I've got a .44 magnum Trapper arriving next week... the waiting is the hardest part. C'mon Big 5!

How well do the factory sights work for 100 yard shots from a bench rest? Should I plan on getting peep sights?

Thanks,
-Mark

I've got a .44 magnum Trapper arriving next week... the waiting is the hardest part. C'mon Big 5!

How well do the factory sights work for 100 yard shots from a bench rest? Should I plan on getting peep sights?

Thanks,
-Mark
44boomer, I would be intested to know why you chose the .44 mag over the .357 mag. Planning on ordering a 94 Trapper soon myself but man I just can't decide which caliber I really want. Wadcutter

Well the winchester trapper I had shot two to three inch groups with the factory sites when I supported the rifle and shot @ about fifty yards , opening up some shooting off hand.

Now with the Marlin and four more inches in Barrel, I now shoot the same or better @ 100 yards.
Being that I have a longer plane of site, or more barrel could be argued.
I tend to think that while the 16 barrel is indeed very handy adding to the lengh of the barrel tends to tighten the group to a pont with the big bore .
Now a peep might help you a bit , and then a red dot sight might help you again ,plus getting you instantly on target . I use the dot on a hand gun.
I would start with what it has for the start.
my 02 cents

Harry,
Our experiences are about the same. I can generally shoot somewhere between 2” and 3” groups with Winchester or Marlin open sights at fifty yards. A change to the Marbles flat top folding rear sight and the Sourdough front sight improves thing quite a bit but 2.5” is still a good rough figure from the bench with open sights – at least for this middle aged guy!
A receiver or tang sight makes a world of difference.
Personally, when using a bead sight I need a big round target. This allows me to center the bead on the round target. I find this more precise than putting a round bead under a round bullseye. I need different size targets for different size beads. Factory round face beads are very difficult to shoot small groups with. My hero Francis Sell said you need small beads to shoot small groups. He has a point and when I have good light at my back this works. For everyday use my eyes need a big bead, even with the Trappers.

The only rifle more difficult to shoot small groups with than the .44 Magnum Trapper is the Thompson Center Carbine in .44 Magnum! Both of these rifles will rattle your brain from the bench. I find all of the Big Bore lever guns easier to shoot than the .44 Magnums. I can include the Marlin 1894 in this too. My wife has shot five shot cloverleaf’s with my friends Marlin 1894 at fifty yards (younger eyes…) using target type loads and open sights. With full power loads it is a hand full of rifle.
I have been shooting the .45 Colt Trapper from the bench with 355-grain bullets at 1400 fps and I really believe this rifle is easier to shoot well than the .44 Magnums. Don’t take all of this to mean that I don’t like the .44 Magnum, I do like it. I just find it hard to shoot well from the bench with high performance loads.

The advantage of an open sight for these low velocity cartridges is in the ability to hold over, once you are failure with the trajectory of the cartridge. If you have practiced with your rifle you can shoot well to long distances with open sights. For the lever action .22 lr., there is probably no better sight. All it takes is practice, and that’s the fun part!

wadcutter,

My choice of the Trapper in .44 magnum was simply because I already have a Ruger Super Redhawk, and like the idea of just using one size cartrige for everything. I'm planning on a black bear hunting and like the bigger bullets .

-Mark

Harry, William,

Thanks for your informative replies. It sounds like the factory sights might work, with a lot of practice, and a really big target with my older eyes.

-Mark

Harry, William,

Thanks for your informative replies. It sounds like the factory sights might work, with a lot of practice, and a really big target with my older eyes.

-Mark

44 Boomer
Slim is gifted with words as well as experiance.

At 55 I do not think I am getting into the golden years.

Every thing about the body starts to sag or is slower than it used to be
A thought about spending some time with a beauiful women got an instant response from a body part twenty years ago, and now you got to think about it for a while.
I gest , but the point here is you got older and now things take a bit more time. Know that and work with it. Do not make as many changes all at once. your not twenty.
Same with your eyes. we tend to need corrective lenses as we age.
I like big course sights on my guns and tend to have big tarets as slim suggests.With the factory sites you learn how much hold over to use at different ranges . Very useful once you get onto this.

Man I sure can get the 44 S&W to print with the red dot , but the target has to be big.
That six inch old revolver will put them in a tighter group then any rifle that I have with the same bullet and load.
But again I did practice with the revolver more.
We have one winchester that sports a fine front sight and a tang peep on the rear . I can shoot this set up , but need time for my eyes to adjust to the front site and get off a shot.

Just take some time to adjust.

Happy

Harry,

At 52 – oops make that 53 this weekend! I don’t quite feel geriatric yet either!
I have lead an adventurous life… I should have taken better care of myself.
Three years ago my Dad and I started a test of every size and color front sight bead we could find. We eliminated the glow rod sights very quickly. Either due to age or our particular eyes we could not shoot good groups with them. We find the post or Sourdough sights the best for group shooting. The big beads are hard to beat for game shooting. I like gold. Dad’s eyes prefer white. We both seem to do better with the largest bead we can get. At this point in our live, neither of us take long shots with open sights.

It really does not cost very much to play with a wide selection of front sights. With a little thought you can get quite a selection for $50.00. Don’t overlook Gun Parts Corp. for test sights. After you find the best bead size and color you can then buy a nice sight. Don’t overlook the Sourdough from Marbles/Brownells. The post sight on the trappers is not too bad for group shooting, which is a good thing, on some of the Trappers these are brazed on!

