My son got a stainless 1895 guide gun and bought an XS peep sight with rail.  He wants to mount a scout scope silver on it. I have a Leupold 4x EER would that work or would the eye relief be to long. Looks like the maximum length for relief would be 12 inches. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

You need an Intermediate eye relief scope.

Start looking here:  http://www.marlinowners.com/forum/45-70-govt/78518-new-leupold-2-5x28-ier-scout-qrw-rings-1895-sbl-very-happy.html

http://www.leupold.com/hunting-shooting/scopes/fixed-power-riflescopes/fx-ii-scout-ier-2-5x28mm/

Throw the 4x on and see if it works well enough for a trip to the range. I have the leupold 2.5 on mine and it took some getting used to as opposed to a traditional scope setup. Also, it affects the nice balance of the levergun. He might not even like the setup. Honestly, if I didn't mostly shoot off the bench just trying to get my best groups reloading all the time, I would have just stayed with the peep. That scope adds weight too!

Thanks for the replies. I just tried it. It is about 3 inches to close but I have high rings on it. I think I will order somelow rings to get a more solid cheek weld. It does look like the ier scopes would be a better choice. I am like you I would just use the peep sight. Thanks

Definitely IER scope is what you want.

I have a rifle with a nice Williams peep receiver sight and Lyman globe front sight with target inserts.  I wanted to keep that setup, but wanted to QD mount a 2-7 illuminated scout scope, primarily for low light hunting.  It works well, but with one very important caveat:  By nature of their inherent design, intermediate or long eye relief scopes (and pistol scopes) will have a very narrow and restricted field of view compared to normal 3 to 4 inch eye relief scopes.  Because my rifle uses the scout scope only as a secondary optic for a limited role, I can liv with it.

Because you have such a scope already, you know this.  Make sure your son is going to be happy with the setup, espicially if the scope is intended to be his primary sight.  It will need QD return to zero capability, unless the peep is for emergency backup only.