It's a long story, but bear with me:  I have heard and read the many reports that the 30-40 cartridge is highly accurate.  Unfortunately, my model 1898 has a rough bore, plus my eyes have reached the age where I really cannot focus on the tiny slot in the rear sight and the narrow blade of the front sight.  When I shoot my 1898, I feel good just getting all the shots on the paper at 100 yards.  So I set out to explore other options for the 30-40 cartridge, and I ended up a few months ago buying a modern Browning made-in-Japan copy of a Winchester model 1895 lever action in cal. 30-40.  It is a very nice rifle with a very smooth action, but because it has top ejection, a standard scope mount cannot be installed.  When I shoot it with the buckhorn sight that is standard on the Brown/Win model 1895, I still cannot shoot very well due to my limited eye focus.  I asked a gunsmith about installing a pistol scope on the barrel forward of the ejection port. He would have to custom build a mount, and he said it would cost $400 to do that and install it, not including the cost of a scope.  Darn, I wanted to shoot this rifle to its, and my, full potential; but I feel like I am wasting its potential with the buckhorn site.  Even installing a peep sight on the side of the receiver would require custom work and would be expensive.  Any thoughts out there about how to proceed?  I am asking the question in this forum, because very few other shooters appreciate the 30-40 cartridge.

At least some of the original 1895 Winchesters were drilled & tapped for a Lyman receiver sight made just for that rifle.  I have seen replicas of that sight cataloged, by Buffalo Arms, IIRC. 

If you search past discussions on this forum, I think you can find a discussion about a modern mount for long-eye-relief scopes suitable for use with Krag rifles.  Modifying that mount to fasten on a bar or block held to the dovetail for your rear sight ought to be much less than $400.

Finally, I shoot a Uberti "High Wall" single shot in 30-40, with a windage & elevation adjustable tang sight and a Lyman 17A front sight.  If the tangs on your rifle are long enough, and if you have room behind the bolt when the action is open, a tang sight may be helpful.

cjwils:  I have 20/20 distant vision but require 2x readers for close vision.  I have resorted to using impact resistant 1x and 1&1/2x readers as shooting glasses.  These allow me to see iron pistol and open rifle sights in sharp focus.  Pistol Bullseyes and Rifle Bullseyes may appear fuzzy and out-of-focus but the sights are clear.  Alignment of the front and rear sight is much more important than slight mistakes in aiming at a fuzzy bullseye.  Experiment and give this a try.

I suggest giving the Krag a try again.  I have had some pretty rough-looking bores shoot very well.  Look in the Classified section of the forum, in the sticky ads at the top.  Kraghaus makes excellent sight rails that fit the rear sight screw holes.  You could get one of them and put a long eye relief scope on it.  Just another thought to try.

Best regards,
Tom

If I might be so bold as to add... if you have a 1902 rear sight, it will have a flip-up peep on the rear of the sight.  Try using the peep.  It may make it easier to focus the sights by forcing the point of focus.  Otherwise, I agree with using a long eye relief pistol scope mounted at the rear sight location.  Let us know how things turn out!

Paul

Butlersrangers advice about using 1X reading glasses is right on target. It works for me. Look at my recent post "1898 Krag accuracy with IMR 4198" and that 2 inch group was shot with 1X reading glasses, and with the military sights. On bench rest of course. I use open barrel sights to shoot in cowboy silhouette matches with those 1X. It takes practise to get used to seeing a nice sharp front sight and a fuzzy target. But you can learn to aim at the same "fuzz" area. Try it. And my eyes are 85 years old.

Another peep sight option is to install one of the "No Drill" Pacific or Redfield target sights. These were very nice sights. You still find them occasionally on ebay or gunbroker. I paid about $100 for mine 5-6 years ago. The only modification to the rifle is removal of the cutoff. Make sure the sight you purchase comes with the longer side plat screw. If it doesn't you will have a hard time finding such a screw or will have to have one made.

I have had good luck with a Merit brand device that goes on my glasses. It has an adjustable peep hole in it that acts like a peep sight, and really clears up the front sight. It costs about $80.