P.S. This board has a lot of diversity. If we all get to talking there is an awful lot of experience. I hope some of the younger guys who can use the glow sights chime in.

William

I agree with what you have to say . Sour dough type sight are good.
I have an aim point on the model 27 S&W and have learned to shoot with it quite well. Here again all you do is put there bead on what you want to hit just as with the peep.
I use a peep on the 30/30 , 35 Marlin and the 6.5 X55 Husq.
Yep! they all have gold coloured front sights.
On the downside, the peeps do not do well in poor light were the aim point type sight puts a red dot as long as your target is yet visable.
So I will carry the rifles with the peeps during the dayand the scoped rifles were I might need them during last light as with bear hunting.
If I ever get around to a winchester BB , I think Bushnel dot , or one of the new smaller Holosight would be the way to go. They are both small and
Would not take much away from the ninety four .

On a personal note I have yet to have the 358 BLR returned . That overall makes it two years and soon two hunting seasons in the repair shop.

Hind sight .
That is were you kick your self in the pants over and over again , cause I should have bought the as new in box 356 BB

Well days come and go . the older you get the faster they seem to go.

Look forward for tomorrows ,cause with some help it might turn out to be yet another beauiful day.
Happy :D

I guess at 21, I'm one of the younger guys around here. I bought a .44 mag trapper this summer. I fired 100 rounds with the factory sights. When I got to round ten, I decided the sights weren't going to cut it. 5"-7" at 100 yards is not good enough for me. I went home and ordered a Williams FP and a .530 front sight with a gold 1/16" bead.

Now it is shooting better. I can shoot 2" at 50 yards and 4" at 100. It needs to be firelapped, and I need to spend a little more time at the reloading bench. Maybe it will shoot better then. Until then, it sits on the rack until the end of waterfowl season.


On a side note, I think putting fiber optic sights on a levergun to be an act of blashpemy. I'd rather fart in church than put that plastic crap on such a noble rifle.

The bores on some of the new rifles are generous and it is well known some rifles have spots that are tight were the dove tails were cut in the barrel or were the name was stamped .(Restrictions)
I always thought that winchester had the better rifle bore , but a friend advised me that his new rifle had a bore close to .431

My45/70 Marlin guide had a bore close to .460 with the restrictions they are famous for , and it would never group. Had I fire lapped the gun and used oversized or over bore lead load , the groups probably would have tightened up.
But I do not think it was ever to print clover leafs.
I sold it.
My winchester trapper at first shot so/so groups.

I had 200 gr. .429 sixed lead bullets that I used in my ruger super blackhawk.
The more I shot the winchester the better things got , and the next order of lead was sized .430 and I was able to get 240 gr. round nose.
Well the bore of the winchester got polished mirror smooth from the lead and practice/ practice thing also came into play I am sure.

At first it took time to rid the bore of leading and the closer Igot to 1000 rounds fired the smooother the bore and the less time it took to clean.
Found also that the lever etc became very smooth as time went. At first every thing was a bit stiff but the rifle wore in quckly.
Well after about 5000/8000 I found some of the .429 bullets and it shoot through the rifle as anything else so what did that tell me?
So you could slug your bore and find the true bore size and check for restrictions at the dove tails or rifle stampings in the bore and lapp it.
Then you can have the action tuned removing any high or rough spots in the action and doing something with the springs.
This will instantly make the rifle shoot better.

Or go and shoot "the lead" out of it and you find that the rifle will wear in and the bore will take a mirror shine to it . Your shooting skills should have improved also.
Normal cleaning during this time well advised.
Have the reciever gone over and cleaned every 1000 / 3000 rounds, or when it gets dirty, and you never have a feeding problem.

Well I finally sold the trapper and bought a used Marlin 94 , only because I needed to load ten rounds in the tube for the CB shoot. The trapper held nine.
I got a hundred more dollars for the gun than for what I had bought it for. It had a few marks from normal use, but otherwise in excellent condition.
Had a feeding problem "once" at about a 1000 rounds or two years. All it was was dirt in the reciever .
Had it cleaned , never had another issue ever

The new owner happier than a pig in a mud on a hot day.
He wanted a compact hunting rifle , and it stores in the back box of his ATV.

The Marlin action was tuned as I got rid of some of the high spots. Springs Etc left as they were . Maybe over time will replace the hammer spring, but right now the action is very smooth.

I am going to fire about a thousand rounds through the gun first which will not take long .
The rifle will be settled in , and I should be used to it.
Then I guess we can see where we are at.

When you first start shooting your trapper, I think I have answered a few questions.
Happy

44boomer,

I have two Trappers, a 1980 30-30 and 1985 .45 Colt. Both have their original post front sights, and both have had receiver peep sights mounted.
With either, I can, or could anyway shoot 2" groups with either of them.
The additions of a reciever sight greatly helps being able to shoot accuratly with the Trapper length rifles.

Joe

I like the sight OK on my trapper .44 It just needs the bore to be hand-lapped as fire lapping just ain't gonna cut it fior this one. Once clened up, I t expect it will shoot at least as well without bore fouling so badly.

try the one ragged hole sight.

My 45colt trapper shoots to about 3-5" at 100, depending on my eyez that day.