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I currently have in my collection Winchester Models 69A, 72, and a 1947 (year I was born) 74. All have had their receivers drilled and have scopes mounted. The 69A and the 72 both would have had the 80A sight and the 74 is set up for the 88A sight. I am trying to piece together one 80A sight but will need all of the screws and a washer, does anyone make them because it seems difficult to find them.
I would also like to find a 88A sight for my model 74 but it seems like that is near impossible.
All of the rifles are very nice but because of the scopes will never be original.
This is my first post and I would sure appreciate any thoughts or advice that I could get. Thanks, Mike
November 7, 2015
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Welcome, Mike! It’s been a great week, you’re the second .22 addict to join the asylum in the last few days. Welcome to the affliction!
Mike
Thank you!! I can tell that this is a site that I will enjoy, especially once I figure out how everything works.
Hi Mike,
Welcome!
I have spare washers (if you are talking about the elevation screw cupped washer) but the screws are unique to the 80A sight.
I would contact Joe at Apertures N More https://aperturesnmore.com/ as he makes excellent replacement screws and sight parts for some of the Winchester sights.
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
Welcome Mike, this is the go to place for all things Winchester. Keep searching the Internet, put a saved search on eBay, everything turns up at some point. You have to add to that rimfire collection. Here’s part of mine in my office.
I will do that and thank you for your reply!! I believe I will need that cupped washer but only if I can find the screws. Thank you again!!
WOW That is a beautiful collection. I’m afraid that all of mine just sit in the safe, but I hope to be able to get out and give them a little work out soon. Thank you for sharing a picture of your wonderful display.
cnascar said
I will do that and thank you for your reply!! I believe I will need that cupped washer but only if I can find the screws. Thank you again!!
The cupped washer is yours, just let me know if/when you need it and where to send it.
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
Online
Welcome cnascar; Well here’s the extent of My .22’s at the moment; a mod. 99 thumb trigger , a mod ’85 15″ trapper s.r.c. in .22 w.c.f. and a colt lightning, I am looking for a minty 1890 , reasonable 
W.A.C.A. life member, Marlin Collectors Assn. charter and life member, C,S.S.A. member and general gun nut.
Henry Mero said I am looking for a minty 1890 , reasonable
“Reasonable”? Don’t bother looking on GB or any other auction site. Of course, they are scarce; only 3/4 of a million made.
Henry, very nice collection. These are pictures of my Winchesters.
Starting with the 69A, the 72, and the last 4 are my 74. Mike
Did all these guns belong to the same original owner? Similar scopes & guns in similar excellent cond. Can’t fault that owner for scoping them–it made them much more effective small-game rifles. I’m skeptical about the wisdom of going to a lot of trouble to replace the original sights, because even if you do, the non-original holes in the rcvr will remain. As they are now, they have appropriate period scopes that make them better shooters, & which, to me, don’t detract from their appearance.
I have had the same thoughts. They came from different owners but the condition is similar on all three. I guess I am thinking that I may try to find an 88A sight that I can put on the Model 74 and leave the scope on it also. Thank you clarence.
cnascar said
I have had the same thoughts. They came from different owners but the condition is similar on all three. I guess I am thinking that I may try to find an 88A sight that I can put on the Model 74 and leave the scope on it also. Thank you clarence.
I concur with Clarence. We can both, I expect, remember the postwar years when rimfire scopes really became popular, not least because of the genius of Bill Weaver. In 1955 scopes were no longer the price of a rifle and there was an increasing demand for rimfire rifles with grooved receivers for “Tip-Off” scope mounts.
The postwar Weaver J3, for example, was less expensive than a new Lyman or Redfield machined steel micrometer receiver sight. And, nostalgia aside, legions of head shot squirrels would agree the little scope was deadlier for most folks.
The rifles you own are honest proof of a very real, historic change in shooter demand and, speaking only for myself, I wouldn’t feel obligated to “restore” them. You hold a small piece of interesting history in your hands. From what I can see, the scoping was done in a workmanlike manner, too. No need to be modest about them.
One final comment. The grooved receiver, for example the one on a late Winchester Model 61, while pleasing to the most zealous collectors, is not in use the answer to a maiden’s prayer. I have one and it holds a 1″ Leupold Rimfire Compact 4X higher than I would like, and positions my preferred Leupold Compact 2X too far forward to be usable.
The prior, older M61 I had but sold was drilled and tapped, allowing two piece Weaver bases to be installed and the 2X Leupold mounted quite low and far enough back for a full image. Fast to acquire a bright sight picture and low enough to allow a good cheek weld on the stock. A better setup.
I sold the older gun when I got the later one, before scoping the latter and discovering the flaw.
Lesson: Original is not always better if you actually shoot it.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
Thank you very much Zebulon. I am leaning more to leaving them alone and considering them as my collectibles as is. I bought them with the scopes because I liked the way they looked and for the ability to use them without having to worry about damaging their collectability. I really enjoy this site and have already learned much about the guns I have and guns that I may want to add to my collection. Thanks again!! Mike
Zebulon saidLesson: Original is not always better if you actually shoot it.
Not at all, but that lesson is lost on “originality” extremists, because extremest views simplify judgements–one doesn’t have to “think.” Installing sling swivels, replacing crude factory sights with better ones, drilling a rcvr for scope mounting (because the factory was too short-sighted to consider the need!), & similar improvements, made the gun better for its intended purpose, which was not occupying space in a gun-safe.
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