Anyone have any suggestions on peep sights for a Marlin 44 lever action? Specifically, I'm looking at Marbles, Williams, Lyman, or Ashley - would like something easy to install. I would also like to upgrade the front sight with something easier to see.
Good old Doc Skinner can setup marlins about the best anymore. It has not got the old school factor of the marbles, lyman or williams but i believe the quality is every bit as good if not better.
They also produce stainless blue and gold or my favorite the Blackgold sight that accents the gold trigger on the older marlins. they even have a tatical one now bleive it or not.
Also if they don;t have exactly what you want they custom make them/. they also make custom front sight heights and have many arpature sizes available.
I just use the black gold on a marlin 39a mountie and the LOW PRO on my 1894 limited.
While not on your list, I have the XS Sights Ghost Ring on my Marlin 44 and like them. Now the choice of barrel twist for stabilizing > 250 gr bullets, I don't like as well. But that is Marlin being stupid and nothing against the sights.
Don't have any personal experience with the Skinners, but I've used three different types of Williams receiver sights (Foolproof, 5D and Guide) and the old Lyman 66 on my various Marlin, Winchester and Rossi lever guns, Ruger 10/22s and Mini 30. No matter which style, they all have made a distinct improvement in how well I can shoot with the rifle.
As my eyes got older and front sight definition started to become 'fuzzy', replacing the stock front sight with a Williams or Marble's FO bead worked wonders for me. I even found a drop-in set of FO open irons for my dad's old Marlin M60 that made it possible for me to get the hits with it just as I could when I was a boy.
IMHO, FO front sights are about the most usefull and cost-effective improvement we old farts (and not a few of you young whippersnappers) can add to a 'working' firearm.
I installed a Williams Fool Proof rear peep and a fiber optic front sight on a Marlin 1894CL (32-20), with good results. Setting the height of the front sight to provide adequate clearance between the hammer and the rear sight took a bit of figuring. If you end up with a sight that has removable apertures, take a look at the Merit adjustable iris, it allows you to set the iris for the current lighting conditions: