Henry Rifle Forums

Henry member could you please point in right direction on what to do about my sights on my rifle I have a 45-70 case hardened beauty but the buck horn sights are not old eye friendly anymore I would appreciate your expertise in pointing out the best decision in what sights to go with or is it a scope I need would definitely love to see deer clearly in sights thank you for all input Youngguns

Check out the Skinner Sights link at the top of the banner. I still use open sights but many members here really like the Skinner peeps.

I am 66 years old - I went with the Skinner barrel mount rear peep sight on my .45-70. I am very happy with it. My preference would have been the Skinner receiver mounted rear peep sight but they are twice as much as the barrel mount. I was able to put Skinner barrel mount rear sights on two rifles for the price of one receiver sight. Might not have been the best choice but I am satisfied.

If you can, post pictures of your new Henry!

for me, a good scope is the answer .... with a scope I can see clearly at any and all ranges I will hunt and target shoot with our 45-70 .... the picture below tends to reinforce that for me it is the right choice .... that said, one should most certainly go with whatever style sights best meet a person's wants/needs

I am with you brother in the same boat. I wear reading glasses. Without them I hold a newspaper at arms length. Is the Skinner peep sight worth trying or should I quit dreaming and just mount a scope or maybe a good red dot? If I scope it a Leupold VX-R 1.25-4 is looking good. Aimpoint H2 red dot is nice to but very expensive. My first choice is the Skinner sight but I have never used one before.
My excuse for getting a 45-70 was that I missed the buck of a lifetime last season. My lil .243 bullet must have deflected off a branch. Now I can shoot thru trees. I don't want to miss another because I have C.S.S. (cant see $#!+)

bmur66 wrote:I wear reading glasses. Without them I hold a newspaper at arms length. Is the Skinner peep sight worth trying?

I use reading glasses, too. But to use the Skinner sight, one peers through the aperture to focus on the front sight, which is far enough away for me to clearly see it. I recommend it as an alternative to the semi-buckhorn.

We have a Skinner "Reliable" rear peep and a #20 Lyman Globe front on our Henry CCH 45/70 and it works well for my old eyes. I have to wear 3.0 mag readers to read the paper, but when I shoot, I put on a pair of 1.5 mag safety glasses (got them at Lowes for $10) that lets me clearly see the front sight and the target. The rear peep is fuzzy but it doesn't matter because you still naturally center the front sight in the peep. We also have some Lee Shaver inserts in the Lyman to provide a "cross-hair" like sight picture. To me this setup is almost as good as using a low power scope. Works like a champ and still maintains that old time lever-gun look on the Henry...

Great question! One that so many of us face.

One thing I can tell you is that, in the end, you're really going to have to try a peep or a scope to see what works best for you. No way around it.

The problem is that our eyes and our shooting needs/situations are different. Nevertheless, if target visibility is the issue, whether because of distance or because of poor lighting, a scope is always the best option in terms of performance. The downside of a scope is that it may or may not be the best match in terms of aesthetics or gun balance and handling, but that's your call to make. Doesn't have to be a big, high power scope, either. Even 2x or 3x on a scope gets you better visibility, regardless of conditions, than a peep sight. Don't get me wrong - I still love and shoot peep sights and even open sights - but these eyes are getting so old that there are now days when the only way I can shoot at my best is with a scope.

Here's a nice compact 1-4x vintage Leupold on one of my Marlins. Doesn't weight the gun down or change the balance at all. At 1x or 2x, faster to get on target than any iron sights.


There's a third option to consider and that's a good red dot. Gives you better sight visibility than iron sights, especially in low light conditions and nothing faster to get on target. Here's a little Bushnell TRS-25 on a Marlin 39A.

Thanks for laying that out there so well NCG. You helped me make a decision. I am going to purchase an aimpoint.

Good for you and you're welcome. That's a great red dot. Good choice.

You can do both. For the 45/70 Skinner has a new receiver sight that is both a Skinner peep and a scope mount in one package. Seems like a great option to me.
http://www.skinnersights.com/henry_rifles_18.html

Like Tractor Tad I have a Skinner rear and a Lyman 20a globe on the front. I went with the Skinner XA for Marlin rifles. It's a little taller and holds a spare aperture on the mount. Most any of the Marlin 336 sights will also fit the Henry 45/70.

