It was 1892 when Webster Marble began manufacturing his Universal Rifle Sight, in the original Marble Arms & Mfg. Co.’s Gladstone, Mich., factory. Made on turn-of-the-century, belt-driven equipment by skilled craftsmen, the unit was a beautiful tang-mounted affair that increased sight radius and provided the shooter with an aperture nearer to the eye that allowed quick and intuitive centering of the front sight.
According to the company’s official history: “By 1905, Marble’s tang sight was available in 37 sizes to fit Winchester, Marlin, Savage, Stevens, Remington, Colt, Hopkins and Allen, and Ballard rifles. Marble quickly added more sights to his line: a Standard post and bead along with the patent Triple Bead in 1904, Marble’s Reversible in 1906, the Simplex (a lower priced tang sight for .22s), an array of Sheard’s Gold sights in 1907, the Duplex with flip-up bead in 1913, the Vickers Maxim globe sight in 1916, and elegantly fashioned ivory and Pope’s Island Gold shotgun sights.” In the years that followed, Marble would also become famous for a variety of other items, including its Game Getter firearm and the Safety Axe.
The company is still in business today, manufacturing firearm sights under the Marble name in Gladstone, and it even still makes beautifully finished tang sights, like the one shown here, for all manner of antique and modern reproduction rifles. It also supplies a wide array of modern sights as original equipment for numerous well-known pistol and rifle makers. To read the complete company history, and to explore the full portfolio of Marble products, visit marblearms.com.
