Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Savage Collectors New (to me) 23C

So do I, but it resides on a Winchester 52 and ain't comin' off!

Man, you drive a hard bargain!

"I've spent some time with the search function this morning and it looks like I need a Savage No. 5 peep sight. Correct? Anyone have one for sale?"

From the serial, I would guess production around 1930-1931. Yes, the #5 peep would be correct (#10 will work, also). It was an add on option and will require a taller front sight as used on the NRA 19. The screws for the sight can be hard to find items. The screws are 10-36 and a 5-48.

You're right Rick! So are the sights apparently. There is a plug screw in the 5-48 hole so it was easy to figure that one out. Thanks for the info! I have a lathe and am not afraid of the screws. I would like a correct sight however. Sigh...

I would look for a No 10 and avoid the No 5. The No 5's are not very good and are easily damaged, they're made from sheetmetal stampings. The No 10's are listed as early as April 1933 so it would be very close to correct for a sight added to your gun as a later upgrade. You also will need a taller front sight as mentioned by Rick, the Savage No 6 front sight that was standard for the 1919 NRA's would be the factory option. No 10 and 'good' No 5 sights are not that common.

I had a #10 sight on a previous 19-33NRA (current one has no sights extant) and it was the chief reason I got rid of it. I never enjoyed a receiver sight that had so much backlash in its adjustment screws and overall flimsiness- it was awful. The worst receiver sight I ever played with. Are all those Savage receiver sights like that or did I get a lemon? My current 19-33NRA came to me with no sights which suited me and it wears a Litschert target scope instead.

The few 10s and 15s I've had seem to exhibit varying degrees of sloppiness. Some are tight, others not so much. I think the Savage sights were an example of a good design and a "so so" execution. A better sight is the Lyman 48Y but they are hard to find,

I find most No 10 & No 15 sights to be quite solid with little to no play in the elevation screw and possibly some in the windage on the earlier versions with less thread engagement for the screw. I do have one with about a half turn of play in the windage but you can't feel any movement in the post with finger pressure.


ADDED - before trying any of the parts in the link below read the review two posts down, apparently these parts may have a lot of storage damage!

There are still some parts available for these, the sight for the Stevens 416 was basically a No 15 with a different mounting base and Numrich has some NOS parts.
https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/savstevspgfld/miscellaneous-sav/416-micrometer-sgt
These parts would be for the shorter height sights like the later No 15's so the slide & elevation screw & knob would not work on the earlier tall sights unless all were changed.

I guess I got a lemon then.

Take caution because I tried that solution years ago and the elevation staff I received looked like it had been sitting in an wet and dirty old Planters Peanut can in someone's garage since 1947. It was not usable. However after saying what I did above I do find the 10s and 15s serviceable, but I also find the sights that were made by companies that only made sights to be a cut above. Right now I have a decent 23C with a Savage No. 10 sitting on top of the receiver and fully expect it to work within my expectations, i.e., the No. 10 being far better than the open sights. I also have an early 19 with a No. 5 that I wouldn't switch out for anything else. However if I were to use the 23C as a target gun (or serious little cast bullet shooter), and didn't mind drilling the receiver, I would go looking for a Lyman or Redfield.

I think I have a 15 arround here memory says the 10 is shorter than the 15? If interested I will try and track it down

Chris,

If my research on this subject is accurate, the hole spacing on the 15 would be wrong for my application. Or am I wrong. Again...

Doug

The #15 will only work on the later 19-33/23AA rifles.

ctw, if you run across a #15 let me know what ya need for it. Got a few of those later 19-33's.

The 15 is like an extension sight. It protrudes back and behind the receiver whereas the 10 does not. The 15 pairs up the two rear most holes on the receiver for mounting which are of different diameters. The 10 pairs up the two forward most holes which are of similar diameters. If you have an early 19-33 like I do, the 15 won't work because they have only two and not three factory holes in the top of the receiver - at least mine does. And neither of the two holes are of the largest diameter needed for the 15. The 15 won't work on early "two hole" 19-33s for other reasons too.