FINALLY got to the range and brief range report.

So I finally got to the range with my '62 Marlin 39A. Jeebus, what a sweet shooter! Nice heft, feels like an "adult" rifle, and the action is like a bank vault. Now, the only problem is I was shooting at an indoor range and apparently my 42 year old eyes suck, which was an unpleasant surprise for me . I immediately took off the front sight hood, but it was still hard to acquire a good sight picture. What is an acceptable alternative sight option that will be easier to pick up/shoot accurately with that is "authentic"? I was thinking a Skinner rear, but what for the front? What would be easy to pick up, but aesthetically ok? I'm not putting a fire sight on this classic.

Anyway, I also finally got to put some rounds through the Ruger SR22 and the RIA XT22. First, the Ruger. Fun peppy little gat. Sights were nice, but holy Moses on the Mountain does the trigger ever suck! Are there any fixes for it? I'm also a 1911 guy, so to me the safety is backwards, and on two occasions, I inadvertently put it on "safe/decock". Otherwise, it was stone reliable and I shot 300+ rounds of mixed Blazer, Minimags, and AE 36gr HPs, without a hiccup. I think I may need a can.

RIA XT22. NICE! Trigger isn't as nice as my custom Colt, but that's kind of a "well, DUH!" statement. This is a very smooth pistol and since it's all steel, has that same "bank vault" feeling as the 39A. It was accurate enough, although I wasn't really shooting for small groups. The manual says to stick to 40gr/HV rounds and that's what I did. I tried a couple mags of the AE 36gr HPs, and it just didn't have enough Oomph to cycle it reliable. This may change once it's broken in though. Otherwise it did great with Minimags and Blazers. Another nice thing was the ProMag 14 round mags for the Kimber .22 works like a champ. Only gripes (nothing too major) are the sights kind of suck. Needs a wider notch. Also it doesn't hold open the slide upon firing the last round.

Only other thing I shot was my M&P 15-22. Boringly reliable/fun/accurate. I did however upgrade the cheapo C-More knock-off with a Bushnell TRS-25. Big difference!

I inherited my dad's 39A made back in the 50s. In over 60 years, the only problem was the ejector spring broke. $12 and 15 minutes and she was back slinging lead downrange. It is easily the most accurate rimfire I own. I can't offer any help on sights as mine is scoped.

I would look into having a GOLD BEAD front sight installed. Like you, my eyes suck!! hahahaha well, with age I guess. But I have used Gold Bead front sights before and they worked very well and were picked up by the eye very quickly. Just a thought. Good luck.

I WILL be getting a M39 one day......:-) I picked up a Remington Model 12 very cheap from a small gun shop, if you are familiar with them. They are a pump action, and during this last Frederick gun show, they had 2 for sale. The first was 2x what I paid, and the 2nd was 3x what I paid for mine :-). About the same condition. I was going to refinish mine and bring it back to look new, but, now, mmmm not sure. :-)

Years ago I put a Lyman receiver sight on my 1975 39A. Left the front sight stock though.

+1 on the gold front bead and Skinner peep rear.

First off , the lighting at the indoor range is a major factor. Try the stock sights outdoors in natural light.

As well made and designed as the Skinner sights are , for old school , periodic authentic sighting use a Lyman or Williams peep. It may well bring the origional front sufficiently into focus.

If you do wish to change fronts , Gold Bead , and Sourdough are both old school , and well regarded.

Biggfoot44 said:

First off , the lighting at the indoor range is a major factor. Try the stock sights outdoors in natural light.

As well made and designed as the Skinner sights are , for old school , periodic authentic sighting use a Lyman or Williams peep. It may well bring the origional front sufficiently into focus.

If you do wish to change fronts , Gold Bead , and Sourdough are both old school , and well regarded.

Click to expand...

OOoooh. I'm liking the look of that Sourdough front sight. Looks like it would be more precise than a bead.

Shoot the SR22 some more. The DA is hopeless - it does suck. The SA in mine got better over time (not massively, but it does improve some around 500-700 rounds). I just pretend it is a striker fired pistol, rack it and shoot it SA. Problem solved. There is just no reason to bother trying to get better with the DA on that gun.

BTW, I suspect those giant red flags are on the side of the gun specifically because the safety is backwards.