Skinner Lo-Pro Sight on 10/22 Review

[dak0ta]

Skinner Lo-Pro Sight on 10/22 and Mauser 98 Review

I received my Lo-Pro sight today ($37), blued and with the regular and fine apertures. It fits the factory drilled and tapped holes (6-48) so you just screw it down far enough so that it doesn't interfere with the bolt and lock it down with the locking ring that has an O-ring underneath so it does not scratch your receiver.

It is adjustable for elevation by screwing the stem CW or CCW. Windage is changed by tapping the front sight.

Manufacture weblink: http://skinnersights.com/lo-pro_sight_7.html

It's simplistic but works very well. It sits very low to the receiver as well.

It comes supplied with a .096'' aperture that can be removed for a .200'' ghost ring. I also purchased the 0.04'' aperture for target work ($11).

Pictures:






0.200'' Ghost Ring:




0.096'' Aperture:




0.04'' Aperture:




I recommend this as a inexpensive alternative to the Tech Sights that is made of machined steel and Made in the USA.

 

[gunnysmith]

Not raining on your parade, it looks a bit fragile.

 

[mac66]

Neat and simple idea. $37 seems a bit steep .

One problem I see is what the adjustment limit on it in MOA? Their website says if your are shooting too high or too low to adjust, you have to change the front sight.

The other issue is I would like to know how many MOAs of elevation you get for one full turn of the the sight.

Thinking about how small and shallow the threaded scope mount hole is on the Ruger's aluminum receiver, makes me wonder how long one of those would last.

 

[mookiie]

What is the point if you cannot adjust for windage/elevation on the sight? Get tech sights instead:

http://www.tech-sights.com/

 

[tubeshooter]

I did this for an old Savage bolt .243 and a cheap 12-gauge pump. Had only set out to do the .243 but the package got lost in the mail and I had ordered another. The first set arrived later.

I know there are more finely adjustable sights around, but I am fine with this. Just wanted something simple to go along with the front sight.

Seems to work fine at peep-sight distances. I don't know how much a half-turn changes the POI, one day when I've got that kind of time on my hands I'll try to find out.



I would be concerned about an aluminum receiver getting its screwhole stripped, but you'd probably have to be pretty rough on the sights to create an issue anytime soon.

 

[dak0ta]

It should work fine with the factory front sight. The aluminum isn't that fragile, and I doubt they would get stripped as the sight is prevented from rotating or moving once you lock it down with the lock-ring.

It's steel so it's not fragile. The receiver will probably break before the sight.

I'm not that rough on my rifle, at least careful not to bang the sights. The gun's purpose is plinking and hunting within 50-100 yards, so there is plenty of MOA adjustment for those ranges. Anything further out I use my Savage Mark II with a scope.

 

[NewShooter]

I have been thinking about one of these for my DSP model only in brass.
That looks like the factory sight. Is it? At what range did you sight it in at? Did you have to adjust your front sight at all?
I'm really happy to find a thread about a skinner sight on a 10/22.

 

[dak0ta]

Hey NewShooter, I actually was looking for a thread like this before I bought so I decided to be the 'pathfinder' and try it out.

I haven't sighted it in yet, but Andy (owner of Skinner) said that his sight worked with it. I probably would just have to adjust for windage with a few taps.

Regardless this isn't for precision shooting, it's pretty much Minute of Squirrel head or beer can at 75-100 yards. If you miss the first shot, just Kentucky windage it. Just tap the front sight so it's zeroed for windage for most scenarios and use some intuition when changing ammo brands or there's a breeze.

 

[ejnogarb]

Even if it looks fragile, this is from Skinner Sights website:

Our sights are constructed of good materials and will not break unless VERY severely abused. A simple fall will not break our sight stem. We know of two broken stems in the past several years. One was slammed in a gun safe door and was "sheared" off by the heavy steel plates the safe was made of. The other exited a vehicle that rolled on the highway at 60+ miles per hour. The sight ground off as the gun was sliding down the pavement. We provided the parts to repair both sights.

IF it does ever break, I will repair it at no charge.

All the same, I've got the winged version of back and rear sights on my 1894. Skinner Sights are great!

 

[dak0ta]

I emailed Andy and he replied to my questions and the fragility comment:

''There are always a lot of 'opinions' on how something will or will not work, formed by folks who haven't tried it yet. (especially on the internet)

Truth is, by the time you bend or break that sight, there will be more damage to your rifle than you would imagine. They are not fragile. Sure, if you have it extended all the way up, grab it with a pair of pliers, you could prob. bend it. it wont break however unless you really work at it.

