from Lyman, Redfield, etc. there is nothing functionally wrong with the aluminum sights. In fact if you are a one load per gun type od guy, the Williams 5D has a lot going for it. I do have one of them on a Marlin 30AW.

Robert

[gnoahhh]

I have to agree. I would also see if I could scrounge up a vintage Lyman tang sight, too. (Not a new one. They pale in comparison to an old one.)

[Dimner]

I asked a similar question a while back. Here is the link to the thread. Lots of good suggestions and ideas from the forum members. Covers a bunch of aperture sights I did not know existed.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?313957-Winchester-94-Tang-Sight-or-Receiver-Sight

I decided to go with the William's fool proof sight with target knobs. Now, keep in mind I only have experience with the William's and I like it very much. I'm still interested in trying a marble tang sight, but that would only be for a rifle that was already tapped for it.

Having made my choice a few months ago, I have been working at load development at the range for that time. Nothing to complain about with the William's fool proof. I have been using the big 1" diameter disk with the tiny hole aperture for range work and it does great.

For hunting, I did pick up one of those brass ringed apertures they sell. I think they are called twilight apertures. It doesn't "pick up" any additional light like people have expected. I think the brass aperture gets a bad rap because of that. It's a false expectation that the brass aperture gathers more light. It does not.... not like a scope does at dusk. What it does do, and does perfectly, is really pop out to your eye when you are shouldering the rifle for a shot. Your eye really finds the aperture much faster with the brass version. I wouldn't hunt without it. And I would use it at any hour of the day.

[MT Chambers]

You been looking in the wrong place!! Try Skinner sights!!!!!

[Dimner]

You been looking in the wrong place!! Try Skinner sights!!!!!
My experience with skinner sights.... I tried it on a 10/22 and a marlin 336. I wear glasses and the express sights are just too low to the receiver and close to the face for my liking. After a few shots my eye would hurt from strain. I don't know how to explain it other than that. Something to do with wearing glasses in my case.

[Pumpkinheaver]

I like the good old Lyman 66.

[Hick]

I went with the Williams sight with the adjusting knobs. Very, Very nice! This is on my 30-30 Win 94 that has factory drilled and tapped holes on the left side of the receiver. For my 1949 vintage 32 Winchester Special I used the Skinner sight that sits in the rear dovetail (no holes in the receiver) because I didn't want to drill any holes in my pristine Winchester. Having tried both, I get better results with the Williams sight. It has finer adjustments and is easier to adjust for windage. But-- I don;t have a Skinner receiver sight,, so I don;t know how it would do.

[bruce drake]

https://www.trackofthewolf.com/List/Item.aspx/883/3
Repro Tang sight made by Uberti I believe.

[Scharfschuetze]

My 94 has the Redfield aperture sight and my Model 64 has the Lyman unit on it. Just can't ask for better sights from a flexibility, accuracy and usability standpoint.

[northmn]

Had a vintage Redfield that came with a Marlin waffletop. The bar was too thick and it would not lower enough to sight in. Even bought the usual higher front sight and it still had problems. Switched it out to another rifle and used the Williams and it now has much more flexibility. Tang sights are for cowboy shooters and were used as "long range" sights in conjunction with the iron sights. They are not as sturdy nor as practical as a good receiver sight. Very expensive also.

DP

[gnoahhh]

The thing with an aperture rear sight is that the closer it is positioned toward your eye, the more efficient it is vis-s-vis the optical phenomenon that makes an aperture work in the first place. That plus the longer the sight radius the better off you are. Installing an aperture in the rear sight dovetail is tantamount to kidding yourself that it is materially better than the factory sights.

[Edward]

Lyman 66A on my 94

[olafhardt]

Before I started making my own sights I had a Williams 5D on my Marlin 39 D. That sight held zero for years until I replaced with one of my home made jobbies. It was sighted in with CCI minimag hollowpoints. It was not difficult to hit a nickle at 35 yards. When the squrilles found out that I was getting to infirm to persue them they had a national day of celebration. Tang sights are by nature spendly. When you buy an apeture sight, you are just buying a hole to look through. Winchester 94's just aren't able to take advantage of micrometers etc. Any thing over the price of a Williams foolproof is vanity. Your 1973 Winchester is in my opinion one of the best of the crop. I have customized a few and think they are better than the pre 64's or angle ejects. The receiver often looks like it has a skin desease and cannot be refinished. This is because the sintered metal technology used to make it cheaper also is a sorta stainless steel which won't take blueing. If you sand all that **** they put on it trying to blue it, you get a beautiful buffed silver which holds oil and stays pretty. The ones I haved engine turned have been show stoppers.

