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May 28, 2019
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Fellow Collectors,
My model 1895 sporting rifle from 1904 (serial number 41297) has a Marbles marked flat topped sporting rear barrel sight and a brass front blade sight (unmarked). Were 1895 rifles of this vintage avalable with Marbles sights as an option or can I assume that the rear sight was changed out somewhere in the passed 115 years? The sight has been on the rifle for a very long time as per the wear that it shows.
Thank you,
Foxdoublegunner
November 1, 2013
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Can find no Marbles rear sights listed in Winchester catalogs of that period; not much reason to do so, considering the several different open sights of their own manufacture a customer could choose from. Later, the catalog offered some special Marbles front sights, but that was because Winchester made nothing similar.
Not hard to find correct Winchester sights, if you think it’s worth the trouble.
March 31, 2009
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What does the wear pattern look like on the top of the barrel? Maybe not from the factory but could be period.
July 17, 2012
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I can’t really help with an answer but here is the Marbles sight on one of my my 1895s, it has been on there a long time. Must have been a popular upgrade.
Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
November 1, 2013
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JWA said
I can’t really help with an answer but here is the Marbles sight on one of my my 1895s, it has been on there a long time. Must have been a popular upgrade.
Sure looks like it’s been there a long time, but I wonder why whoever installed it considered it worth the trouble of replacing the original. Looks like the Marbles elevator was a little easier to adjust, but the money would have been MUCH better spent on a Lyman 21.
July 17, 2012
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Yup, agree. Not the first Marbles I have seen on a vintage Winchester and always wonder why they replaced the original sight back in the day. I don’t see much, if any improvement.
Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
May 28, 2019
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Chuck said
What does the wear pattern look like on the top of the barrel? Maybe not from the factory but could be period.
Here are some additional pictures of the rear sight and the front sight. I have an old Winchester 1903 catalog reprint and niether the current rear nor front sights appear as options from what I can see. Would these at least have been period correct?
March 31, 2009
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I think the front blade is OK. You can knock out the pin and put another in it’s place if you wish.
May 28, 2019
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What is the proper rear sight one would expect to find on a vintage 1904 model 1895 sporting rifle in cal 30-40? Would it be a 22b or 22c sight ? Would a Winchester express folding leaf sight or other folding sight variant have been an option or was these mostly just used for carbines? Did the full buckhorn come into use later?
November 1, 2013
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Foxdoublegunner said Would a Winchester express folding leaf sight or other folding sight variant have been an option or was these mostly just used for carbines? Did the full buckhorn come into use later?
Doubt the express, or any other folding sight, like a Lyman #6, would be chosen as the primary sight; they were generally intended to be auxiliary sights for use in combination with a tang or receiver sight. The 4-leaf express sight might be an exception for someone with visions of African hunting. Buckhorns in one form or another have been around since muzzle-loader days.
March 31, 2009
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Looking at the stripe on the top of the barrel aft of the sight, it had a standard sporting sight on it for quite some time.
May 28, 2019
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Chuck,
Thank you for noticing that detail. I am assuming that the original sight would have been a 22B or 22C in that case-correct? I wonder why he would have changed it out for a Marbles flat top rear sight.
Foxdoublegunner
November 1, 2013
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Foxdoublegunner said
I wonder why he would have changed it out for a Marbles flat top rear sight.
Influenced by some magazine ad, perhaps, but messing up guns is & always has been a popular hobby. Sometimes, there may be a “theory” for doing it, but I think it’s more often a case of “idle hands are the Devil’s tools.”
March 31, 2009
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Foxdoublegunner said
Chuck,Thank you for noticing that detail. I am assuming that the original sight would have been a 22B or 22C in that case-correct? I wonder why he would have changed it out for a Marbles flat top rear sight.
Foxdoublegunner
I think the 22 B is the standard sight. You also need the long thumb type elevator that sticks out behind the sight. I’m not sure which one but it will have a patent date on the side. Others need to tell you which one.
July 16, 2013
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clarence said
Doubt the express, or any other folding sight, like a Lyman #6, would be chosen as the primary sight; they were generally intended to be auxiliary sights for use in combination with a tang or receiver sight. The 4-leaf express sight might be an exception for someone with visions of African hunting. Buckhorns in one form or another have been around since muzzle-loader days.
Mine left the factory with an express sight.gun came out of India in the 80s.
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