XS Sights Lever Rail For Marlin Lever-Action Rifles: Review

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I’ve been building custom lever-action carbines for quite some time. I refer to these as super-carbines, because I shorten the barrel to minimum legal length and shorten the length of pull to reduce weight and significantly improve handiness and functionality for shooters with normal stature. When applied to lever-­action rifles, the standard industry length of pull is entirely too long for most people most of the time. I’ve installed various sights on these guns per customer request. However, the most durable, useful, and overall handy system is the XS Sights’ Lever Rail. XS Sights offers a broad range of iron sights, with applications for guns of all types. Of interest here is their Lever Rail system that fits Marlin centerfire rifles. With the Lever Rail in place, I like using a scout scope in QD rings and a selection of screw-in apertures. For a selection of iron-sight apertures, I prefer the Brownells Twilight set. These apertures are durable, compact, and provide a clean sight picture, even with limited light.

For optics, I prefer using the Leupold intermediate-eye-relief (IER) VX-2 1.5-4x28mm Scout scope and the lightest QD rings I can get, which I often skeletonize to minimize weight. Those who want the absolute minimum in total package weight should consider the Leupold fixed-power FX-II Scout IER 2.5x28mm scope. It is several ounces lighter than Leupold’s variable-power model and is slightly more compact. Either model is entirely adequate for the intended application — the variable is just a bit more versatile. Those who have never used an IER scope simply cannot understand just how fast this sighting system is. With such a scope, it is easier to acquire the sight picture and center the reticle than with any iron sight, any conventional scope, or any electronic sight. If you don’t believe me, give one a try. Shoulder the gun with both eyes open and there is the scope with a full field of view without any fiddling for eye position. When the gun reaches your shoulder, the target will also be centered in the scope with almost no practice. The late Col. Jeff Cooper loved this scope design for all these reasons.

Supplements 

I supplemented this handy system by installing receptacles in the buttstock for three apertures and an alternative aperture post. These allow built-in storage of the Brownells Twilight Aperture set (large, medium, and small) and a second aperture post. One post is threaded to accept screw-in apertures, the other is significantly larger to give a big, handy ghost-ring sight picture for close-range hunting and quick sighting. It’s especially handy in low-light situations. The XS system allows the shooter to change aperture posts without losing the zero — it takes some thinking, but it can be done quite easily. Setup in this manner, the shooter has the best of all worlds. If they do not want to use the scout scope, they can quickly and easily remove it. If a shooter wants to do fine sighting with the iron sights, as when establishing a zero, they can install whichever aperture gives them the best sight picture for their eyes and for the shooting conditions that prevail. With quality QD rings, it is easy to remove and replace the scope without altering the zero enough to matter for most hunting or defensive situations.

The XS white-line front post is my favorite front sight for a hunting rifle. It provides quick sight acquisition and is always visible, regardless of lighting conditions. If there is enough light for shooting, this sight is visible. The Lever Rail attaches to the barreled action using the dovetail slot for the original rear sight, the two front scope-base screws, and the front of the two rear scope-base screws. This gives ample attachment strength and rigidity to ensure dependable and durable scope installation, and it looks good to boot! Because of gun-to-gun profile variations at the front end of the receiver, I have had to do a small amount of whittling to the underside of the rail at that location. This is easily accomplished with a sanding drum on a Dremel tool to remove material, followed with an application of Birchwood Casey’s Aluminum Black to refinish the altered surface. Depending on the type of front sight attachment Marlin used, the front sight is either a post on a screw-on ramp or a post that fits into the dovetail. On my custom rifles, I prefer to use a dovetail post sight. This gives a cleaner sight picture, which, on a field rifle, is more important than fancy looks.

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