I inherited my pops Marlin 1895 lever gun in 45/70. I'm wanting to mount an optic on it and am curious what most guys use for mounting options. Seem to be several available.

Also wondering year of mfg. Just starting to research, but I see that it has the JM stamping on the left rear of the barrel.  It does have a cross bolt safety and the first three of the serial is 000. Just curious to find out what I can about it. Thanks.

I recommend the DNZ Game Reaper mount or the Williams Ace In The Hole rail.

http://www.xssights.com/Products.aspx?CAT=8290
Going to use one on dads guide gun.





Shame they do not make one for octagon barrels.

 

I had my 'smith get a pic rail from brownells, cut it to cantilever about 3/4" forward of the receiver.  Opened up the stock scope mount holes to 10-32, and drilled the pic rail to match.  Bombproof rail mount.  The stock scope mount threads are really to small

JM stamping means it was built by Marlin prior to the takeover by Freedom Group.  It should have higher quality fit/finish than some of the marlingtons escaping the factory the last few years.

Thank you sir.  good to know.

Thanks all and any more info welcomed.

I have an AO sight systems rail. I think they are xs now. Its been on my rifle for years with no problems.

I bought several bases from EGW for my 336s.  They work great.

Can't recommend anything by way of scopes as I use mostly Williams peep-sights on my levers. You can also get different apertures for it. P refer a very small one. The ones for the 45/70 will pop right on as I have one on mine. You may want to take a peek at them or a different manufactures or style like a tang before scoping.

You should be using a fairly low-power scope, ideally a good quality straight-tube or small objective bell design, so you can get it snuggled down as low as possible. Leverguns with big, heavy scopes lose a lot of the handiness that makes them a delight.

You have two basic options for scope mounting: scout mount (forward of the receiver), or usual top of the receiver.
For scout mounting, the XS system is all you need. Get a proper scout scope instead of trying to make a pistol scope work.

For the usual top of receiver mount, you have two choices: with iron sights or not.
If you do not want any iron sights, then anything from the classic Weaver base to the DNZ Reaper mount (base and rings in one) will work just fine.

If you want iron sights, and are OK with the standard barrel-mounted open sight, the above "Weaver to DNZ" advice holds.
If you want iron sights and want to have a receiver sight (aka aperture sight, peep sight), the best option is the Williams Ace-in-the-Hole. The XS rail will also work just fine, but it has extra length out front you aren't going to use.

IMO, the ideal setup for a scoped 1895 (regardless of barrel length) would be the Williams Ace-in-the-Hole mount with an XS white stripe front sight, and a Leupold 1-4x in Weaver extra-low rings.

This is what I feel is perfect for the 45-70, other than having a small folding peep behind the scope.

2x leo. mounted low on a pic rail with quality quick release rings. I had that rail made long enough to get proper eye relief . When the snow starts flying I pull the scope and run factory irons.

This are solid