front sight height?

[sven556]

I'm putting either a williams or lyman receiver sight on my win 94 with a front sight ramp: How tall will the front sight need to be? Or do you buy a sight and then file it to height?

Thanks,
Sven

[J Miller]

sven556,

I've put both the Williams and the Lyman sights on my Win 94s. Both 30-30s and 45 Colts and so far I've not needed a taller front sight.
However I do usually replace the bead front sight with a sourdough or blade sight. These generally come a bit taller.

I'd suggest putting the sight on it, and trying it with the front sight that's on it. Then go from there.

Joe

[Pete44ru]

To the contrary, I've had to install a front sight that's about 1/10" higher than issue, to zero a receiver peep (@ 100yds) on all my Winchesters & Marlins - except Trapper's and other models without a ramped front sight(i.e., dovetailed directly into the barrel).

You can shoot it, and figure the correct front sight heigh for any rifle, by using Brownell's Sight Height Calculator:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/sight.aspx

[J Miller]

To the contrary, I've had to install a front sight that's about 1/10" higher than issue, to zero a receiver peep (@ 100yds) on all my Winchesters & Marlins - except Trapper's and other models without a ramped front sight(i.e., dovetailed directly into the barrel).

You can shoot it, and figure the correct front sight heigh for any rifle, by using Brownell's Sight Height Calculator:

http://www.brownells.com/aspx/NS/GunTech/sight.aspx

Hmmmmm, you might use a different sight picture than I do.
Just goes to show that different folks can have different results with the same things.

Joe

[Chuck 100 yd]

I have about 15 or 16 Williams fp`s and one 5D mounted on Marlin 1894`s 336`s and win 94`s and have never had to buy a taller front to get them to zero.
I have replaced a couple with Sourdough sights like Joe has though.
I would try the standard front first.

[El Chivo]

The sights you mentioned go pretty low. If you get one of the top-mounted sights like an XS ghost ring, you may need a taller front sight then.

[Pete44ru]

[you might use a different sight picture than I do.]

It's probably the way I shoot a levergun.

I never "sand bag" them, nor shoot directly off a benchrest - the only thing the gun touches is my hands/shoulder, which insulate it from any other contact and IMO more closely approximate field shooting while sighting-in.

After zeroing, all my shooting is practical, sitting on a hunting stool, the ground, standing, and using a treestand secured low on a range telephone pole, etc - all at blank cardboard ovals set out randomly.

I'm sure my guns tend to throw their shots a little higher than if they were held down when shooting - but I feel that's not the norm when hunting, and so don't do that.

I gave my advice in the light of presumed hunting, not target, questioning/use - and don't mean to lead anyone down the garden path.

[Sixgun]

After resighting litterally hundreds of leverguns in all calibers, I simplified the whole process by keeping 15 or 20 front sights in my range box. Depending on caliber, velocity, and bullet weight, I find sometimes I need a higher sight and sometimes a lower sight. Plus, if its a used rifle, (which most if not all are) I never know how the other guy had it sighted as to his velocity and bullet weight.

And then, to take it further, on a high trajectory caliber such as the 38-55, I like the point of impact to be "on" at 50 yards with the rear sight adjusted all the way down so I can go all the way out to 3 or 4 hundred if I want to and still have plenty of adjustment left. Always experimenting---sometimes thats what you have to do.--------------Sixgun

[Hobie]

[you might use a different sight picture than I do.]

It's probably the way I shoot a levergun.

I never "sand bag" them, nor shoot directly off a benchrest - the only thing the gun touches is my hands/shoulder, which insulate it from any other contact and IMO more closely approximate field shooting while sighting-in.

After zeroing, all my shooting is practical, sitting on a hunting stool, the ground, standing, and using a treestand secured low on a range telephone pole, etc - all at blank cardboard ovals set out randomly.

I'm sure my guns tend to throw their shots a little higher than if they were held down when shooting - but I feel that's not the norm when hunting, and so don't do that.

I gave my advice in the light of presumed hunting, not target, questioning/use - and don't mean to lead anyone down the garden path.

I shoot as you do and like Joe have never had to replace a factory Winchester or Marlin front sight when installing the SIDE mounted Williams FP. I too prefer the sourdough but don't go out of my way to do so.

In the Army I've had ten people shoot the same rifle, without sight changes after I zeroed it, for qualification and then had to completely rezero the gun for the 11th guy only to have to return it to the previous zero. It is just one of those things.

[Modoc ED]

I've found that when installing a Williams or Lyman receiver sight that if the sight is installed on the side of the receiver using the two holes drilled and tapped by the factory or a gunsmith that a front sight is not required. However, when mounting a receiver sight on a newer rifle using the holes intended for scope mounting, the replacement of the front sight is often required. The reason is that a side mounted receiver sight can be adjusted lower than a top mounted receiver sight.

As some of the guys have indicated, it just takes some experimenting especially when sighting in used rifles that usually don't have the OEM front sights installed.