I have a Henry Big Boy in .38/.357

The buckhorn sights don't work at all with my old eyes. I don't want to go to a red dot or a scope, so I found a peep that fit into the rear dovetail and got that mounted.

Problem now is the rifle shoots about 15" low at 50 yards. That means the front sight is too tall, yes? (Or, the rear is too low...)

Rear sight isn't height adjustable, so the obvious (at least to me) solution is a shorter front sight. Availability shouldn't be a huge issue, but my question is:

Is there a scientific way to determine the necessary front sight height, or at least a decent estimate that I can work from? I'm thinking something like a percentage of the existing sight?

Or is it strictly educated guess, and file to fit from there?

Some videos of possible help here.

A call to Williams Gun Sights may be of help. And Henry should be able to tell you what the height of the front sight is. Then either Williams or Skinner can recommend a rear sight that works. Like you, the factory buckhorns have never worked for me.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:
Some videos of possible help here.

Thanks, just what I was looking for.

While you're at it, consider a rear tang sight. My Winchester has one (.32 Winchester). Like most things in firearms, its got some advantages and some disadvantages. First, its expensive. And then it slows you down just a little. But the elevation is adjustable over a huge range (more than I'll ever need).

We've got a vendor at our shows named "Sight Man". He might be on the internet. The key is many of us love the rear tang sight because it gives you a great sight picture and it increases your sight radius by a bunch (not an exact term because I'm too lazy to go look, and it varies based on your barrel length.)

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I have a Marble tang sight that I bought to put on my Big Boy .44 and never got around to installing. I'm looking to sell that gun now and still have the sight sitting in a box someplace. I think I have a globe front for it too. If you want them, they're yours.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:
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I have a Marble tang sight that I bought to put on my Big Boy .44 and never got around to installing. I'm looking to sell that gun now and still have the sight sitting in a box someplace. I think I have a globe front for it too. If you want them, they're yours.

Ooooo, yes please! I looked at them but didn't trust myself to be able to install it properly. Paying for the sight AND paying to have it installed was out of my budget.

Email sent to the addy in your profile.

I may have spoken too soon. The box isn't where I thought I put it, so I'm going to have to do some hunting to find it. I'm about 90% sure that it's still here, someplace. I must have moved it to someplace "safe" so I wouldn't lose it.

If I can't find it by Sunday, I'll let you know so you can pursue another solution.

Expert308 found the Marble tang sight he referred to and sent it to me. Thank you Sir, you are a Gentleman and a Scholar and a Model of All that is Right with SIG Forum.

I have the rear mounted to the tang on my rifle with the new rear screw that came with the sight. I'll have to find someone to drill and tap for the front screw, but that's not a huge issue.

I want to replace the front post with the globe sight he was kind enough to include. Do do so, I'm going to need a sight pusher to drive the old one out and the new one in. Most of the sight pushers I see are for pistol slides. Can someone point me to one that works on rifle barrels?

Had marble buckhorna on my marlin 1895. Took them off and installed skinner peep with new front blade according to their suggestions. I’m going back to the original marble buckhorns with a taller front site (in my case). The platform that the rear peep is on just added more height to the rear. I could never get the skinners on target and I have the tallest blade possible in the rifle.

Sadly, Skinner has been no help getting me set up.

Meh.

I’m going back to marble.

I put a Williams receiver mounted peep on my Marlin 1895. Fully adjustable for windage and elevation. I removed the rear sight and installed the Marbles blank. This will enhance your accuracy by increasing your sight radius. Works great.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Expert308 found the Marble tang sight he referred to and sent it to me. Thank you Sir, you are a Gentleman and a Scholar and a Model of All that is Right with SIG Forum.

I have the rear mounted to the tang on my rifle with the new rear screw that came with the sight. I'll have to find someone to drill and tap for the front screw, but that's not a huge issue.

I want to replace the front post with the globe sight he was kind enough to include. Do do so, I'm going to need a sight pusher to drive the old one out and the new one in. Most of the sight pushers I see are for pistol slides. Can someone point me to one that works on rifle barrels?

Good, I hope it works great for you. I've seen "universal" sight pushers but haven't used one so I don't know if it's good for a rifle or not. I'd think though, and any `smith able to drill and tap a hole should be able to swap the front sight no problem.

quote:

Originally posted by Expert308:

Good, I hope it works great for you. I've seen "universal" sight pushers but haven't used one so I don't know if it's good for a rifle or not. I'd think though, and any `smith able to drill and tap a hole should be able to swap the front sight no problem.

Right. That finally occurred to me as well. Duh...

Dropped it off this morning, lead time is estimated at 4 weeks. This guy is the only full-time gunsmithing-only operation in a 100 mile radius, so he's got work stacked up bigtime.

When I walked in I waited behind two other fellers. The second one opened a gun case and said "This got left in a car for a LOOOONG time" and hauled out a lever action of some sort (couldn't tell if it was a Winchester or a Marlin or what) and that sucker was COVERED in rust. Not light rust either. Action froze up, hammer wouldn't even cock.

Gunsmith spent a bit of time looking it over and said "First, I'm not at all sure I could even free it up; Second even if I did it'd look like hell and not be something you'd want and; Third, I don't have my borescope handy but chances are the barrel is as rusted and pitted as the rest of it and the first time you shot it you'd likely blow what's left of the rifling right out of it."

I just cringed when I saw it. I don't believe it would even make a wallhanger.

Here is a link to a SIGHT CALCULATOR. Plug in all your data and that will give you the proper height of your front sight. Assuming you want to keep the rear peep that you have. What brand exactly of a peep sight did you purchase? Typically a peep sight is close to your eye. Was it more of a Ghost Ring sight?

Personally I would get a Williams FP receiver mounted peep or a Skinner sight for your Henry. YMMV

Off topic but I have always wondered if anyone had ever put a tang sight on an AK.

SWEET! Gunsmith just emailed me and said the rifle is ready. A week vs. the 4 week estimate!

I'll post a picture when I get it back.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Off topic but I have always wondered if anyone had ever put a tang sight on an AK.

Ya, sort of.

Probably the better way to go is the Tech Sight for an AK.