Anyone here use Skinner Sights?

[FergusonTO35]

Hey guys. I'm pondering a Skinner front and rear sight for my 336 Texan. Anybody here use them? My carbine has a ramp mounted front sight. Any idea what front sight height I would need with one of Skinner's receiver sights?

[oscarflytyer]

Hey guys. I'm pondering a Skinner front and rear sight for my 336 Texan. Anybody here use them? My carbine has a ramp mounted front sight. Any idea what front sight height I would need with one of Skinner's receiver sights?

Have a set on my 30-30. Had them on the 35, and decided to move them over. Love the rear peep. Not sure on the front sight height. But they can steer you in the right direction for rifle and bullet you shoot.

[jcwit]

I have a rear Skinner on a Henry .22 lever. Really improved my accuracy with these old eyes. Didn't want to scope the rifle, just didn't look right.

[Marvin S]

I have two of em and had to change the front on the 357 but have not tried the little 1897 Texan but it appears to be on the same plane as the bbl sight.

[Jeff82]

I hav them on my Marlin 1894C 0.357. They're really nice. I recommend them, expecially for the price.

[Lefty SRH]

Link to Skinner sights.

http://www.skinnersights.com/index.html

[smoked turkey]

I recently put one on my Marlin 444. I have taken it to the range on a couple of occasions and I like it. It looks nice on the rifle and it is a quality made product. The problem I have with it that I think needs to be addressed is in the windage adjustment. There really is none. The peep sits in a dovetail that is secured by an allen screw. It can be moved to the left or right but when you do it is no longer "lined up" in the dovetail slot and it no longer looks right. I wish the Skinner bottom mount was a little wider and then the peep could be moved right or left and still be fully in the sight base. Just my opinion. If someone has another idea I'd like to hear it. I know one can drift the front sight over to compensate, but then it is out if its dovetail also.

[waksupi]

That sounds like you have a crooked barrel, or one that wasn't mounted to the receiver properly.

[smoked turkey]

Humm...

[softpoint]

I have 2 of his ladder type sights on a 1895 Marlin LTDIII and a 1895 CB, they give you 2 zero's with the same sight.

[Keyston44]

I have Skinners on all my lever guns. I order them with the high front sight and file down to the height I need. That's easier for me than guessing and guessing wrong.

Key

[fishnbob]

I have Skinners on all my lever guns. I order them with the high front sight and file down to the height I need. That's easier for me than guessing and guessing wrong.

Key

Ditto Keyston44. And they are good people to deal with.

Bob:drinks:

[Kestrel4k]

I have the Skinner 'Lo-Pro' on my Marlin 336T and am in the process of getting another installed on my 444T. I like them quite a bit.

The neat thing about the Lo-Pro is that if you work at it, you can get it installed below a low-mounted scope, resulting in one of the best backup sights imaginable.

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp33/Kestrel4000/RimfireCentral/Marlin%20336T/IMG_7478.jpg

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp33/Kestrel4000/RimfireCentral/Marlin%20336T/IMG_7479.jpg

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp33/Kestrel4000/RimfireCentral/Marlin%20336T/IMG_7482.jpg

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp33/Kestrel4000/RimfireCentral/Marlin%20336T/IMG_7480.jpg

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp33/Kestrel4000/RimfireCentral/Marlin%20336T/IMG_7483.jpg

http://i395.photobucket.com/albums/pp33/Kestrel4000/RimfireCentral/Marlin%20336T/IMG_7486.jpg

I know that it looks like the sight is touching the scope tube in a couple of the above pics, but there is 0.005" of clearance between the two and I am confident that there are no issues.

[FergusonTO35]

Looking' good!! I'm also a fan of the compact, straight tube scopes on lever actions.

[mongo]

Looks like they dont make them for Winchester 94's Gettin hard to see the sights..LOL

[Philbert]

Anyone know if the fit Browing M92s? I've e-mailed Skinner but no reply yet.

Phil

[Max Brand]

I've got a Skinner "XA" on my 1895, no modifications to the front sight.

[Clinebo]

I have the Express sight on my Marlin 1895 STBL and was able to keep the factory front sight. I also bought the blank and filed it to match the barrel contour.

http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr336/RCline69/Marlin%2045-70/IMG_0630.jpg

[Raygun]

If you want to mount a scope this is a good option....Barrel Mount

http://skinnersights.com/barrel_mount_6.html

[W.R.Buchanan]

I haven't actually bought a Skinner sight, but I can tell just buy looking at them that they are well made and rugged sights.

They have alot in common with XS Sights which I am very fond of.

The combo of a Skinner rear and an XS white line front would be a very usable set of sights for a levergun.

Randy

[huntrick64]

I just installed the skinner barrel mount on my Rossi 92 45C with 24" octagon barrel. I also installed that ginormous (.650 tall I think) partridge front sight, filed it down to proper height, and hit it with Oxpho Blue. This combination is awesome and just the ticket for my old tired eyes. Using 13.0 grains HS-6 and 284 gr. SWC bullet it will shoot 1/2" 5-shot groups at 25 yds with wind blowing 15 mph. Haven't shot it out to 100 yds yet due to high winds, but have high hopes for it. The sight looks really good on this gun.

[FergusonTO35]

My Mossberg 464 now wears a Williams receiver sight and a Skinner partridge front. My 336 Texan will soon be similarly equipped as soon as all the parts show up. I'm loving the partridge front sights, never going back to beads.

