I'm a traditionalist, I have scopes on my bolt actions and semi-autos but my marlin 336 is open sights because that's the way it was meant to be.

I have a very old Winchester .30-30 model 94 badged as a Sears Rifle. It came from Sears with a Three Power side mount easily detachable scope. The gun is very trim and beautiful without the scope. The problem is that I cannot hit the broad side of a barn with the very plain sight provided. With the three power ancient scope I can hit a nine inch steel plate at 150 yards off hand pretty consistently. I have shot one deer in the Angeles Forest (near Chilao Flat) with this rifle. I shot it at about 60 yards. I no longer use it, because the .243 caliber rifle I inherited with a four power scope is just so vastly superior, I would be a fool to do otherwise. A .243, is so flat shooting, you don't worry about holding over. You just put the sights where you want to hit. And a .243 knocks the small Los Angeles County deer down like a sledge hammer.

I like the way a Model 94 looks without the scope. But I think I owe the deer a clean, quick death, and so I would not consider hunting deer without the three power scope on it. But that is me. I have terrible eyesight.

I think you need the scope to see if the deer has antlers or not. Also, with regular sights, you have to line up the deer, the front sight, and the back sight. And I have lousy vision. With a scope, you just line up one thing. Really, a scope is so vastly superior, I would never consider hunting without one. Shoot at a target at 100 yards with a scope, and without a scope. If you wear glasses, you will see there is absolutely no comparison. The scope wins hands down.

Sad to say, mine does. It's inhereted, my father put the scope on it a half century ago, and I'd never forgive myself if I so much as lost one of the mounting screws, so there it stays. And I don't even use the darned thing, since it's a side-mount that sits high, allowing me to use the Lyman peep. Peeps aren't "original equipment" in the cowboy style, either, so that would fail your "authenticity" test, but they simply work, and if you have one on there, you can keep the clean lines and save yourself a pound or so in weight. As a matter of fact, I decry the modern tendency to naked barrels on rifles, and wish somebody would offer a pop-up peep on a standard production bolt gun.

Due to my eyesight(not quite blind as a bat), yes, I have a scope mounted on my Marlin 336C 30-30

For some reason (?) who knows why, on some days I can see better than others. So I do have a see-thru mount, that way I can use the iron sights on those days it's possible for me to do so.

I agree with you on that. I have a Winchester 94 AE in 307 Win. I put a peep sight on it instead of a scope because I don't like the look of a scope on a Cowboy gun.

I have another lever action, which is a Marlin 57 M in 22WMR. It has a one-piece stock and does not have the Cowboy gun look. I do have a scope on it. It is one of the more accurate rifles I own, shooting 1/2" groups at 100 yards.