doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Interesting Peep Sight by Pachmayr

I'm not Dennis (but I once played him in a Coen brothers movie), but I have a Lyman 54 bolt sleeve sight on my M1920 Savage and it works like a charm. As for the Lyman 48, after using rifles with that sight fairly regularly over the last 40 years I can attest to its ruggedness.

The sight in question may or may not return to the same position when the bolt is cycled.The 48 is fixed to the reciever.Just an observation.
Mike

Darn it, Gary, I knew I shouldn't have made the comparison.

Here are a couple of images of my .400 Whelen project rifle's Lyman 48 peep that Michael helped me find. Damaged in shipment, damaged before packing I couldn't say but damaged it is. Both 2-56 windage unit retaining screws were sheared off and the windage screw was bent and partially broken. Fortunately Michael had some spare parts and I got the sight fixed. In return, I repaired two of his with the precise same damage. Two old-timer friends up here that have considerable experience with the Lyman 48 have told me they have also had the windage knob bent or broken in the same fashion.

It is the classic peep, I prefer them to all others and will continue to put them on rifles when I can but, respectfully, ruggedness is not an attribute I apply to them. When looking for rugged you need look no farther than the Recknagel peep but boy is it ever ugly.



Brent--Sorry, I have no experience with the 54's.
Dennis

Howe's book on gunsmithing shows plans for a striker mounted sight, but I vaguely remember that it called for a spring loaded plunger on one side of the bolt sleeve to be sure that the slop in the shroud returns to the same spot when cycling the bolt. This sight doesn't add mass to the striker, but it could be affected by shroud looseness. Correction: Howe's sight is on the shroud, and it has a built in safety lever. Two pages of dimensioned parts drawings in the book--very complicated!!

It seems the big question with bolt sleeve sights is �Do they return to to the same position each time the bolt closes?� The answer is �Yes�. The Belding & Mull has a flat spring that rides on the tang as the bolt closes; the Howe Whelen, Goss, Marble�s Goss, Hart and Niedner bolt sleeve sights have adjustable pins and or screws that rest on the the tang when bolt is closed. Even the two home shop-built bolt sleeve sights in my collection have addressed this problem. The next problem mentioned in this thread is �How fragile is the windage screw on the Lyman 48?� The answer is �Very, very!� Griffen & Howe solved this problem which can be seen in the below pictured sight.

Gary Bush

Well fit Mauser bolt sleeve sights have the front of the cocking piece V shaped to fit a V slotted trigger sear assuring stable, repeatable alignment.

I sure like the engraving and inlay of the Springfield!
Love to see some more of the rifle.

I have a Springfield, as yet not identified by maker, that has an unmarked bolt peep. After much searching in the "Old Sight Book" and Michael's books, I finally found one. It is in Part 3 of Mister Rifleman, where Colonel Whelen's guns are pictured and described. It would be about page 310 if the Part 3 pages were numbered. The title of the page is ".30-06 Springfield Hunting Rifle". The sight was installed at Griffin and Howe. The sight is described as "a Lyman peep of their own design on the cocking piece, having both windage and elevation adjustment". The Whelen gun was stocked by Linden. Have any of you seen this sight before? Do any of you know what it is and where it came from? I'm a little light on early Griffin and Howe catalogs and find it strange that Stroebel did not mention it in his book.

Eightbore,

Please post a picture here or email a picture to me at kaglbush@stic.net. I may be able to identify your sight.

Gary Bush

Thanks, Gary. If I ever posted a picture, it would be my first. Mister Rifleman is quite a book, with an entire section devoted to two page pictures and descriptions of Whelen's guns.