Hello everyone. Great site, great forums, and a great gang of very knowledgeable folks here. My first post here. Nice to meet you!

I am in the process of getting my Marlin 336CS 30-30 carbine set up for scope use. Presently using a Weaver K2.5X scope, Weaver standard strap top quick detachable low rings, and a Weaver 63B one piece mount base. I really prefer the iron sights but, for some purposes, I am finding that my not so young (translate...old) eyes need the optical boost.

This nice little carbine is rapidly becoming my do all, go everywhere, car gun, woods loafing, plinking, and deer hunting arm. Except for deer and hopefully boar hunting which, for me, are primarily twilight sports where the scope is a marked advantage I will still use the factory iron sights for most woods loafing-casual shooting. 150 yards here in the catskill-appalachin forest of New York would be a very long shot for me. The quick detachable scope setup is very desirable as most of the time the scope will be off the rifle.

My present concern is the Weaver 63B base which doesn't seem to be a particularly good choice. I want to get the scope as low as possible. The Marlin stock, primarily dimensioned for iron sight use, really gives marginal cheek support. Since the low power Weaver scope is straight tube with no objective bell to worry about, I could get the scope a bit lower if I had a better base. With the present setup I have a little over 1/4 inch clearance between the tube and the folded down rear iron sight and a little more than that between the eyepiece bell and the hammer extension. The longer Weaver 63A base which gains about 1/8 inch lower apparently is no longer in production and I don't have a spare one.

Does anyone know a better base alternative for my situation than the 63B? I see that Millet makes a one piece Weaver base. Anyone know if this unit would mount the scope lower than the Weaver 63B?.

I find that the scopeless receiver with the 63B base, due to the base height and projecting v-block wings, doesn't give comfortable carry with the hand wrapped around the receiver . Since most use of this rifle is for camping, hiking, and casual shooting with the scope off the rifle, this is inportant to me. If I could get a base with the v-block attachment as low above the receiver as possible, just permitting the ring claws to grip, hand side carry would be much more comfortable.

Sorry to be so long here. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Get the Weaver 63 "grand slam" two piece base..it's all steel and the lowest base you can buy for the rifle. They are pricey at $20 a set but can be found at midwayusa.com
Thats what I have on all my Marlin levers for the smae reason.
Welcome to the board.

I would go with the Warne 2 piece, weaver style bases with the Burris super low steel rings. Should get you lower than anything out there. Here are the links to both.

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=281679

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=461187

The Weaver Grand Slam will be at least 1/8" taller with rings mounted.

Hope this helps.

Arborman...Gismo...thank you both for taking the time to read and reply to my post. Just the kind of info I was hoping to get.

I shop a lot at Midway and have their large catalog and get the monthly sale sheets. I noticed that there were two piece bases in the catalog but missed considering them as I was thinking of a one piece rail like I used on another Marlin in .35 Rem. cal., about 10 years ago (still have it and use it). A weaver 63A rail came with a used scope I put on that gun and it got the scope about 1/8 inch lower that the 63B that I now have on the more recent .30-30 that I am fitting out. It's higher than I would like but lower than the 63B.

Just finished dinner after work and looked up both brands of bases in the Midway catalog. The Warne costs twice as much but looks lower in the picture. Cost isn't the consideration here though...height is. It will take me a few days to get an order together as I don't have much free time till weekend and I want to try to remember a few other things I need (want) to add to the order.

I have to be careful not to get the scope too low. I really want to keep the factory back sight operational, though I can fold it down, as I expect to use it most of the time for hiking and fun shooting. The carbine is just too handy, light, and fun to play with without the scope. For serious hunting during big game season I will probably use the scope.

I think I will order only the bases first and try them with the Weaver low rings that I already have. I really like the Weaver strap type rings with the thumbscrew and have used that type on many guns for about 40 years now. They can be a bit of a pain to get the reticle lined up with but I only need to do that once. They are fairly light and for me have always returned the scope to zero very well when reattached. I can remove and replace the scope in the field without tools. If the scope is still too high I will consider replacing the rings for the Burris.

Thank you both again for pointing me in the right direction.