Red dot on a lever action

[ECVMatt]

Good afternoon to all,

I was going to put this in the Reddot section, but that appeared to be mostly about pistols.

With all the talk of leveractions and their capabilities in other threads I decided to add a red dot to one of my Marlin 336's. Without turning this into a Winchester vs Marlin thread, I generally perfer Marlins for their accuracy, ease of mounting sights/scopes, and the ease of cleaning. For this project I chose a 336TS with an 18" barrel. I like the traditional look of leveractions and wanted to keep that traditional, clean look.

To keep things simple and clean I ordered a red dot mount from Turnbull Restorations. It is sold as a mount for the Winchester 1894 but works equally well on the Marlin 336 series. It mounts on the dovetail groove in the barrel and replaces the rear, barrel mounted sight. The mount is absolutely beautiful with zero imperfections. It is made for the Burris Fastfire series and fits perfectly. I am extremely impressed with this product.

It took me about 30 minutes to install the mount on the rifle. I was taking my time and making sure everything was lined up correctly. It is pretty hard to goof up, but I wanted the installation to match the quality of the mount and the gun.

I am heading up to my desert house tomorrow and will sight it in and get some general shooting in. One thing I did notice is that is sits tall. If I decide to keep it on the rifle, I would add a cheek riser. Here are some pictures of the mount and the Fastfire on the gun.

Attachment 65275

Attachment 65276

Attachment 65277

[ECVMatt]

Here are some pictures of the Fastfire on the rifle:

Attachment 65278

Attachment 65279

[JimLob65]

That’s a great idea I think. I considered mounting a red dot on my Henry .357 lever but decided on a scope, which didn’t work out at all. I really like red dot sights and have them on several center fire pistols as well as a couple Buckmarks. Very beneficial when the eyes begin to go south. I am anxious to hear your impressions.

[GJM]

I have a Micro on a 45-70 Marlin. Works great.

[rd62]

I have a Holosun 407 on my Marlin .45-70 and am very happy with it.

[SteveB]

Aimpoint Micro on a 336; great combo:

[gato naranja]

I have a Marlin 1894 CSS (a poorly-executed example made just before the North Haven plant closed) with a 1" Ultra-Dot in Burris QD rings on the rear half of a cut-off XS LeverRail. The Ultra-Dot rides just ahead of the XS rear ghost ring, as I wanted a belt-and-suspenders setup. It works well enough for what it is, but it isn't really anything to get too excited about. That is all that remains of my earlier adventure with red dots on leverguns.

For about 10 years I was a rabid proponent of the .357 Magnum 16" or 18" barrel levergun as a utility carbine, but my eyes' accommodation aged out to where front sights became a suggestion, and despite my wishes, a ghost ring rear plus a ghost post front made for ghost accuracy. Unfortunately, the optics mounting solutions at the time were nothing to write home about - neither were some of the red dots - and after a good deal of money and time were spent, I essentially said to hell with it and adopted a 16" AR with enough picatinny rail to mount any optic from spotting scope size on down... and room for a weaponlight, laser, sling mount, and QD kitchen sink left over. (The bayonet mount was useless icing on the cake.)

When my right eye needed retina work last year and did not heal correctly, that pretty much removed any longarms without optics - other than shotguns - from the scene, and I have since found that the right LPVO scope is as good or better than a red dot for me. They tend to greatly "awkwardize" a short levergun, though.

(sigh)

There are no free lunches in the firearms world of un (viejo) gato naranja.

[TCinVA]

I don't know if it will ever come to market, but I had the chance to use a Marlin 1894 in .44 Magnum with a prototype Aridus CROM and it was a splendid little package. Lightweight, handy, easy to shoot, and when stoked with .44 magnum ammo, plenty potent.

As busy as Aridus has been I don't know if they'll have the breathing room to make it, but it's splendid.

[Bigghoss]

I don't know if it will ever come to market, but I had the chance to use a Marlin 1894 in .44 Magnum with a prototype Aridus CROM and it was a splendid little package. Lightweight, handy, easy to shoot, and when stoked with .44 magnum ammo, plenty potent.

As busy as Aridus has been I don't know if they'll have the breathing room to make it, but it's splendid.

That would be something I would be interested in.




If one were going for a space cowboy look, there's this from Midwest Industries.

[Bratch]

I have a Holosun 407 on my Marlin .45-70 and am very happy with it.

What rail is that? WWG?