Pics of my 45/70 sights here.
http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 4&start=10

Great advice from all as always. For me, @25 to 50 yds, I use the original buckhorn with the HiViz and wear 1.00 reading glasses, they also come with a magnetic clip on sun glass lense that is cool.

Anyway, I would have thought magnification of 1.00 to be unity, but there is a slight amount of correction; very slight. It's not enough to blur the target at those ranges, but brings the buckhorn into focus nicely. More than that I have a cheap 4X32 just for the H001 that I'll clip on, but actually doesn't help that much @25yds.

bmur66 wrote:Thanks for laying that out there so well NCG. You helped me make a decision. I am going to purchase an aimpoint.

I have the Primary Arms micro red dot. I've been really pleased with it, and it's a fraction of the price.

GaHenryFan wrote:

bmur66 wrote:Thanks for laying that out there so well NCG. You helped me make a decision. I am going to purchase an aimpoint.

I have the Primary Arms micro red dot. I've been really pleased with it, and it's a fraction of the price.
SAM_7114-01-01.jpeg

Nice. Where did you find that full length rail?

Nice. Where did you find that full length rail?

It's a custom fabrication. The details are at the end of this post.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3113

GaHenryFan wrote:

Nice. Where did you find that full length rail?

It's a custom fabrication. The details are at the end of this post.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=3113

I see. I like that.

Nice to see folks using red dots on lever guns, even if it isn't "traditional". I also use them on other types of rifles and, of course, handguns of every type. Red dots on rifles do have advantages, even for folks with good eyesight. Red dots work especially well on lever guns, though.

1. Unlike scopes, red dots are small enough and light enough as to not change that all important handling and balance we get with our lever guns.

2. Red dots are the fastest sight to get on target and that also fits right in with the fast handling, quick to get on target nature of lever guns. Don't have to worry about eye placement, either, as with a scope. As soon as you can see the dot, you're ready to shoot.

3. In my testing in our dark woods, red dots came in first for sight visibility. Since so many folks use lever guns for hunting in the woods, this is a big plus.

4. Lastly, red dots are just plain fun to use. Super choice for plinking, shooting steel and so on.

Disclaimer: I don't work for any company that sells reddest.

There's a third option to consider and that's a good red dot. Gives you better sight visibility than iron sights, especially in low light conditions and nothing faster to get on target. Here's a little Bushnell TRS-25 on a Marlin 39A.
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Hi, North Country Gal,
I have a Bushnell Trs-25 on my Browning Buckmark and I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread until I discovered the Primary Arms red dot. The dot is smaller and crisper, and it has a lower low for those really low light situations.

Good points on red dots.

Brightness settings are very important, not only for the sake of visibility, but also for accuracy and dot sharpness. Use the minimum brightness that gives you enough visibility for shooting. Having too bright a dot is a beginner's mistake. Gets you a fuzzy dot.

Dot size is another thing to consider. Dot sizes are listed in MOA (minute of angle). A 5 MOA dot, then covers a 5" circle at 100 yards. For serious target work, competitors like to go down as small as 2 MOA. For hunting and general purpose shooting, I like a 3 or 4 MOA dot size. The big 5 MOA dots an larger are used for the action shooting crowd to pick up the dot, fast, but some competitors like to use them for bullseye work, too. A dot that is just large enough to almost cover up the bullseye, just leaving a thin black ring around the dot with that particular size bullseye, can provide great accuracy.

One trick I've learned with 3 and 4 MOA dots for work at long distances, is not to use the center of the dot as the aiming point. Covers up too much of the target at long distances. Instead, I use the top of the red dot, just as you would the top of a front sight. Have shot some great groups at 100 yard with a 4 MOA dot using this technique.

If your eyes are seeing a fuzzy dot on a quality red dot model, you'll sometimes get a sharper dot by using two eyes, instead of one. Have found that it's easier to use the two eye approach with the dot mounted out on the barrel, scout style, as in GaHenry's Henry setup, above.

I put a scope on my model 95 but I put a Skinner brass peep on my Henry 45C. I needed some help with my eyes also and would not put a scope on my Henry brass receiver with octy barrel. The brass Skinner looks great and gives these old eyes great shooting. A real good combo and a pleasure to shoot.