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August 14, 2021
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Greetings! Since I am stuck home recovering from surgery, I figured I could use some opinions on one of my favorites. SN236727, from 1952 with a vintage Balvar 2.5-8x scope. Other then the added recoil pad, how’s it lookin.
THX
Steve G
April 15, 2005
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Steve,
It looks very nice… the only thing I would change is the empty rear sight dovetail. Lyman makes filler pieces that will make it look nicer.
Lyman 12S Slot Blank | 4.3 Star Rating Free Shipping over $49! (opticsplanet.com)
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 1, 2013
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Steven Gabrielli said Other then the added recoil pad, how’s it lookin.
Can’t restore the handsome steel plate, but a repro factory pad would be an easy enhancement. Otherwise, looks great.
March 31, 2009
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Bert H. said
Steve,It looks very nice… the only thing I would change is the empty rear sight dovetail. Lyman makes filler pieces that will make it look nicer.
Lyman 12S Slot Blank | 4.3 Star Rating Free Shipping over $49! (opticsplanet.com)
Bert
That’s nice to know. Wish someone would stamp the Lyman on them.
November 5, 2014
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Hi Steven-
Nice rifle!!! 
I also like the B&L Balvar 8 scope.
If it’s of interest… The early Monte Carlo comb Model 70s had a Marbles 69 (low height) folding rear sight and a Win 103C/E silver (tinned) bead front sight that was 0.360″ tall. The ubiquitous Lyman 16B folding sight didn’t replace the Marbles until around 1954. The photo shows the Marbles 69 as used with MC stocks on Standard barrels (left) and Featherweight (right) from about 1952-1953.
The Lyman 12S slot blanks that the factory installed were flat across the top, not rounded off like the current production 12S blanks. The ones Winchester used were not stamped “Lyman” on top. Like the next photo of a pair of M70 National Match rifles from 1955 and 1957.
Best,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
August 14, 2021
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Thanks for the info Louis. I”ll keep an eye out for an original rear folding sight, or blank. I’ll stick a repro blank in like Bert suggested.
November 7, 2015
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clarence said
Steven Gabrielli said Other then the added recoil pad, how’s it lookin.
Can’t restore the handsome steel plate, but a repro factory pad would be an easy enhancement. Otherwise, looks great.
I like it! As Clarence mentioned a new red reproduction pad would not look out of place on this rifle and would certainly make it more comfortable to shoot. Dovetail fillers can be fitted to match the barrel contours to give the gun a more finished look. Best wishes on a speedy recovery and rehab!
Mike
April 15, 2005
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Chuck said
Bert H. said
Steve,
It looks very nice… the only thing I would change is the empty rear sight dovetail. Lyman makes filler pieces that will make it look nicer.
Lyman 12S Slot Blank | 4.3 Star Rating Free Shipping over $49! (opticsplanet.com)
Bert
That’s nice to know. Wish someone would stamp the Lyman on them.
Why? Winchester used unmarked Lyman slot fillers for decades. For the octagon barrel rifles, the flat slot fillers that Lou mentioned (and pictured) are much preferred. For the round barrels and the barrels with the round sight boss, the current Lyman No. 12S actually fits up and looks very nice.
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
March 31, 2009
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The Lyman marked ones are rare and worth a lot more. Of course they are the flat type.
November 5, 2014
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Here’s one of the Lyman “running deer” marked flat top dovetail blanks on a M70 Carbine. Put there by me, not the factory… Also pics of the envelope it came in.
The Lyman newer blanks, as well as some of the unmarked flat ones, have “LYMAN” stamped under the dovetail where it doesn’t show. Other flat top blanks I’ve seem are not marked at all, which has lead me to wonder whether Winchester outsourced all of them or made some in-house?
Same story with the Lyman 31W front sight supplied on M70 Standard Rifles and Carbines before 1941. They are stamped “LYMAN” only on the bottom. Later (post-war) Lyman 31 series sights were stamped LYMAN on the left side flat and have an application code stamped underneath (31CA was the sight recommended for the M70 in Lyman catalogs).
I guess Winchester was somewhat loath to put other manufacturer’s names on their product where it would show, except of course for the Lyman 48WJS/WH and 57W receiver sights where the fact that it was a Lyman sight was a selling point. 
Other makers of slot blanks, like Redfield, Marbles, and Stith, commonly stamped their names on top for all the World to see…
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
November 1, 2013
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Louis Luttrell said
Here’s one of the Lyman “running deer” marked flat top dovetail blanks on a M70 Carbine. Put there by me, not the factory…
Lou, I’ve long since ceased to be surprised by your cornucopia of sights & accessories, but THIS floors me! Esp because I love the “bounding buck” image, first used in 1885, though this visible “ring” actually misrepresents the sight picture when the aperture is as close to the eye as it should be, which is only the front sight against the target, as Lyman always explained in early catalogs. All should note well the 3rd line on the back of the envelope; many on this site declare they know better.
November 5, 2014
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Clarence-
Just 40 years of picking up “junk” with the rationale that I might “need it someday”…
I do not know when Lyman changed from putting sights/blanks in paper envelopes to enclosing them in plastic bags. Since this envelope mentions the M70 it was printed after 1936, and I’m interpreting the term “crotch” sight to mean the “sporting” type, e.g. Winchester 22-series. Since these were phased out with the introduction of the MC stock circa 1952, I’m guessing this is a 1940s blank??? So it’s “old-ish” not “old”…
Plastic bag version (this being a 12SF for use in a front sight ramp)…
Best,
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
August 14, 2021
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Lou needs to write a book.
November 5, 2014
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Steve-
It has been alleged that he’s “working on it”… But I suspect you’ll see the JWA/seewin definitive treatise on the M52 about the same time… I’m going to sign up for a signed copy of THAT one!!! Hint, hint, Jeff and Steve…
Lou
WACA 9519; Studying Pre-64 Model 70 Winchesters
March 31, 2009
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I’d buy both. I’m not a spring chicken any more.
November 1, 2013
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I do not know when Lyman changed from putting sights/blanks in paper envelopes to enclosing them in plastic bags. Since this envelope mentions the M70 it was printed after 1936, and I’m interpreting the term “crotch” sight to mean the “sporting” type, e.g. Winchester 22-series.Louis Luttrell said
Once a common term for any “open” rear sight, & I think a more descriptive one. ’40s, maybe into the ’50s, seems about right for the end of the paper envelopes.
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