Old winchester sighting in /sights question

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Matt74

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Hey guys,

Was just on the phone chatting with the old man, and he was telling me about some shooting he was doing with his old Winchester 1892 25-20. His eyes aren't great, and the shooting suffers at times, so he's thinking of putting a tang sight on it. That turned the conversation on to what distance we thought Winchester sighted these old guns in at the factory. Any one have any idea? I.E. for the 25-20, 38-55, 45-70s, etc, etc. I assume maybe it was different depending on the caliber? He said someone once told him that the old 30-30s were sighted in for 100 yards, I don't know.
Then we got talking about the gradations on the rear sight elevators / ramps...the little notches to move your rear sight up and down...are those in increments of 50 yards, 100 yards? Again, not sure, but would really like to know.

Matt
 
I can tell you the little notches were just that, little notches. For sighting you took the one where it shot a little high, and filed it down a bit.
I don't think Winchester spent much time sighting in their less expensive lines of rifles.
 
It think H4831 was right. I do know that for the ladder sights, they varied according to caliber for the 1886 (got this from a fellow who restores '86's in the USA). I found out, however, from an expert on the WACA sight that some '86's were sold with blank ladders sights so that the individual could make their own markings. I have one such '86, with the ladder sight still unmarked. I sight in varmint cartridges, like my 25-20 and 32-20, for 50 yards. I sight in all the rest of my old Winchesters for 100 yards and practice out to 200 yards. That way, I know where it shoots.
 
H4831 said:
I can tell you the little notches were just that, little notches. For sighting you took the one where it shot a little high, and filed it down a bit.
I don't think Winchester spent much time sighting in their less expensive lines of rifles.
Click to expand...

Yep, the same notches were used on dif calibers, how could that be if they were individually graduated?

Early rifles usually had a front site that was too low if your using more modern balistics, for instance a early 38-55 will not shoot on target if your using
K. Waters fav load of 35gns of 3031 w/255gn bullets. You will need to change to a much taller front site.
 
Thanks for all the replies. I guess if each notch was a specific gradation, that would be to easy and take the fun out of it eh! Good to know and makes me feel better about all the time my father and I spent last fall playing with the rear sights on a few of our old Winchesters, trying to get them shooting where they ought to be!

I've got to sight in my 38-55 and 1895 30-40 Krag for this fall, so I guess I'll sight them in for 100yards, though they'll both be with Lyman tang sights, so I guess that will change things a bit. And, from what I've been told by the fellows on this site, I understand that it's better to reload with larger diameter bullets than that offered today, b/c these guns were both originally made to shoot larger bullets....ie. 220 grains for the 30-40 Krag, as opposed to the 180gr bullets made today. Lots of work ahead!

Matt
 
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