We make them long intentionally so they can be shortened to the height a customer needs. Always better to be longer than too short. Just use a dremel with a cut off wheel, a sander (disk or belt) or file it down to the height you need.''

 

[tubeshooter]

Yeah - I figure you would damage the rifle as quickly as the sight. And I also don't think the aluminum receiver would have a problem with anything resembling reasonable and careful use.

Dr. Skinner makes good stuff, I had gotten a lot of his sights for my Marlins before so I wanted to support him. That's a lot of why I got the Lo-Pro over some other sight.



Has worked out fine thus far. I am 100% satisfied. I'm sure dak0ta will be, too.

 

[dak0ta]

Tested out the sight at 20 yards. Worked fine with the factory front sight and did not need to adjust for windage.

 

[headoftheholler]

You did good. In the world of Marlin lever actions, skinner sights are considered top shelf well made sights. In a time when most things are plastic and made in China, its nice to see some made in America steel.

 

[HoosierQ]

Great Thread

Hey Dak0ta

So did the thing go on right in terms of elevation? Right out of the box? I know there is going to be a little play up and down but I sure wouldn't want that screw to get too close to my bolt in that receiver.

I was all about the Tech Sights but I ended up with a real nice sporter model 10/22...22" bbl...nice checkered wood...very traditional. I am not seeing those GI sights working very well aesthetically (which I know is a secondary consideration but since I got a wood gun, I guess I want to keep it looking like a wood gun).

 

[dak0ta]

Yeah it was fine for elevation. If I screw it all the way down it does block the bolt, so I just turned it out by half turns until it didn't block the bolt and it still sat pretty low. You could grind off the threads as Andy stated in the quote I posted above, but it works, so I'll keep it as is for now in case I want to put it on a different gun.

 

[HoosierQ]

Dak0ta

Well that's good to know. If I don't go with glass, I am going to bypass the tech-sights and go this route. Thanks for sharing your experiences...very valuable.

QB

 

[dak0ta]

I'm posting some pics of the same sight but on my Husqvarna Commercial FN 98 Mauser. It's a sweet setup!

 

[dak0ta]

Test on FN 98 Mauser

Lo-Pro on my Mauser 98






0.04'' Aperture




Ghost Ring 0.200''

 

[mac66]

My concern was not about the sight itself, it was about the rather tiny, shallow hole in an aluminum 10/22 receiver. It is not inconceivable that a bang on the sight or a snag on clothing could tear it out.

Having said that, any peep sight is better than a 10/22 factory sight.

 

[dak0ta]

mac66 you do have a point, but we do have to give some credit to the Ruger aluminum receiver. It's not as strong as steel, but it's not going to warp or get stripped so easily unless an out of ordinary amount of force is applied to the sight and rips out of the receiver.

My Mossberg 500 receiver is also aluminum, but the scope mount on it can withstand the recoil of 12 gauge slugs.

Aluminum is 'strong enough' for this purpose.

 

[dak0ta]

HoosierQ,

I tested again at 25 yards, and the windage was spot on, but elevation will need to be shifted lower by about 1-1.5''. I'm going to file off some of the stem so that the aperture part itself is flush with the receiver. This will make the sight more sturdy as a result because the majority of the sight will be locked in place in the receiver and less hanging out to be knocked around.

 

[dak0ta]

I just spent about 30 minutes sanding the sight stem down by 2-3 threads and now it sits flush with the receiver and should fix my elevation. It's much sturdier now as less stem is exposed and majority is covered by the beefy lock ring.

Andy replied to my question regarding MOA per full turn and it's about 1 1/2 MOA

 

[HoosierQ]

My Installation on 10/22

I was pretty inspired to go with the Skinner on my 10/22 by Dak0ta. Here is my installation so far. I had to knock about 5mm off of the stem and I cannot use the locking ring. So I've got it installed with the o-ring. It seems to co-witness very well with the factory sights screwed all the way down. The o-ring is nice in that it locks the apeture in place. When I shoot it I will move it up by half turns if necessary until I get it zeroed. Then the question...to loc-tite or not and if so, red or blue.

 

[dak0ta]

Cool, no need to loc tite. I don't think it will turn one half turn that easily.

 

[HoosierQ]

Yeah, I will only go with loc-tite it I have to.