Skinner Peep Recommendation

[jgault]

Hi Folks!

Just got my first Henry at age 70! Bought a brass octagon Big Boy in .44 mag. Wish I had discovered them years ago!

Several shots into my first shooting session, I quickly realized that the stock buckhorn rear sight sits in that "in between" area where my old eyes have trouble seeing and focusing, so lining up the rear sight with the front was hit and miss. The front sight also didn't stand out real well in terms of visibility. Didn't do too bad, as most POI's were within 2" of center at 25 yards, but scattered hi and low, left and right.

Read everything in this forum section, and looked at the Skinner sight, and it appears as though the Skinner Express receiver mounted sights might bring the rear site close enough for me to line them up. Would this be the recommended "fix" by those of you who have much more experience with this beautiful rifle than I have? I have scopes on my other guns, but don't want to commit a sin against this gem by parking a scope on it. I don't expect to be aiming at anything beyond 100 yards or so at most.

I'm determined to master it in spite of my age, and any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

John Gault

[PT7]

Good Day, John,

I don't think I said hello when you first joined the Forum, so Welcome from the Show-Me-State!

I don't have a .44 mag, but have had two .357 Magnums, and one .22 Magnum Henrys. On each of these I replaced the buckhorn with a barrel-mounted Skinner peep and it was a great improvement for my 68-year-old eyes. My current Henry is the Small Game Carbine (.22LR) with a stock Skinner peep mounted on the receiver. For my elder eyes, this is the very best yet, and lets me keep my iron sights. I shoot very well with this setup, and also the front bead sight works well in tandem with the peep.

So I'm good with your going with a Skinner sight. Plus Andy at Skinner will provide both a quality product and excellent CS.
Have a great day!

P.S. And best as you master that Henry....enjoy!

[CT_Shooter]

I only shoot at shorter distances, as well; in my case, indoors at 25 yards. I've got a Skinner Express Peep Sight on my H006M Big Boy and I love it. I agree with PT7's comment that this iron sight solution is "the very best yet" for elder eyes like ours. You won't be disappointed with its performance, and it will also maintain the classic beauty of your Henry.

[tractortad]

Hey John -

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the brass Big Boy 44 - great rifle. I have brass Big Boys in 357 and 44(carbine). I also have the same problems with the buckhorn sights that you have due to old eyes. I put Skinner "Big Boy Express" rear peep sights on both of my rifles. The skinner sights are a huge improvement over the stock sights and really help us "old eye guys" to shoot these rifles without a scope. The other thing that helped was swapping out the front brass bead sight with a Lyman #17A front globe sight. I think this combo is the best iron sight set-up possible for a Henry and really makes them more enjoyable to shoot for us old guys...

[Whaler]

I put the Skinner Express peep sight on my .357 Big Boy carbine and love it.

[jgault]

Thanks for the quick response and sharing your expertise with me folks! Looks like a Skinner is going on my Christmas list!

I'm beginning to think that primarily "us older guys" are the ones who really appreciate the beauty and connection to the past these rifles provide with the availability of "The Black Gun" semi-autos these days. Yeah, I have my share of them, but there's something satisfying about holding a Henry in my hands and make believing I'm in early America again!

Thanks!

John

[PT7]

If a Skinner peep does show up under your tree, I think you will be pleased with how it performs on your Henry.

Just for you to look over. As I mentioned, my SGC has a stock Skinner peep. But I wanted a little added touch to my rifle, and special-ordered a bronze replacement, which they made for me. Here are a few pictures of my rifle I took in late summer: http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=1048

[jgault]

Nice PT7! The bronze looks like it's "aged", like the rifle! Gives it a rich but not flashy look!

[Capt steve]

I have the bb .357 rifle and I have had a problem seeing the buckhorn sight{72 yrs old and hard to see} so I added the Skinner Express receiver sight and WOW what a difference! Easy to pick up and seeing the front site{I added the .570 hi viz front sight they suggest, ) is easy. Great for plinking. Shooting empty shotgun shells at 25 yds and actually hitting them. What a blast! I only wish that I had purchased my Henry a long time ago. It is the most fun rifle I own and I have a hi point 9mm and 45 acp carbine. Shooting 158 gr berry bullets and great groups off a bench as well. Get the Skinner. You will not be unhappy with the choice.

