
November 21, 2014

Hello All,
I Recently Purchased What Was Listed As A Rocky Mountain Front Sight For Early Winchester 1894, Not From Anyone On This Website. Being Excited To Find A Nice Unaltered Sight I Read The Description And Took The .380 Dovetail Dimension To Be The Standard 3/8″, Not The 1/3″ It Actually Is. In All My Reading I haven’t Seen A 1/3″ Dovetail Listed As Being Used On Winchester Rifles. Have I Purchased An Errantly Listed Sight Or Not? My 1907 Oct Bbl 30 Wcf Is The Standard .375 Or 3/8″ Dovetail.
Thanks In Advance,
Scott

May 2, 2009

Scott,
I have never seen a sight dovetail of 1/3″ (.333″). All Winchester dovetails are 3/8″ (.375″). There are some guns that use a smaller dovetail like Colt (5/16″). I would guess it was either filed down or its for something odd. It does happen, I have a real nice spirit level insert but its 1/4″ dovetail.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]

December 30, 2011

Maybe it’s 5/16″. That would be close to 1/3. I believe some other manufacturers might have used 5/16″ dovetails on their guns. The sight might look very similar otherwise.
Brad

May 2, 2009

Scott,
.380″ is only .005″ more than a 3/8 dovetail. It should fit a Winchester. Remember sights are installed and removed from the right hand side.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]

April 23, 2012

Scott Watson said
Gentleman,
Thank You All For The Replies.The Sight I Bought Is .380″ And Obviously Wider Than My Exsisting Dovetail. I Apologize For The 1/3″ Reference, Used Online Conversion Chart And Thats What I Got For .380. Which Companies Used A Larger Dovetail?
Thanks Again,
Scott
Lucky that 3/8 is standard for Winchester and many other N/A firearms.
Whitney -Kennedy is .450 dovetail . Funny that there is a 7/16 Size (.437) size offered by Lee Shaver (not sure what Manufacturer used this size ) and the .450 being only .013 bigger

November 21, 2014

Bob,
Sorta What I Thought, But Holding It Next To A True .375 Wide Sight And The Dovetail On My Barrel It doesn’t Look Like It Will Fit. Will Measure To Verify Tomorrow At Work. Have Not Removed My Sight Yet, Want To Be Sure This Will Fit Before I Go Tapping On It So I Can Return It In As Good As Condition As I Received It.
Thanks,
Scott

May 2, 2009

25-20 said
Whitney -Kennedy is .450 dovetail . Funny that there is a 7/16 Size (.437) size offered by Lee Shaver (not sure what Manufacturer used this size ) and the .450 being only .013 bigger
Maynard, Remington, Sharps, Spencer, Stevens and Whitney used 7/16″ dovetails.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]

May 2, 2009

Scott Watson said
Bob,
Sorta What I Thought, But Holding It Next To A True .375 Wide Sight And The Dovetail On My Barrel It doesn’t Look Like It Will Fit. Will Measure To Verify Tomorrow At Work. Have Not Removed My Sight Yet, Want To Be Sure This Will Fit Before I Go Tapping On It So I Can Return It In As Good As Condition As I Received It.
Thanks,
Scott
Scott,
Take the old one out and just see if it will start by hand in the dovetail. If it doesn’t then it will be too tight. When you tap them in or out use a brass punch.
Bob
WACA Life Member--- NRA Life Member---- Cody Firearms member since 1991 Researching the Winchester 1873's
Email: [email protected]
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