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Was this front sight (W.F. sheard W33) ever installed on any Winchester rifles from the factory and if so what is the valuation?
TIA for any input.
April 15, 2005
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Winchester would on special order install W.F. Sheard sights, but the vast majority of them were installed in Sheard’s shop in Livingston, MT or later when he moved to Tacoma WA. Shear sold out his sights to Marbles shortly after the turn of the century (1900). I don’t know what a “W33” sight is, and you did not post any pictures of it.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 1, 2013
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If the sight has either the Mont or Wash address, it may be worth more to a sight collector, but what it adds to the gun itself would not be great. #33 isn’t included among other Win sights in the Sheard list I have, but it may be incomplete. If the rifle was sold out of Sheard’s shop, it would have his marking on the brl.
March 31, 2009
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The Sheard W 33 is a blade sight with a copperish tipped tube piece on the top. It is similar to a Rocky Mountain sight with the added top section. He moved to Tacoma in 1894-95. After a bad divorce he made an arrangement with Marble Safety Axe Co. around 1908/09. The shop burnt down in 1913.
There were various models made for the Winchesters.
If you have a Sheard sight your gun was almost assured to be out West. Many Sharps Rifles have Sheard sights.
November 1, 2013
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If you have a Sheard sight your gun was almost assured to be out West. Chuck said
I don’t think that would necessarily be true after Marble’s began distribution.
March 31, 2009
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clarence said
If you have a Sheard sight your gun was almost assured to be out West. Chuck said
I don’t think that would necessarily be true after Marble’s began distribution.
I can’t disagree with that.
Just like the Freund sights they were in the West very early. If period correct I would not remove one of these for a Winchester/Lyman sight unless the rifle lettered that way.
April 15, 2005
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clarence said
If the sight has either the Mont or Wash address, it may be worth more to a sight collector, but what it adds to the gun itself would not be great. #33 isn’t included among other Win sights in the Sheard list I have, but it may be incomplete. If the rifle was sold out of Sheard’s shop, it would have his marking on the brl.
Nearly 100% of the Sheard marked guns that came out of the Tacoma shop are marked on the left hand side of the receiver frame instead of on the barrel. It was the Livingston MT shop that marked the barrels.
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
November 2, 2009
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Sheard marked most of the items that went through his shop. I had a Winchester model 1880 plier handle reloading tool in .50-95 Express, with the Livingston mark on it.
