Another one of my recent auction purchases was this nice old Lyman No 1 tang sight box for 1885 Winchester single shot rifles.  Good news is that both the box and the sight are in nice condition.  The bad news (sort of) is that the sight base is actually marked "J" which means it is for a Marlin 93 in .32-40 or .38-55 (the early black powder marked barrel guns).  The sort of good news is that I actually have a Marlin '93 rifle with 1/2 round and 1/2 octagon barrel in .32-40 that it will fit, so all is not lost.  Still a very nice little sight box to go along with my 1885's though ...

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You can buy the correct sight, but you may not live long enough to find another box!; though it won't be cheap, as it's one of the most sought after #1s.  (These weren't called "No. 1" until Lyman introduced the #2 c.1898, & a #2 is what you actually have.  So your box predates that time.)

Bill Lawrence wrote on Sep 12^th, 2018 at 8:04am:


Not closely enough--I couldn't see the right hand end of the box until I "expanded" the image, which I generally forget to do.  So the box is not from the time (pre-'98) when Lyman offered ONLY the "Pat. Comb." sight, as it was originally called.  (Most of Lyman's early sights were originally called "Patent" this or that, before they were assigned model numbers.)  Not as old, therefore, as I had thought, but still a fine & scarce box. 

The later style Lyman sight with the newer release will also be easier and cheaper to buy than the early release. So getting an 1885 correct sight for the box wont be as tough as one with the earlier checkered release.

And I lucked out on this one.  I bought it through an online auction and I'm the one that brought it to the attention of the auctioneer that the sight letter "J" wasn't for 1885 Winchester, but for an early Marlin '93 instead.  They corrected the listing description and the interest seemed to drop then, because in the end I only paid about $150 Canadian in total for the box including the Marlin sight.  The fact that I have a '93 Marlin chambered in .32-40 and can actually use the sight is just a bonus!

Very nice find!

Not being completely familiar with IDing Lyman tang sights.....did Lyman normally stamp the letter code on the underside of the base between the holes?

I'm asking because I have several older Lyman tang sights with no visible letter codes in that area. I know what they fit, because of what firearms they came to me properly mounted on. I've never felt like going to the trouble of removing the staff to look underneath there on the topside.

I have a minty Lyman #1A, third variation-has the lock on left side of pivot.
Marking on bottom is    "JA"  . What rifle is it for?
I had it on a Marlin 1881 . Perfect fit.
Thanks
beltfed/arnie

The difference in Lyman sights for various Marlin repeaters is often simply the staff height. Those for the old BP calibers in the 1893 have a different staff height than those for the smokeless calibers. JA is for the 1893 in .25-36, .30-30, and .32 HPS (.32 Win. Spl.)
But the Lyman sight for the 1881 was much different and are extremely rare! Even though the 1881 had the typical two holes in the top tang spaced 1.125", the Lyman sight did not use both holes. It used the front hole and the stock attaching screw as the rear hole. So it was similar to sights they built for the Winchester repeaters.
The reason Lyman did this was to keep the breech bolt from hitting the sight as you worked the action. Lyman also offered the "Special Flexible Base" sights that used the factory 1.125" spacing, but relocated the upright to just in front of the stock comb. These solved the same issues of bolt hitting the sight on many Marlin models.