Dear Sirs!

Just got a Winchester 70 Safari Express in .375 H & H. Very fitting in the Holland & Hollands fine round´s 100th Birthday and Winchester 70´s 75th Anniversary, don´t you think?

What a FINE Rifle!

Nice Wood, CRF, NICE Trigger!!! Iron sights sighted in by the factory!

The rifle will get Steel Weaver Bases and a low power variable scope.

But for Emergency use I want optimum Iron sights, too.

I already have a Peep sight for the Weaver bases, and would like to use it as a backup to the scope.

The factory front dot is too small for me ( my Eyes ain´t what they used to be ... my Son shoots fine with the rifle ... :-/ )

I would prefer a Partridge style front sigh. IMO its a standard 3/8 dovetail front sight base?? Is it?

But if I use a higher front sight, it´s not centered in the front sight hood ... which I think is not good in a close encounter.

Are there larger front sight hoods anywhere available to fit the factory front sight base?

And the rear sight has a TIGHT notch. Its fitted to the base by a WIDE dovetail, much larger than 3/8. The blade is fitted to this assembly by 2 screws. Anybody knows where to get replacement blades, so I might file one up to my likes, and not touch the original one?

Please post your recommendations, also general recommendations and observations on irons on a bolt .375 ( for Africa )!

thx in advance, Hermann

I have the same Winchester, also in 375. Mine was equipped with a New England Custom Gun rear sight, and a Williams front sight. If you go to NECG's website, look at the rear sight options. I opted for the skeletonized rear sight. You can replace the front sight with a fiber optic, or brass bead. Midway, I think, stocks replacement sights for both NECG and Williams.
I put a Williams Firesight in the front dovetail. You are correct about the 3/8 front dovetail, that corresponds to the Williams "medium" width.

I also have a new Win mod 70 ,,,If you go with the fiber optic try replacing the red fiber optic rod with green or yellow you can buy replacement rods from brownells that color really helped with my eyes

THANKS!

I already found out, via the Brownell´s HP, that the NECG sights look awefully similar to the Recknagels.

I have contact with Recknagel now, and will send them the pix of the sight in Question on Sunday.

I guess, that Recknagel makes the NECG´s ones.

Hermann

The NECG sight is marked ERA, I don't know if that means Recknagel, but I know NECG imports the sights from Germany. Again, the front ramp is from Williams.
I was surprised that Winchester outsources their sights instead of making them, but I guess that's how it is done.

quote:

I opted for the skeletonized rear sight.

The skelotonized rear sights are a fixed height sight and are really designed to be used with the Universal front sight which provides .100" of adjustment, and 2 or 3 'starting height" front beads to choose from.

Unlike the solid, forward slanting, or straight rear sight, the skeleton versions don't offer much in the way of extra to file on, hence the adjustment via the front site.

FWIW, if you want a combination of front and rear sights that stand out and can be see, take a look at the sights Sako puts on the Black Bear, Brown Bear or Kodiak. IMHO, and with my aging eyes, these are ideal. The front sight can be had from NECG. I have yet to find a similar rear and have talked at length with Todd at NECG about this, as these are the sights I'd like to end up with on my M70 375 H&H Safari Express (and a couple of custom builds).

No, you really can't file the skeletonized sight. By experimenting with different height front beads, I was able to get what I needed. I needed a rear sight tall enough to use with Talley bases, and not occlude the "windows" in the rear sight. Twelve mm is what worked. Todd at NECG was very helpful, using measurements of the gun, calculating the height front bead I would need. I think I settled on .375.

That is very good information, thanks for putting it up. The human eye is pretty sensitive at 590 nm wavelength IIRC. That corresponds to a fiber-optic green with a touch of yellow, or a fiber-optic yellow with a medium touch of green.

ERA means Recknagel, and it was confirmed by Recknagel.

Front is unknown to them, but Williams looks good.

They told me, there are no different heights rear sight blades, and no replacements are sold.

So I either have the original opened up a bit :-/ or do nothing.

Hmmm ...

By the way, the bedding on that Win 70 Safari Express is really good, also on the front barrel lug, and the factory adjusted MOA trigger is just fine - no work needed.

Zeiss Dialyt 2 - 8 x 42 already there, Warne Weaver style Steel bases and Rings on Order ...

;-)

Hermann