Providence Tool Co sight

[Mike D.]

Have any of you installed one of these repro Lyman 21 sights on a Miroku Model 1886 rifle? I'm seriously thinking of putting one of them on a Japchester EL. Are the screws that come with the sight metric? I needs to know.

[Don McDowell]

I haven't used one of the sights, but have read that they come with both the metric and the sae front screws.

[Mike D.]

A quick phone call to Buffalo Arms got me the answer I was looking for. The sight does not come with metric screws, but does come with a #11-36 tap and the correct sized SAE screws. I could not get a qualifying answer from them, of course, concerning tapping out the factory metric screw hole that holds the cartridge guide stop. The stop itself would also require tapping, as this is what secures the front of the sight, exactly as the originals did. Now I'm totally confused.

[Don McDowell]

Might be the best thing to just contact Providence themselves .

[Mike D.]

DOH!! They said that they just run and tap the existing metric hole for the front screw. That settles it, I'm ordering one.

[Don McDowell]

Well there you go. Looking forwards to the write up complete with pictures

[Mike D.]

Whoa! Something didn't sound quite right with the "tap the existing hole" scenerio, so I dragged a couple of guns from the safe and looked a little more closely. Everything is much clearer now. To install a Lyman 21 sight on an 1886 you must drill and tap both holes. The stop screw is located too low to use that hole. This actually makes the installation a bit more difficult, but not impossible. To do a good job of drilling the receiver I gotta completely tear down the gun, again. I'll prob'ly buy the sight and wait 'til there is some other compelling reason to scatter parts all over the bench.

[Don McDowell]

The only hole that will need drilled and tapped will be the rear one where the adjusment lever goes. The front screw will use the hole that's already there, who's main purpose aside from holding the guide rail,is to drive the pin that holds the bolt to the lever out thru. But yes you will need to dismount the bolt and the locking lug to safely drill and tap the rear hole.

[Mike D.]

Don, that is true of the '94 and '95 Winchesters, but not of the '86. The '94 action, at the top of this photo, indicates the position of the screw hole. The '86 below has the hole too low to make the sight square with the receiver. A new hole must be drilled closer to the top and approximately an inch+ forward.

[Don McDowell]

Yes sir I see that now . Aren't the 71's like the 94's and 5's?

[Mike D.]

The 71 is exactly the same as the 1886, only with a coil mainspring. The bolt face is the same as the 50-110, which is the parent case for the .348 WCF and the locking lugs are very slightly angled. I've had both apart and many parts will interchange.

[leverlooney]

Sounds like you are making a bigger deal out of this than it is. I installed this sight on my USRAC 1895 and it was a piece of cake. If you have questions call the owner at Providence Tool. Nice guy and helpful. You will not regret this sight.

[Sixgun]

Mike,
Here's an original Model 21 on an original '86 and a Providence tool Co. sight on an original 95--if this helps at all-----Sixgun

,

[Mike D.]

My point was that two holes are needed to be drilled and tapped when installing a Lyman 21 sight on an '86. '94 and '95 Winchesters have the stop screw hole that can be used.