A Tang Sight Better

By AmSJ Staff 2016 Gear 0 Comments

[su_heading size=”30″]Lyman has reintroduced their popular #2 for the Uberti 1873 and other lever-actions.[/su_heading]

STORY AND PHOTOS BY MIKE NESBITT

[su_dropcap style=”flat” size=”5″]T[/su_dropcap]he current sustained popularity of the guns of the Old West convinced Lyman to reintroduce some of the ﬁne accessories they used to manufacture in the 1800s. That’s a general statement, but it also leads us right into this short conversation about their #2 Tang Sight, which is made especially for the 1873 lever action as manufactured by Uberti.

*After installing Lyman’s #2 Tang Sight on his Uberti 1873, the author shot a nice five-shot group.*

Lyman patented their #1 Tang Sight in 1879. The #2 followed either very shortly after if not at the same time. The only difference between those two types of sights is that the #1 had the combination apertures, with the fold-down small aperture, and the #2 came with removable discs, a feature that came to be favored by target shooters.

Putting one of these sights on an Uberti copy of the 1873 Winchester will usually require drilling and tapping for the forward sight hole, and Lyman includes directions on how to do that, including tapping the hole for 10-32 threads. I needed that to be done on my Stoeger/Uberti riﬂe, but that was the only modiﬁcation I had to make before the sight was installed. Then it was lined up with the open sight before the open sight was removed.

Let me give one tiny warning: be sure the very small Allen screw on the lower part of the upright is good and tight. That’s what holds the sight stem in place.

Shooting with the new tang sight was a blast! I used loads with 200-grain cast bullets over 33 grains of Olde Eynsford 2F black powder. My ﬁrst group was a bit high, so the sight was lowered. The next group is what you see pictured, ﬁve shots in a very tight group. I was aiming at 6 o’clock so the sights were left as is, to hit with a dead-on hold.

Lyman’s list price for one of its #2 Tang Sights is $99.95 and they are available directly from Lyman or most sporting goods stores. The sights are also made for the 1866, 1886, 1894 models, and the Marlins.

For more on the entire Lyman line, visit lymanproducts.com. ASJ