Marlin 39A sight question

[oldboot]

I was looking through my gun locker this weekend and found my Marlin 39A. I took it out to the range and noticed why it had been sitting in the back of the gunlocker for a while. The front sight is huge! At 15 yards I was a getting decent groups for shooting off hand. I moved back to 25 yards and found the front sight was covering too much of the 3 inch bullseye to get a good grouping. I shoot with a 0 o'clock hold. What are y'all recomendations for a replacing the front sight (brands, bead size, and height)? I wish to keep the rifle with open sights.

[Pete44ru]

If you measure the width or bead diameter of your present front sight, it can most likely be replaced by one of a narrower width or smaller diameter, as there are several good sight makers who have standardized their products into two different bead sizes.

Generally, the smallest/fine bead is the 1/16" Gold Bead, Ivory Bead, or Fiber-optic; while the coarser/larger bead is a 3/32" Gold/Ivory/FO - either from Williams, Marbles or Lyman.

Another option would be to obtain a Lyman #17 globe sight, which has a card with several interchangeable front sight inserts, including beads/peeps/posts/whatever.

The medium (.340") sight base width from any/all makers will fit the front ramp of your Model 39a, BTW.

Please don't get confused here - I'm talking about three different dimensions of a front sight blade:
1)The .340" width means the sight base will be the same width (side-to-side) as the ramp on your rifle.
2)ALL the sights are made with a 3/8" male dovetail, which is the same size (front-to-back) as the female dovetail in your rifle's front sight ramp.
3)The 1/16" or 3/32" bead size is a 3rd dimension.

.

[Hobie]

When I can't stand an issue front sight I replace it with a post (or the slightly modified 'sourdough'). This allows a precise alignment with the aiming point EVEN if it is so wide as to subtend a substantial amount of the target. Beads don't permit such precision even if they are used in the same way as a post. Make is unimportant so long as the blade sits square on the dovetail. Too tall and a file will shorten it, but don't get one that's too short.

[gundownunder]

If the front sight you've got doesn't hold any sentimental value why not just file it down to a post with the thickness you like. I did it to mine and discovered that what I thought was a brass bead attached to the post is actually a full brass sight from top to bottom.

[jdad]

Original front sight inserts, for the 39A, are readily available. File the bead to a squared off post. I did it on the one I use for silhouette.