[Shawlerbrook]

If they do come to eventually seize them by force I want at least one readily available. That said, a good coating of RIG then sealed in rust inhibitor bags and finally in milsurp large weapon ammo tubes.
https://www.zerustproducts.com/products/firearms-ammo-weapons/vci-gun-storage-bags/

[veeman]

So far I have 3, 2 on 94's and one on an 86. 2nd 86 has been D&Ted for the Skinner, just haven't got it yet. Love them.

[sandog]

I have Skinners on three leverguns, a Browning BL-22, a Win 9422 and a Marlin 1894P .44 Magnum. Other carbines have Williams peeps.
IMO, the Skinners are the best looking and most "compact", as they don't stick out on the side of the receiver.
They do sit higher than the side mounted peeps as the aperture has to sit on a base.

A side mounted peep will sit low, so low that you'll probably have to remove the rear sight and replace with a blank. Even the nice fold down Marbles that come on many Marlins are still a bit too high even folded, unless maybe you run your aperture way up off the receiver.
You can get a rear sight blank from Skinner that holds a spare aperture, it just threads into the sight blank.

With the more streamlined Skinner you get a few cons.
Adjustment isn't as easy, best to set the sight and stick with one load.
As Smoked Turkey pointed out, if you have to do ANY windage adjustment at all with the rear sight, the smaller section that rides in the bigger base will be overhanging on one side, and it is unsightly. I usually try to adjust windage by moving the front sight as much as possible and not move the rear.

Needing a small amount of windage correction does NOT necessarily mean that you have a crooked barrel, as someone else suggested.
Rarely is windage perfect with both sights exactly centered.

Elevation is done by rotating the aperture stem, moving it up or down. For micro elevation adjustments, I will remove the aperture, rotate the stem 180 instead of 360, and re-insert the aperture at the back. On the Skinner the Bl-22 has, I needed the rear sight down a bit more.
Rather than replace the already really high front sight with an even taller one (the stem was bottomed out), I ground some off the bottom of the stem.
The aperture is sitting down on the base now, but that Browning is sighted right where I want it.
https://i.imgur.com/mdQM23Ph.jpg
The Winchester has a Williams Twilight aperture. That brass ring helps in the shadows and dark timber but can be a bit annoying on bright sunny days.
https://i.imgur.com/eJI6Q5vh.jpg
I like the looks of the Express Skinner. It has a base that goes the length of the top of receiver. A bit heavier that the shorty, yes, but sure looks good.
(The short base sight is the Ol' Reliable)
https://i.imgur.com/AGjHkeFh.jpg
With a higher line of sight top mount like the Skinner, you'll need a taller front sight as you already know.
As to what height, it will depend on a lot of things, mainly the velocity range of the loads you'll be using.
Mousefart loads will impact much differently than heavy loads for a given caliber.

There are a couple approaches, easiest is to get the oversize height brass blade from Skinner. File it down until it's where you need it.
Those brass blades are really thick though. I guess they are good for the 6 o'clock hold group, but for center hold I like a small sight.
The Marbles 1/16" white bead sights show up well for me, but for someone that hunts in the snow brass would be preferable.

I hate putting in a front sight and realizing it's still not high (or low) enough. So you place another order to Midway or somewhere, pay as much for shipping as the little front sight costs, and wait for it to come.
Instead, I just ordered 8 of them from .290" high to .530" high. When I go to the range for the first time with a new gun I take some extra front sights so I can change them on the spot. It's nice having a variety on hand.

For a rife with a front ramp, you might need anywhere from .260" to .343", hard to say.
If you need just a bit more elevation change than your factory front sight, measure it and go the next size up. Say yours is .260", order a .290" and just to be safe a .312".

Rifles like my Browning that don't have a ramp will need a really tall front, on the order of a .530" or .570". If you need taller than that, you might have to go with the Skinner brass which go up to .650".

Since that rear dovetail does no good with nothing in it, I put a ladder sight from a Uberti 1873 in that slot. I will have to play around with it at different distances, but I like how the ladder sight takes over where the Skinner leaves off.
The Skinner on the short .44 mag carbine stays sighted for 75 yards, and if I need much further, I can flip up the ladder sight and blaze away.
Folded down, it is out of the line of sight between the Skinner and bead front.
https://i.imgur.com/KWnAiPLh.jpg

[unclemikeinct]

To Sandog & all. Big time thanks. Lots of good info in this thread. unclemikeinct

[todd9.3x57]

i had a skinner on my tc encore in 500 linebaugh for two years. now i have a 2-7x Leopold, mostly i had bad eyes.

https://i.imgur.com/LYE9aD9.jpg?1

[murf205]

296021296022296023 I really like the Skinners sights. Not a big fan of scopes on lever guns but when my eyes told me it was time, I bought some more time with these. Get the rear dove tail plug too.

[JSnover]

I recently put one on my Marlin 444. I have taken it to the range on a couple of occasions and I like it. It looks nice on the rifle and it is a quality made product. The problem I have with it that I think needs to be addressed is in the windage adjustment. There really is none. The peep sits in a dovetail that is secured by an allen screw. It can be moved to the left or right but when you do it is no longer "lined up" in the dovetail slot and it no longer looks right. I wish the Skinner bottom mount was a little wider and then the peep could be moved right or left and still be fully in the sight base. Just my opinion. If someone has another idea I'd like to hear it. I know one can drift the front sight over to compensate, but then it is out if its dovetail also.
How far off is it? Measure how far out it is, remove it and grind a little off that side. It won't center the aperture but at least the misalignment of the base won't be as obvious. Finish it with some cold blue or whatever you like. If it's WAY out, split the difference and do the same thing to both the front and rear sights.