52B Sporting front sight hood dimensions… maybe |Winchester .22 Rim Fire|Forum|Winchester Collector

Many thanks, Joel.  I will make sure JWA and Seewin see this. I will compare your measurements to the ones known for the 3278/M and I expect Jeff will update his sight hood chart. Nobody else I know has been able or willing to document this hood. The 3279/H is a rare bird. 

Bill

jsgwoodsman said
Hi Bill, 
Is this what you’re looking for?

Joel 
  

Joel,  That’s it. Thank you for taking your time to do this.

As soon as I get to my laptop and can see the dial indication clearly, Ill record the measurements and post them here for your approval. 

Much obliged.

Bill

Blue Ridge Parson said
The distinctive feature of the sight hoods on my Winchester 52 Sporting rifles is the height.  There is some variation, since they are made of spring steel, but mine measure between .705 inches high to as much as .720 inches tall.  By way of contrast, most of the sight hoods on my pre-64 Model 70 rifles are about .670″ high. 
BRP  
  

Could you please look at Joel’s image, which I’ve downloaded and attached here? I read his dial indicator as .613, although there is a shadow on the horizontal tenths scale that precludes my reading it as either .6 or .7. Obviously, it should read .713 if the hood is a 3279.  All my 3278 hoods are about .670 as well. 

Is he measuring height the same way you do?

loo

Bill 

Is this helpful

 52B 70204

Joel,  Lighting object photography is always tricky. The digital caliper makes it all clear. Thanks.

As BRP says, it is the height that differentiates the 3279 hood from the 3278. 

The norm for the medium hood furnished with most Model 70 rifles and the Model 71 is about .605+ whereas the high one for the 52 Sporting is about .705+ [I think.]

Visually, there is only a slight difference but in use, particularly with the 52C and its higher sight line, I found the medium hood doesn’t get enough air and light around the bead. My 52C is a very late specimen with the brazed sight ramp, which may exacerbate the issue. 

But you’ve added some pertinent data to the literature. 

Bill

PS  my personal solution is attached

Joel,  What I’ve recorded from your caliper measurements is:

Overall height. 0.713

Overall length at base 1.540

Overall length at top 0.823

Overall external maximum width 0.521

JWA’s chart has three fields, for OAL, OAH, and Internal width. The first two are 1.540 and 0.713. 0We can compute the last by subtracting twice the thickness of the steel from 0.521.

Have I read your measurements correctly?

Bill

Blue Ridge Parson said
Bill,
Especially on the 52-C Sporter, which is already drilled and tapped for scope use, your personal solution makes a great deal of sense.
BRP
  

Yes and I’m convinced by my experience with the iron sights furnished with the “with sights” style of the C that little thought was given by the committee responsible for getting the C out the door, to actual sporting use of the rifle in the hunting field with those sights and that stock. 

While we appreciate the quality of the Model, by 1953 or so it was a small but increasingly irritating blister in the eyes of those charged with making a profit on gun sales. The 52 committee largely consisted of target competition enthusiasts who probably never knocked a squirrel down with a 52 Sporting. Or wanted to. The ennui surrounding the issue of an optical sight for the Sporting, in the face of all the B Models getting drilled and tapped by customers, is telling. John Olin himself had to step in and kick butt to get the C into production. 

The C model is far more ammunition-flexible and “sporting” with a compact scope like the Leupold variable illustrated. It’s difficult to get the most out of the particular rifle otherwise.