I have a pre-war (1941) M70 my grandfather gave me a couple years ago, its currently sporting a Weaver K4. I'd like to get a Lyman 48 WJS which is what I understand was the original sight but ran into something that confused me. I've read that the pre-war stocks had to have an inlet cut to accept the sights but later on the sights were modified and the stock could be left alone. Thing is, the stock on my rifle hasnt been cut which leads me to believe I'm wrong about which years were cut or the stock isnt original. Can someone clear this up for me?

Your stock is original. Lyman peep sights were not standard order and a person had to pay a few extra bucks to have one installed by Winchester. During the prewar years that required the stock to be notched to accept the Lyman 48. Most however were not done by Winchester and were usually done after the purchase by a gunsmith or whoever. Factory rear sight for the prewar was the 22G buckhorn style sight with an elevator and this fit into the dovetail on the barrel band. Lyman later milled the base with a radius so it would fit over the stock and not have to be cut. If you are looking for a Lyman 48 for your rifle, search ebay under "lyman sight" and you'll find plenty. Here's a couple links for 2 that are currently for sale. One is the early style, that requires the stock to be cut, the other is the later style with no cutting. Get the later style and don't cut your stock as it's worth more as it is.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=73953&item=7127008369&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=73953&item=7127008277&rd=1

You Sir are a wealth of knowledge. Thanks for the information.

I know this guy and believe me, your assesment of him is way too high.

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Originally posted by Jim Kobe:
I know this guy and believe me, your assesment of him is way too high.

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OK

Better late than never? The sight with the shorter mounting block was the LYMAN 57W. This is the sight that did not require the stock notch for your old Model 70. These sight where made by LYMAN from 1936 to 1946. Please note that LYMAN changed the the model 48WJS sight in 1947 to the short base and this worked also without a stock cut. We sometimes see the result of overtighting of the guard screws when theses sights where mounted and it leaves a slight depression in the wood from mashing. So you might want to be carefull about laying on the screw driver when setting the barreled action back in the stock after you Install one of these sights.