[Brad4]

I removed the rear factory iron sight on a Marlin Mod 30 AS and replaced it with a Lyman model 66 receiver sight. The swap went well until I installed the stock Lyman filler blank in the former rear sight dovetail slot. The new filler blank does not match the contour of the barrel and projects above the barrel by approximately 1/8 of an inch. The resulting installation looks crude and amaturish.

Does anyone know of a source of filler blanks specific to the Marlin 30 or Marlin 336 family? Locally the cost of grinding, polishing and re-blueing the barrel is more than I want to spend. Any other options to improve the installation would be appreciated.

 

[Rangr44]

Evidently, you seem to expect a slot filler blank to dissappear into the barrel contour - which is unobtainium, unless you make one yourself.

There are NO gun-specific slot filler blank made, AFAIK.

Contoured slot fillers can be shaped from a lead bullet - the lead will "color" with age, almost darkening enough to match the bluing.

Every commercial slot filler blank made stands somewhat proud of the barrel - some more than others.

Some hands fashion slot fillers from the front portion of old longleaf rear sights.

.

 

[pisgah]

Not only can a lead bullet be tapped in to the slot and shaped to conform to the barrel's shape, but cold blue solution will react with the lead and darken it to almost a match with the blueing. But I've never encountered a slot blank made to match the barrel contour.

 

[Brad4]

I did keep the original long leaf sight so a cut-and-trim exercise may be my next move. I regret that it just didn't occur to me to think that a factory aftermarket sight system that specificed a particular gun/model would have a generic filler blank. After additional thought I can understand that long production runs of, say a Marlin 336, could likely have a variety of barrel diameter/contours over the course of a multiple decade production cycle. I just didn't think it through...thanks for the ideas.

 

[k24556]

i never cared for the look of a blank, so instead i buy a Marbles folding sight, and fold it down. Then it looks like it belongs in the dovetail. Last time i bought one from Optics planet they were $10