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My LGS stumbled upon a model 94 (#960424) that wears a Lyman receiver sight. The owner claims it was special order/factory original but offers no proof/letter, etc. – other than the wear is consistent with the rest of the rifle. He is unwilling to remove to check for other signs as to originality. The gun also sports a ladder sight (44a, I believe). Question: if the Lyman is factory original, would/could they also have installed a rear ladder sight?!!!? Does this immediately invalidates the receiver sight. Doesn’t make sense to me but I’m new to the Lever and Lyman game. Would they have installed a blank or no dovetail for a sight at all??
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foxfire said The gun also sports a ladder sight (44a, I believe). Question: if the Lyman is factory original, would/could they also have installed a rear ladder sight?!!!?
Probably not, but not certainly not. Nobody with good sense would order both those rear sights (a blank or a Lyman #6 was usually installed when a 21 was ordered), but good sense was not a prerequisite for placing a special order. If it can’t be lettered, I’d consider the 21 non-original. It may have been installed soon after the gun was purchased, which would explain the wear being consistent, but that doesn’t make it factory original. If that was what happened, & the original sight was left in place, it proves the original owner didn’t know how to use an aperture sight properly.
Personally I have seen more than a few Winchesters with Lyman 21’s or tang peep sights wearing standard barrel sights that did letter. But if the 94 falls outside the letterable range there is really no way to be 100 percent sure. My 2 cents.
However the 21 got there, salient question now is “what’s this ’94 worth”? It’s certainly not worth the same as a gun with a verifiable factory-installed 21, & the current owner is unreasonable if he refuses to recognize that fact. It’s worth the value of any other ’94 in comparable cond., plus another $250 or so for the 21. Yes, the sight alone could be sold for more than that on ebay, but this is one that can’t be removed to sell separately, because it would leave holes in the rcvr.
The odds of the Lyman No. 21 being factory original is significantly less then 50/50 dues to the standard No. 44A rear being present on the barrel. If the owner is not willing to remove the Lyman No. 21, that indicates that he is well aware that it is not original. It is rather easy to tell if the hole for it was added after the fact once the sight is removed.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
The odds of the Lyman No. 21 being factory original is significantly less then 50/50 dues to the standard No. 44A rear being present on the barrel. If the owner is not willing to remove the Lyman No. 21, that indicates that he is well aware that it is not original. It is rather easy to tell if the hole for it was added after the fact once the sight is removed.Bert
Thanks all!!
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