[bbailey7821]

Very interesting, Olafhardt!

[Scharfschuetze]

Winchester 94's just aren't able to take advantage of micrometers etc. Any thing over the price of a Williams foolproof is vanity.

Not true.

Lyman or Redfield aperture sights by their very nature give you flexibility as well as repeatability when shooting at different ranges or when experimenting with different loads. Once you establish your base zero for your standard load, you can deviate from it to compensate for virtually any boolit weight at any velocity the rifle is capable of.

If you understand MOA corrections and how they apply at various ranges and you know your trajectory, then you can just click right to what you need and then back to your base zero again once done. It's 1/4 MOA per click or 3 MOA per one revolution of either the elevation or deflection knobs. Any wind involved and the correction is easily made. Just can't do that with lesser sights.

If you only shoot only one load at one range, then certainly a less capable sight is fine. If you are a marksman and understand the ins and outs of ballistics and enjoy experimenting with different loads, then you are selling yourself short by not using the best sight possible.

Most good lever guns are accurate enough being 1 1/2 to 2 MOA rifles to fully take advantage of such sights. They extend the rifles' usable ranges for target shooting as well as enhance each rifle's flexibility with boolits from 110 grains to 195 grains, lead or jacketed.

It is quite fun to clang the gongs at 300 yards with iron sighted lever guns that our magnum shooting friends are having a hard time with. Plus 9 to 10 MOA (3 or 3 & 1/3 turns) on the elevation knob and I'm there.

[olafhardt]

In my opinion the beauty of a peep sighted carbine is you can pick it up and blast. I don't care to fiddle with my sights in the woods. If I wàs going to shoot targets I would take something other than the 94. You do your thing and I will do mine.

[bbailey7821]

Thanks for all your input. I found a Redfield 102 in good shape. Gonna give it a go and see how I like it!

[Scharfschuetze]

Thanks for all your input. I found a Redfield 102 in good shape. Gonna give it a go and see how I like it!

Excellent find. It will do everything you want it to and it's a great period sight for the older rifles and carbines. I have a similar design by Redfield, but on a Model 141 Remington.

[Dimner]

My 94 has the Redfield aperture sight and my Model 64 has the Lyman unit on it. Just can't ask for better sights from a flexibility, accuracy and usability standpoint.

What model of redfield do you have on yours? I really like the way the elevation adjustment looks.


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[Blackwater]

For a receiver (peep) sight, I'd strongly recommend that you look into the Merit Iris apertures to fit whatever sight you get. They work like a camera shutter, and by simply turning the outer ring, the hole adjusts from a virtual pinhole for bright light very precise shooting, to at least a 1/8" hole for dimmer lights and faster sight acquisition for a quick, snap shot. They're absolutely the most versatile and useful addition you can make to any receiver sight, and they're only about $50, which for such a tiny and finely fitted instrument, is pretty much a bargain, IMO. And they can and will likely improve your shooting, particularly if you have astigmatism, wear glasses, and are diabetic like I am. Don't know what happened. One day I saw fine, and then .... it all went south. Gradually, but not all THAT gradually! They help me, but there's no such thing as a panacea. It's definitely something to consider if you have trouble with irons like I do these days. FWIW?

[bbailey7821]

So, just a quick update on this subject. I took the new girl to the range over the weekend and was impressed that I was shooting around 4 inch groups at 100 yards on my first outing. More to follow.

[Scharfschuetze]

Good news BBailey and good shooting. What was the load you were shooting?

[bbailey7821]

I got 100 rounds of factory Winchester 150g Jword ammo with the gun, so that's what I'm now playing with. I've now determined that I need a taller front sight, due to running out of elevation adjustment. Just ordered a nice old Marbles Ivory bead to play with. I continue to be amazed at how accurate this gun/sight combination is. I guess them old timers were on to something. It's a shame you don't see more of these combos around.

On a humorous note, you would not believe how mad I made this young man at the gun club last night. I was shooting as good a groups as he was, with his Tacticool AR rig(with optics). When I started ringing his 8" steel gong at 200 yds, he got flustered and left. Hah! ;)

179443

:mrgreen:

[outdoorfan]

I like the Lyman 66. It makes it easy to make elevation changes and/or to shoot different loads. Going back to the base zero is a snap.

Also, the screw-in apertures don't seem to help me shoot any better than the standard ghost ring.

[bbailey7821]

Did some shooting this afternoon. Was really happy with the sight adjustments I made.http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161028/a6d6e8af710ef89853de3c6ef71c3971.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161028/dbc7c791d755f5009b3c988b779d27da.jpghttp://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20161028/504b5432761eb91d263afeb99c8f5887.jpg

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