Henry H009b

[John42056]

Just bought my first lever action, should be here by the weekend. Excited to get my hands on. I’m going to use it mainly for hunting in the NH woods, so my question is, scope or open sites?

 

[Arto]

Irons don't fog up of give you prone scope bite

https://shop.williamsgunsight.com/ecommerce/p/wgrs--marlin-336-firesight-set-070018

 

[FiremanBob]

Skinner makes an aperture sight that is excellent on traditional lever guns.

 

[RumRunner]

Nice, congrats, great rifle. I have 2 lever actions, one with scope and one without. I prefer shooting the one without.

 

[Marty McFly]

Awesome buy! Its personal preference. In my opinion an ethical kill is easier for me with a scope. May not be for you. I also strain to read billboards

 

[50wt]

At what distances will you be hunting ? Scopes look wrong on a lever action, but for hunting accuracy, I'd say it's an absolute must.


Thanks for the reminder too. I've never owned a lever action rifle .....time to start the search.

 

[cathouse01]

For hunting in the NH woods I’d go with something low power. I have a simple 4X shotgun slug scope on my Marlin 30-30. Wide field of view with just enough magnification to make a 100 yard shot easy. And it doesn’t look as out of place as a big old 3-9.

 

[John42056]

At what distances will you be hunting ? Scopes look wrong on a lever action, but for hunting accuracy, I'd say it's an absolute must.

The woods that I hunt don’t generally offer shots much over 50-75 yds that I would consider ethical given the density of the trees. Once I shoot it with the factory sites, I’ll probably have a better idea if I need something more “refined”.

 

[boscru]

Skinner makes an aperture sight that is excellent on traditional lev

skinner is what i have. although i don't hunt, like the OP plans to, it's the cheapest option by far when comparing to mounts and scope addition

miles beyond the factory sights

 

[Nick Leduc]

Scopes on lever actions should be at least 20 inches long to look fantastic. lol

 

[Radtekk]

Left to right, Golden Boy 38/357 w/Skinner Peep, 44mag/spcl w/3x9, 22 w/irons need to add Skinner. Like kids, love 'em all equally but differently.

 

[Wickedcoolname]

Skinner or Williams peep sight. To me putting a scope on a lever gun is like putting a hood scoop on a model T Ford.

 

[BarnBuilder]

Skinner or Williams peep sight. To me putting a scope on a lever gun is like putting a hood scoop on a model T Ford.

You mean like this ?

 

[FiremanBob]

I wrote about Skinners, but I have a Williams Foolproof target sight on my Marlin 336. If I had the budget I'd replace it with a Skinner because it sits up high and is therefore more fragile. But it sure aims well.

 

[TrashcanDan]

Scout scope or something similar with long eye relief would be ideal on a lever.

 

[one-eyed Jack]

Skinner or Williams peep sight. To me putting a scope on a lever gun is like putting a hood scoop on a model T Ford.

Some of the oldies like me NEED a scope. Jack.

 

[grey]

I'll pile on - Skinners are nice. Get the full set of diopter inserts. The Black Gold version sits on my Marlin 1894 .44 mag. It ties in really well with the gold trigger

 

[RichLec]

I don't know what you guys are talking about... Scopes look great on lever guns!

 

[mac1911]

I like old school aperture sights , nice globe sight up front aperture in the rear line up the O to your vital zone and zero to point blank range , you should have no problem hitting your target. With in point blank range. If your testing the limits of you and a lever action at distance a small 4x or 6x scope will work wonders.

 

[straightshooterjake]

The woods that I hunt don’t generally offer shots much over 50-75 yds that I would consider ethical given the density of the trees. Once I shoot it with the factory sites, I’ll probably have a better idea if I need something more “refined”.

For a long time, I strongly preferred a peep sight on a lever action. A peep sight just looks right, and it is a great combination of lightweight, tough, and sufficiently accurate.

However, as my eyes have changed, I can no longer use any type of iron sight with sufficient accuracy, even for the modest 75 yard distances you are planning on. Now my preference on a short range "brush" gun is a red dot. And for distances out to about 100 yards, I think the advantages of a red dot are decisive. After spending some time with a red dot, I think this would still be my choice, even if my eyes were much better.

The real advantages of a red dot matter much more in the woods than on the target range. On the range, you shoot color contrasting targets in good lighting conditions. But in the woods, either the rifle's sights, or the target, are often under shifting shadows. And the target is often well camouflaged against the background. These conditions combine to add some real challenges for getting off a good shot while maintaining front sight focus. And if you lose focus on the front sight, you will shoot poorly with irons.

Even thought the red dot sight does not add any magnification, it still completely changes the sight picture required for good shooting. You perceive the dot in the same focal plane as the target, so your eyes can stay focused at the target distance. This is a huge help in hitting a brown target against a brown background.

So overall, if the iron sights work well for your eyes, then that is very reasonable for the distances you are planning. But if you need an optic, then a red dot might be a good fit for your needs.