A Look at Skinner Sights

The Sights

The first time I remember seeing Skinner Sights, they were being displayed on Marlin rifles in the pages of Rifle and Handloader magazines. The first thing I noticed about them was how streamlined and rugged they looked. Years later when someone showed me on designed for a 7600, I also noticed how easily adjustable they are. I still have an original 7600 model with two-tone color (brass and blued steel). This model comes with different size apertures and two Allen wrenches. One wrench for installation and one wrench for adjusting elevation and windage.

I also have three different Big Woods Bucks “Tracker” models. The only real difference in these models is that those intended for 7600s come with 8-40 screw which fit in the scope holes on the top of the receiver, and those for 760s come with 6-32 screws compatible with that model’s smaller holes.

The Guns

The first “Tracker” sight I received was placed on my Big Woods 35 Whelen carbine. It seems like such a short time ago that Hal and I drove down to Kittery Trading Post and picked up #1 and #2. I’m glad I get #2 of anything Big Woods produces because before they could finish producing our limited edition of 100 carbines, Remington closed its doors. Somebody bought the rights to produce some of Remington’s guns, but who knows what they’ll make, and they won’t be called “Remington” anymore.

The next gun wearing a Skinner Sight is a 760 5 Diamond Deluxe. These 760s were made in the 1960s and they are beautiful guns. My buddy, Joe Kruse, sold this gun to Stephen (my son) for a very reasonable price. Stephen replaced some parts, and we refinished it together. It was a fun project, and a gun Stephen will carry with fond memories.

The Memories

Speaking of memories, the third gun wearing a Skinner Big Woods Bucks “Tracker” sight is a 760, chambered for one of my favorite cartridges, the .300 Savage. Stephen used it last year to kill a nice buck on the last day of the season. Thirteen years in the Marine Corps has made my son callous to creature comforts, so he drove north for the hunt and then slept in his truck.

When he woke up on Saturday morning, there were blizzard conditions outside. He decided to get off the top of the mountain and get closer to the main road. He drove through two-foot snow drifts to get to a spot where one of his moose clients had shot a big bull in October. The first track he saw didn’t look particularly fresh and he pressed on. When he made a big loop and didn’t cut any other tracks, he came back to it and tracked the buck to his bed. After a short cat and mouse game, he was able to put the 8-pointer down with a close shot.

While all of this was taking place, I was north of Jackman tracking a buck with cameraman, Brian Connor. We had left my home in Cornville at 4:00 a.m. Saturday morning and made the long drive to get into tracking snow. After a full day of tracking, we arrived back in Cornville just in time to load my Ski-doo Skandic into the back of Stephen’s F150. We headed north for the second time ina. Day, driving in snow the whole time. After a long drag made shorter with the snowmobile, we loaded Stephen’s buck in the truck. We headed south and arrived back at 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning. Now that’s a full day!