mawkie
C&R Whisperer
Ever on the search for .22 military trainers I finally found a nice example of a WWII Winchester 75T US trainer for a stupid great price. Sadly the stock was sanded at some point, enough to nearly remove the stock cartouches. They're still there but so light as to be nearly invisible. Most likely happened during a refurb but no way to verify that.
It's got a Winchester 84A rear sight and the "mail box" 99A front sight, both parkerized. It probably had a plain dovetailed post sight originally and a Lyman 57E rear sight originally. The 84A is super tight, in cracking good condition. Again, perhaps added during a refit to replace a worn Lyman, who knows.
The SN dates it to 1941 so that's bang on as 10,000 were completed that year. Sadly Winchester records of this period are pretty much nonexistent so there's a lot of speculation on the 75T as to martial marks. Plus they were in service until the Clinton years when all too many were sadly destroyed. That's why you don't see nearly as many as you would expect. And why so many survivors aren't in original configuration. Rebuilds and civilian owners changing out worn components or upgrading have muddied the waters a bit.
It would be nice for someone to pick up where Tom Batha left off and publish a more comprehensive reference work for US military trainers. There certainly is a need for it!
It's got a Winchester 84A rear sight and the "mail box" 99A front sight, both parkerized. It probably had a plain dovetailed post sight originally and a Lyman 57E rear sight originally. The 84A is super tight, in cracking good condition. Again, perhaps added during a refit to replace a worn Lyman, who knows.
The SN dates it to 1941 so that's bang on as 10,000 were completed that year. Sadly Winchester records of this period are pretty much nonexistent so there's a lot of speculation on the 75T as to martial marks. Plus they were in service until the Clinton years when all too many were sadly destroyed. That's why you don't see nearly as many as you would expect. And why so many survivors aren't in original configuration. Rebuilds and civilian owners changing out worn components or upgrading have muddied the waters a bit.
It would be nice for someone to pick up where Tom Batha left off and publish a more comprehensive reference work for US military trainers. There certainly is a need for it!