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March 3, 2020
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A local gun club was selling their loaner rack rifles, and in a sea of Remington’s and Mossberg’s there was a Winchester 75…. so, it came home with me. 
The gun is kind of a wreck and has been well used, but the price was right. Is is missing the magazine and front globe sight, has the wrong butt-plate, and the stock desperately needs to be refinished. The gun and stock are otherwise sound, and there is a Redfield 75 mounted in the rear.
Serial number dates it to 1947.
I’ve been Googling for the magazine and butt-plate, and have a handle on that. But, I was wondering what the “correct” front sight would be….. there is a sight block in the front dovetail, so the missing globe sight would have been a clamp on one as opposed to a Lyman 17 type that fits into the barrel dovetail directly. Any pointers on that?
June 1, 2023
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A Lyman 77 front sight will clamp onto your front sight block. The Lyman 77 is nothing more than an easily removable Lyman 17 sight.
BRP
December 13, 2006
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If the buttplate is “wrong”, do you think the wood was cut back to fit the wrong plate?
March 3, 2020
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Jim F in CT said
If the buttplate is “wrong”, do you think the wood was cut back to fit the wrong plate?
The opposite….. it is a metal butt-plate that is oversized relative to the wood. The stock is in original condition, but the finish is very worn and battered.
March 31, 2009
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John D. said
Jim F in CT said
If the buttplate is “wrong”, do you think the wood was cut back to fit the wrong plate?
The opposite….. it is a metal butt-plate that is oversized relative to the wood. The stock is in original condition, but the finish is very worn and battered.
Oversized butt plate does occur when the stock has been shortened. Maybe not in your case. I was looking at a 69A that had this problem.
July 17, 2012
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Using the Winchester Polishing Room Records, your serial number actually dates it to September, 1942. The available 75 sight packages for that year were:
| 75 TARGET CATALOG SYMBOL | YEARS USED + SIGHTS |
| G7501R1 | 1938-1945, Winchester 99A (front) Winchester 84A Extension (rear) |
| G7505R | late 1940-early 1941, (military contract) Winchester 93B (front) Lyman 57E (rear) |
| G7521R | 1938-1942, No. 8 Telescope with crosshairs (no other sights) |
| G7525R | 1938 – end of production, No sights or telescope supplied |
| G7527R | 1938-1945, Vaver 1175 (front) Vaver 3875 (rear) |
| G7537R | 1939-1947, Lyman 77 (front) Lyman 58E (rear) |
| G7547R | 1938-early 1942, Redfield 63 Globe (front) Redfield 75HW (rear) |
If your rear Redfield 75HW is original to the rifle then the front would have been the Redfield 63 Globe front sight. However, with that late of a production date (September, 1942) it would have been VERY likely to have been produced as part of the wartime contract for US Government training rifles as a G7505R with the Lyman 57E rear and Winchester 93B front sight as Winchester had already halted the commercial production of the Model 75 by that time. Many of those rifles were later sold as surplus from the Army by the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) to gun clubs and other similar entities. Many came with the sights missing and the stocks shortened for use by the Jr. ROTC and CMP affiliated school clubs. Your rifle fits that description.
Pictures would help with your other questions.
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
March 3, 2020
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JWA,
Very informative, thanks!
I had pulled the rifle apart and completely detail cleaned it. You’re advising that it was built in 1942…… I think it was last cleaned in 1943. 
Anyway, some pics below, to include the butt plate. I think you might be spot on about it being a possible ROTC Jr rifle – the sling rail slots shows clear evidence of being hand chiseled out towards the receiver to allow for a shorter sling length.
March 3, 2020
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The rifle is completely apart now, and the stock has been stripped of all finish and will soon be ready for refinishing. A replacement magazine is en route from Sarco, and I will be receiving a Redfield 63 front globe on Saturday to complete the rifle.
I still have to deal with the ill-fitting butt plate, and will have a machinist friend make a replacement sling rail that will fit the elongated sling rail slot.
November 7, 2015
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Looking foreword to seeing progress reports on this project, John. My “shooter” 75 Target has a custom stock with lengthened rail, among other “upgrades”. If your stock hasn’t been shortened perhaps you can find a correct replacement butt plate.
Mike
March 3, 2020
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TXGunNut said
Looking foreword to seeing progress reports on this project, John. My “shooter” 75 Target has a custom stock with lengthened rail, among other “upgrades”. If your stock hasn’t been shortened perhaps you can find a correct replacement butt plate.
Mike
GPC has repops, but that decision can wait. I can probably shape the existing one to fit as it is oversized.
April 30, 2023
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Let’s see the stock work in progress!
March 3, 2020
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Jeremy P said
Let’s see the stock work in progress!
OK.
Since this was a club gun, I was not too surprised to see the glass bedding in the channel.
The original finish was pretty scarred up and missing in the high contact points, so I stripped the entire stock down to bare wood. I wanted to remove as little wood as possible, so I touched it up gently with 150 grit, and followed that with 220 grit to smooth it out.
Right now, I have one coat of BLO and 2 coats of WATCO medium walnut Danish Oil finish on it. I applied the BLO first, let it dry, and then followed up with the WATCO. I let the second coat dry until it was almost complete but still a little bit tacky, and then knocked down the shine by gently rubbing it down with mineral spirits. I like the satin look so far, but I will probably follow up with another coat or two after everything dries a bit more.
As stated earlier, the Redfield 63 globe site is on the way, as is the magazine. I was able to scribe and contour the butt plate to fit the butt-stock, so all that remains is to deal with the oversized sling/hand-stop rail groove.
