I was sitting around thinking this afternoon, and came to realize that almost every firearm I have ever owned, I have upgraded somehow. Everything from something as small as adding an improved ejector to completely adding a new barrel extended and ported.

I bought this Marlin 1895 about 3 months ago, and I haven't done anything to it yet. What would be the best upgrade from stock for it? I have considered a Bear Claw ejector from Cabelas. A new trigger group and possibly some sort of scout mount and scope. What would be the best upgrade for my rifle? I haven't thought about it a whole lot, and wanted some fellow owners' experiences. I don't want to port the barrel or anything, but just small and fairly cheap upgrades nothing too drastic. Give me some ideas.

one of the best upgrades is a fire sight peepsight install. not exspensive but improves handling speed. my 2cents

leupold 2.5x compact scope in warne mounts !!

PC, what are you calling the Leupold compact scope? I don't see anything with that nomenclature on their website. I do see a scout scope, but don't know it that is what you are referring to.

Thanks

Wes it is under the fixed scope section I think, and is named the 2.5x compact, It could be under compact scopes or fixed power scopes. It is ideal for the 45/70 and is quite small so does not look to out of place on a lever gun. It can also stand a lot of recoil I use one on my .585 Nyati.

If you can't find it let us know and I will post a pic of my 45/70 with the said scope mounted.

PC.

I tend to lean toward the peep sight here with a large apeture.An exelent choice in low light or thick scrub where a quick shot can mean the diff between money in the bank or phrases you would not find in the bible

PC lets see that picture, I still only see the FX-II 2.5x28mm Scout on their website.

Go here: http://www.leupold.com/products/scopes.asp

Leave the scope category box at all scopes. Click the drop down box for select a scope. Pick this one: FX-II 2.5x20mm Ultralight. Click go

For a true upgrade take your rifle down to the local gun shop and see about a Winchester 1886, 45-70 or a Winchester 1895, 405.
Aside from the sights nothing needs to be done.
Jim

No offense meant friend, but I have owned Winchesters and you can have them. Since US repeating Arms took them over, they have been nothing but trouble in my book. What topped it all of was me buying one of the 9410 models. After 5 shots, it misfired or dry fired every 3 or 4 shells. It wasn't the shells because I fired them in another 410 I had without any troubles. Tried different ammo to.

Aside from that .... I may decide to go with the sight upgrade. Then again maybe a Leupold that will twist off of the mount so that I can use the iron sights in close up conditions. What do you think?

For me, seeing a scope on a lever action is like having an afterburner on bicycle.
I'd get a good reciever sight, Lyman first choice then William's. If you are really looking to upgrade keep you eyes open for an old Redfield reciver sight from 40 or more years ago.
I'd avoid the tang sights, they make holding the rifle in the normal fashion difficult and/or painful.
The Winchesters you had difficulty with were American union manufactured. Comparing the ones I mentioned to the current American made rifles is like comparing a Raven 25 auto to a Sig-Sauer.
Jim

Here it is;

this is just my opion i bought a set of ghost ring sights for mine their in a drawer right
now i finally put a scope on it i could of saved
a hundred bucks (cdn) if i just put the scope on to start with

Here are a couple changes I recommend:
1) Either XS or Brockman aperture rear and post front sights (I used a Williams rear and a Brockman front - when they had the thin gold line running up the center - but would get the XS setup these days).
2) WWG trigger kit
3) One inch recoil pad installed to your length of pull.
4) If you have a hankerin for a scope try the XS scout scope base, Leupold 2.5x scout scope, and plain old Weave medium rings (any lower and the rear bell touches the rail).
If you need more than that have a look at what Brockman or Wild West Gunsmithing can do for you. Good hunting!

Mine wears a Wild West Guns ghost ring rear, XS scout rail with a 1.5X Leupold pistol scope mounted in Warne QD rings.

Puts 350gr Hornady's into less than 2" at 100yds for as long as you can stand to bench it. Points like a good shotgun and carries as easy as some "handguns" with 14" bbl and scopes.

Can't take it hunting cause my fiancee and my sons always seem to have dibs on it.

You could also order from Marlin an extended magazine tube , i think it would add three more rounds to the rifle.I tried the scout mount buttook it off as i prefer my scopes to the rear with quick release and a receiver peep sight.

To me if I want a scoped rifle I go for a bolt-action. In my book leverguns are supposed to be light, sleek and handy. To me a scope just doesn't fit into that definition...

When it comes to leverguns I'd say try the XS Ghost Ring aperture sights. They come in various sized apertures (I use the .150" and like it for everyday shooting) and they're solid steel, very rugged and simple to install.

Obviously some here do like scopes on their leverguns, so scoped could be the way to go for you. Always pick the best scope you can afford when it comes to optics if it's going to be a serious hunting rifle. If I did scope mine I'd use the fixed 2.5x Leupold Ultralight (6.5 ounces x 8" long!).

PS to Claudeb: I bet you could sell those Ghost Ring sights pretty quickly if you dont like them. Both my Marlins wear XS sights that friends on the forums did not care for once they tried them. Some people's eyes just don't do well with the apertures, depends on the individual and sometimes you just don't know until you try them.

Others have given you excellent advice - just a couple more points:
(1) Fix the trigger. Either a kit or do it yourself. Biggest accuracy gain.

(2) Don't put a scope on a packing rifle

(3) When you add a recoil pad, adjust the LOP to achieve the amount of drop you need. When the is properly mounted, your eye should be looking through your sights - you shouldn't have to duck or stretch. This means you might need a full inch of increase or so. Cabellas makes a lace-up pad (small) that you can add extra foan to.

The leupold scout scope or burris for that matter are both awesome. The gun is still fast and easy to point. I can get on target faster with crosshairs. I have the leupold on my 376 steyr scout, and the burris on the 1895 guide gun. This is the happy medium between a reciever mounted scope and open sights, or should I say best of both worlds.

Buffalo Arms has a Russian copy of the original Lyman 38 receiver sight which mounts on the left side of the receiver.

One of these days I will buy one and I am going to cut the barrel to 22" add a quarter rib, shallow V irons, barrel band swivel, barrel band front sight with 3/32 bead, find me a nice Turkish chunk of wood and custom stock it using the Win. stock for a pattern but slim it considerably here and there....

I will test fire it first and if it does not shoot very well then I will get me a Lothar Walther barrel and then proceed with the above....

It will be my bear medicine, elk in the black timber of Idaho an maybe I will plunk a cape buff with it as long as I have it anyway....

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
It will be my bear medicine, elk in the black timber of Idaho an maybe I will plunk a cape buff with it as long as I have it anyway....

Ray said whut?

You hard of hearing boy!

Put a decent set of peep/aperture sights on it or have a big change and get Winchester 1895 in .405Win and do the same with the sights. The Winchester is made by Miroku so is better built than US Winchesters in my opinion.

STeve