Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Receiver Peep sights for mod 70, 64, 71

I have recently become interested in receiver peep sights for some of my rifles. Are the modern peeps by Williams anything near the quality of the older Lyman, Williams, or Redfield peeps? Can you still find NOS. Older peeps?

Well I have owned just about all of them at one time or another. And bear in mind -the below thoughts are for RECIEVER SIGHTS not tang or barrel sights.


While they are.not quite as tradtional ,having only been around since the 1950s, in actual use- I feel the Williams FP reciever sights are the best. Better than even the old Steel Lymans were.. I know the reactionary traditionalists here will howl, but its true.

Here is why-

1) Annodized Aluminum will not rust. Its a light rigid strong material. The same properties that make it superior to steel for scope tubes also make it better for reciever sights.

2) All the adlustment parts in the Williams FP sights are fully enclosed and are machined hardended steel . The "clicks" are achieved by steel ball bearing detents.

The Lymans on the other hand have EXPOSED steel flat waffle springs to accomplish the detents. Very crude by comparision and exposed to rusting and damage with hard use.

The Willams FP sights at $50 to $60 are made in the USA by a familly run company and IMHO are one of the true bargains in the shooting world. They work.

Williams are good as described above. I like the old Redfield 70 & 80 series for the vintage look (matching the era of my pre-64's) and they can be found in excellent shape on-line or at gunshows much cheaper than the Lyman.

Agreed that Williams receiver sights are a superior design to the old Lyman and Redfields, The vintage Lyman and Redfield because they are no longer made have a following amoung collectors willing to pay collector prices. Collectors who are mainly purists look down their noses at the Williams sights and therefor used Williams sights are priced as used items and do not command any premium making them an excellent value.

I will concede your points, but sorry, I'll put Lyman 48's on every rifle I acquire whenever possible. Yeah, I'm a traditionalist who mainly collects/shoots/hunts with rifles built before Williams was on the scene. To me a Williams just wouldn't look right on a Springfield, Krag, M54, or Mauser sporter. Sorry, but thems the rules in Chez Gnoahhh.

Didn't say I had any Williams on any of my rifles, like you Lyman 48's are the only sights on my rifles.

Where can one obtain some NOS Lyman 48 peeps?

Depending on the vintage of your 64 & 71, the "correct" sight would be either the Lyman 56A or 66A. Williams will certainly work and be cheaper. They are made of black anodized aluminium and IMO look out of place on vintage guns. If you want to keep it vintage correct then you'll have to search the auction sites and/or gunshows for the mentioned Lymans. I just picked up two correct vintage Lymans for my M64s..........a 56A for my pre-war carbine and a 66A for my later post war rifle. My own opinion, if you're gonna go with vintage guns, keep 'em vintage. YMMV

BTW, Just saw the pics of your 64 Deluxe carbine...beautiful! I'd definitely go vintage Lyman on that one.

I agree, Williams are fully functional but they lack the "correctness" of a Lyman 48, IOW they are gauche poor relations that would embarrass any of the three pre-'64 Winchesters that you've cited.

NOS Lyman 48's turn up from time to time on eBay, they usually do not go cheap though.

If I was looking for the correct Lyman 48 to go on a classic collectible rifle, the first dealer who I'd consider contacting would be Ken Bean in York, PA.

I would only deal with Gary Fellers from Fort Worth, TX, if we were doing so face to face and I could actually see/inspect the item in question.

Define cheap. I've had dinner/bar tabs bigger than what Lyman 48 WJS's fetch on ebay. I snagged a minty one there a couple months ago for $125. I got a mint one in the box for a Krag (48K) there last year for $60.

If you're in a hurry and/or don't want to play the ebay game just contact Ken Bean as stated. He has good stuff and his prices are fair. (You should see what he has in person if you want an eye opener and an education.)

Gnoahhh!

Hater time! Last Lyman 48 I snagged came in the shop in a box of assorted junk. $25 brought it home. Nice one too. Stuck on a Mauser

Theres a 48 on my Model 54 and I believe the old sight on the Model 64 was a 66A.

One Krag has old Redfield #70 (?) on it. A no D&T model. But you gotta modify the mag cut-off switch a little for such a Krag to feed proper.

Is Gary Fellers still selling sights? He used to have a bunch!

I don't know if Gary Fellers is still selling sights, but I know that I wouldn't buy anything from him without inspecting it in person. Once bitten, twice shy.

The gold standard for pre-64 M70's is the 48WJS.

Ken Bean is a very fair man.

jk16 makes some good points regarding the williams sight, IMO the aluminum Lyman 57 is not even in the same league, the williams being much better. The lyman 48/57 design does have one distinct advantage in that it is much easier to remove. I use a lyman as a backup on a scoped 375. I leave the side piece mounted all the time and insert the slide if needed. This is more difficult with the williams. Good quality Lyman 48's were starting at $125 when I was following them on fleabay. Thats a lot of $ but they track much better than most scopes 😉

Thanks! Knew he had a bunch. Never bought from him!

As regards Gary Fellers, Caveat Emptore buyer beware he'll take your money and go shop for what you want telling you BS stories the guy has bitten more than one individual.