winchesterbob.com lists a carbine blade sight for $25, don’t know how high it is. You can go old school and make one out of a coin, just use your old one as a pattern and make it taller. T/R

  “The Sight Book” calls for a 61A, it has a .374″ blade in a 1894 carbine 30/30 smokeless. T/R

Coins don’t work very well on a carbine.  They are way too thick to fit in the blade slot and require much more work than necessary.  I have used a piece of nickel silver shim stock with a thickness of .060.  Should be able to find small pieces at a jewelry repair shop or a machine shop.  Cut it and drill the pin hole to fit and leave it tall.  You can adjust the height as you shoot and then dress it down to the correct contour.  

Have you tried 170 grain bullets.  That was the original loading.  The 150 grain bullets came out much later.  I found that was the answer for my 1917 vintage carbine.  Worth a try.  RDB

35 Whelen said

 UPDATE-

I figured out that 14 ga. steel would be really close to the correct thickness for the front sight. A coworker gave me a piece and the work began!

 It took a WHILE to thin it down to .063″-

From there I began whittling it down to a manageable size, the hit the back of it with a Swiss file. 

 

 I didn’t have the proper drill bit to drill it for pinning to the base, but it wedged tights enough that I could shoot, file, shoot file, etc. Now I’m within about .015″ of having it the proper height-

 Once I have the height correct (probably tomorrow) I’ll decide how I want to shape the sight, then drill it, blue it and mount it.

 

Ben said

I have Christy’s (long closed gun parts manufacturer) front sight blades for Winchester / Marlin & Savage rifles.  NOS in their original cellophane wrappers… The price is good too, if payment is made in 1950’s U.S. junk silver dimes & quarters + shipping.  I find it’s an interesting lesson on “inflation”….

  

 Man, those are awesome looking sights!!

 

rogertherelic said

Have you tried 170 grain bullets.  That was the original loading.  The 150 grain bullets came out much later.  I found that was the answer for my 1917 vintage carbine.  Worth a try.  RDB

  

 I did not because I didn’t figure there would be enough difference in them and the 150’s to warrant wasting my stash of Speer 170 gr. bullets.

 

  

If we’re talking at 100 yards or less, I believe the difference in trajectories would be minimal.  The 170 grain curve gets steeper after that.  A quick and dirty look at a comparative chart of the two bullet weights for the 30WCF yielded these numbers for moderate handloads in hornady brass:

20″ bbl, open sights, Winchester 170 grain FPRN Silvertip, observed mv 2050, +1″ at 50 yards, 0″ at 100 yards, – 3.7″ at 150 yards, -10.5″ at 200 yards. 

20″ bbl, open sights, Sierra 150 graiin FNSP, observed mv 2400, +1″ at 50 yards, 0″ at 100 yards, -1.8″ at 150 yards, -4″ at 200 yards. 

Data source: https://www.ballisticstudies.com/Knowledgebase/.30-30+Winchester++.30+WCF.html

At least according to the New Zealand author of the piece, the factory velocity of the 150 grain load is kept down somewhat so the open sights of typical Winchester and Marlin carbines can be used for both bullet weights. He asserts that, if the 150 grain load were loaded up to acceptable maximum pressure levels, the open sights commonly installed by the factories would not have sufficient elevation range to be useable with both bullet weights. I have no idea whatsover if this is true. And it is coming from a Kiwi — and they are close enough in nature to my Oz buddies that caution is indicated….