1866 Sporting Rifle

[omjnew66]

Hi folks. I'm thinking of buying an 1866 Sporting Rifle with the 24 1/4" barrel in .45 LC. I looked at a new one recently that has a buckhorn rear sight rather than the more typical ladder sight. Is this unusual? Is it historically correct? Could it be a manufacturing mistake? I know that some prefer the buckhorn sight for cowboy action shooting, but I'm interested in historical accuracy. Thanks.

[smokin_gun]

The buckhorn sight was the typical standard. If you mean a ladder sight as the Sharps has those were for long range. Not typical for a .45LC or .44/40, .45/70 yes indeed. Thats the same type of sight that comes on a Mod.94 Winchester.(Buckhorn)

[Lucky 13 Cowboy]

I just bought an 1866 Uberti Yellow Boy with 24-1/4" barrel just like you are interested in and it came with the ladder sight. Yuk ! I ordered online from dealer on Gunsamerica.com and saw pics of the rifle but didn't pay attn to the rear sight (Tristar was the importer by the way). My 46 yr old eyes have problems with the small v-groove in the straight rear sight. Sure wished I would have gotten the buckhorn one!

Have a Marlin 1894 Cowboy with semi-buckhorn and it works great with my aging eyes. Have looked for a replacement semi-buckhorn sight (Brownells, Midway, etc.) but it appears that modification can't be made. The dovetail in the octagon barrel is only about 1" away from the brass receiver. Been told it can be filled in and a new one cut...yeah, right! That would set me back a pretty penny. If anyone knows of a semi-buckhorn that I could modify this rifle with, please let me know!

Thanks,
Lucky 13 Cowboy

[smokin_gun]

Lucky I'd try Dixie Gun Works first. Measure the dovetail and the height & width of base , and sight height and width. You can get the catologue online for $7 including shipping. And the Fill & cut wouldnt cost that much, it ain't a tough job.
good luck