My New Skinner Big Boy Express Sight

[flat_topp]

I took my new Skinner peep sight to the range for the first time today, mounted on my Henry BBS. Here are the results for 20 rounds at 50 yards, shooting PMC 158gr JSP 357 magnum. First 4 shots were left, so I moved the peep to the right to adjust windage. The elevation was all the way down, so I had no more adjustment vertically. The group is about 2 inches high, using a 6 o'clock hold on the red bullseye. Not sure that I want to go to the trouble of mounting a taller front sight, I may just shoot it as is. What would you folks do?

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[Lyman]

If it were me I'd leave the sights alone and adjust to it accordingly. It all depends on what range you will typically be shooting at though. If you are going to be at 50 yards at a range all the time then I might make some changes. Nice shooting.

[tractortad]

If it were mine I'd change out the front sight.

[Leonardo]

I prefer to get lever action rifles sighted in at 50y with the adjustment in the center of the range.....if possible

[Mistered]

Change the front sight. Pretty much a necessity when switching to a receiver sight since they sit higher.

[North Country Gal]

Two inches high at 50 will give you a zero out around 125 yards or so with that one load, if that works for your shooting. I'm with Leonardo, though, I'm much more comfortable with a rear sight setup with some adjustment remaining, both high and low, all the more so if you plan to be switching loads a lot.

[RanchRoper]

Nice shooting. I think I'd just adjust but I'm not one for changing things around either.

[ESquared]

Changing front sights is so easy with Henrys and relatively inexpensive, so that's what I'd do.

I'd recommend the Lyman globe front sight, probably in .494" Height, but TractorTad would know for sure! He's been my Skinner/Lyman Obi-Wan.

[flat_topp]

Thanks everybody for your input. The consensus seems to be install a taller front sight. So, for a 22 inch sight radius, 2 inches high at 50 yards, the Skinner website says I need a taller front sight by …

2"x22"/(50x3x12)= 0.024 inch.

That sure seems like a small number to me. Less than 1/32 inch !?
Can somebody check my math on this calculation?

Assuming my calc is correct, now I just need to remove and measure the height of my factory front sight to figure the necessary height of the new sight.

[Mistered]

That sure seems like a small number to me. Less than 1/32 inch !?

Yes it does. I did NOT check your calculations but I did measure my original Henry sight (which is now on one of my Winchesters) but when I installed the Williams sight on my BBB .357 I put a blade sight I had on it to replace the original and it measures right at 1/8" taller that the original front and with my rifle 'dialed in' at 50 yards the rear is right at the halfway point for elevation.
IF your elevation was OK with the original buckhorn you might want to slide it back in the dovetail and measure it at the halfway point for elevation in the V grove of the blade, then measure the Skinner at about the same halfway point for elevation to the center of the aperture.
The difference should be how much taller the front will need to be.
Height measurement for your front sight will be from the top of the barrel to the center of the bead, or to the top if you sight at '6 O'clock'.

[flat_topp]

So today I measured my factory front sight at 0.556 inch high. That means I need a new sight that is a minimum 0.580 inch tall (0.556+0.024). BUT, this calculation only applies to the PMC ammo that I shot last week. It occurred to me today that I should have taken some other brands of ammo to the range with me, to see how much variation there is with the various loads. 0.580 inch may not be tall enough for some of the other 357mag ammo in my collection, including Aguila, Federal A.E., Magtech, S&B, Fiocchi, PPU.

Sounds like a good excuse to head out to the range again soon, to test out these other brands and determine a high/low/average. Then I can decide what new front sight to order.

[flat_topp]

I took my Henry BBS to the range today to try out a variety of commercial .357Magnum ammo. I shot 10 rounds of each at 50 yards. The results varied from 5 inches high to 0 inches high, with my factory front sight:

Federal American Eagle 5" high.
Fiocchi 3.5" high.
Aguila 3" high.
PPU 2.5" high.
PMC 2" high.
Magtech 2" high.
S&B 0" high.

So, according to my calculation, I need a new front sight that is at least 0.617 inches tall, if I want to be able to "zero" my rifle with the Federal ammo.

0.556" + 5x22/(50x3x12) = 0.617"

Or, I suppose I could just stick with the S&B and leave well enough alone ... Nah!

[ESquared]

Assume this was all from a pretty well secured, sled type rest and the rifle itself didn't really move and throw a variable into all of this? If so, seems like a really wide spread, especially the AE @ 5".

[flat_topp]

Assume this was all from a pretty well secured, sled type rest and the rifle itself didn't really move and throw a variable into all of this? If so, seems like a really wide spread, especially the AE @ 5".

No, I have no fancy sled rest. I was shooting off of a bench with a sandbag front rest, and my shoulder (rear) rest. Some rifle movement is ENTIRELY possible!

[ESquared]

Assume this was all from a pretty well secured, sled type rest and the rifle itself didn't really move and throw a variable into all of this? If so, seems like a really wide spread, especially the AE @ 5".

No, I have no fancy sled rest. I was shooting off of a bench with a sandbag front rest, and my shoulder (rear) rest. Some rifle movement is ENTIRELY possible!

Others may chime in with input, so stay tuned for that, but my $.02 is to not get too eager to jump to a taller front sight just yet. You've shown that you can land a shot, with the S&B, so it's a matter of duplicating that. That sight set-up delivered a bulls-eye, so build on it with sight hold, breathing, trigger press, etc.
And, I don't know how tall a front sight you could get from Henry, but it sounds like you may have the tallest one they have already.

[flat_topp]

And, I don't know how tall a front sight you could get from Henry, but it sounds like you may have the tallest one they have already.

Skinner makes a blued steel front sight at 0.650 inch tall that I am considering.

At the risk of revealing my lack of marksmanship skills, I'll post my targets from yesterday. I used some 2"dia white labels that my wife had in her office supply stash for extra bullseyes so that I could use a single 12" splatter target for up to three different groups at 10 rounds each. After shooting the first 5 rounds of Federal A.E. at the white bullseye on the left, I couldn't see the holes in the yellow border with my binoculars, thought I was off the paper, so I moved over to the white bullseye on the right to finish out the Federal set of 10.

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[ESquared]

It's hard to explain what's going on here without witnessing it, but a) you're still getting used to a new rifle; and b) this new rifle really seems to like Sellier & Belliot, so stick with it!

I've had great luck with Fiocchi .357 in my BBS, so it's a head-scratcher.

That S&B grouping at 50 yards is beautiful, so the simple answer is "do that more!"

In other words, I don't think it's a sight problem, but others here may have different thoughts.

Keep working and keep sharing. Eager to see how it plays out.

[flat_topp]

… this new rifle really seems to like Sellier & Belliot, so stick with it! … That S&B grouping at 50 yards is beautiful, so the simple answer is "do that more!"

I hear you! One thing I noticed about the S&B ammo was its low recoil compared to the other 6 brands I tested. I don't have a chronograph, so I can't compare bullet velocities, but I would estimate the recoil using the S&B to be only about 60 to 70 percent of the other stuff. But, I must add that my Henry shoots all of this 357 ammo very comfortably.

[ESquared]

All of it 158 gr?

[ESquared]

All of it 158 gr?

And, what sight picture are you using?