[Steve51]

I would also give a big thumbs up for the Skinner rear sights. Although I think I would prefer the receiver mounted sight, I only have the barrel mounted Skinner rear sights. I do not normally shoot long distances (old eyes) and I could purchase two barrel mounted sights for the price of 1 receiver mounted sight. I have several Henry rifles and all but one now have Skinner barrel mounted sights. My .22LR Classic has a scope - so my grandkids can out shoot me.
I had a scope mounted on my BB44 and it was very accurate but I just didn't like the looks of it - so I went back to iron sights.

One note of caution. I had to replace the front sight on some of my Henry rifles (shorter or taller) after I installed the Skinner sight. I replaced the front sights wth Marbles front sights with a smaller gold bead (1/16") because the standard Henry front sight would sometimes cover up the target.

[Smoke4320]

Hey John -

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the brass Big Boy 44 - great rifle. I have brass Big Boys in 357 and 44(carbine). I also have the same problems with the buckhorn sights that you have due to old eyes. I put Skinner "Big Boy Express" rear peep sights on both of my rifles. The skinner sights are a huge improvement over the stock sights and really help us "old eye guys" to shoot these rifles without a scope. The other thing that helped was swapping out the front brass bead sight with a Lyman #17A front globe sight. I think this combo is the best iron sight set-up possible for a Henry and really makes them more enjoyable to shoot for us old guys...

do you know which height front you went with lie .404 .584 ect .. and what is your zero distance with that sight ?

thanks

[tractortad]

Hey John -

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the brass Big Boy 44 - great rifle. I have brass Big Boys in 357 and 44(carbine). I also have the same problems with the buckhorn sights that you have due to old eyes. I put Skinner "Big Boy Express" rear peep sights on both of my rifles. The skinner sights are a huge improvement over the stock sights and really help us "old eye guys" to shoot these rifles without a scope. The other thing that helped was swapping out the front brass bead sight with a Lyman #17A front globe sight. I think this combo is the best iron sight set-up possible for a Henry and really makes them more enjoyable to shoot for us old guys...

do you know which height front you went with lie .404 .584 ect .. and what is your zero distance with that sight ?

thanks

I used .494" AML 17A Lyman Globes on both my 357 and 44 brass Big Boys. They were about $38 apiece from Midway. Both rifles were sighted in at 25 yds using factory magnum loads - 240g Federal JHP for the 44 and 158g Federal JSP for the 357. Additionally, I also installed Lee Shaver inserts in the Lyman Globes - they are much finer than the inserts that came with the Lymans and improved the sight picture (for me anyway). Hope this helps - you also may want to check a previous post by Squatch called "The Process" - that's where I got my info from when I initially changed out my sights...

[Smoke4320]

Thanks for that detailed post
Really helps to get the right one the first time

[Bugs]

thanks

Hope this helps - you also may want to check a previous post by Squatch called "The Process" - that's where I got my info from when I initially changed out my sights...

Do you have a link to that post? I searched for it but had no luck.

[Smoke4320]

Well I found the original post but all the pics are gone

http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... cess#p9585

[Bugs]

Thanks.

[Smoke4320]

Henry 45 colt carbine will be here Monday, the Lyman globe and RCBS Cowboy dies on Wednesday, the skinner express rear sight and
NOE Mold Friday
By next Sunday I will be ready for the T-Rex hunt !!!

This saving money casting is getting expensive

[Smoke4320]

well either the PO or midway lost the shipment of the dies and Globe sight .. so that will be days to resolve

decided I would try some NOE 453-230 HP bullets while I am waiting on the sights and the NOE 255HP mold
had an old set of RCBS dies that flare while depriming/resizing (these date way way back) loaded up some 230HP 50/50 lead PCed Jet Black
one batch 8.0 grns Unique chronoed 1047 FPS
one batch 8.5 grns chronoed 1102 FPS
and one batch 9.o grns unique chronoed 1185 FPS... NO signs of overpressue at all. smooth shooting and very very little recoil
all recorded on a lab radar ..
I did this at 8AM this morning under less than ideal cloudy skys ( low light) and 15+ MPH winds .. Groups were promising
The Henry was smooth feeding and very accurate for the conditions at 50 yds

when the New RCBS cowboy dies arrive and I can get to some load development do believe we will have one sweet accurate carbine