Need rear sight leaf spring help

[FCPDAVE]

Hi, I'm having a problem installing a Win. rear sight. My Win. came to me with an E rear sight and an R leaf spring. I found a nice W rear sight, but first I need to know if the leaf spring arch faces up or down. Problem is that the W leaf spring I got from Spring. Sporters doesn't fit properly in the recess by it's screw - a little too wide. Turns out that the R spring doesn't fit in either (a little too wide). The R spring is nicely blued and is well made. The W spring, while it has a W, feels lighter and not nearly as well made (rough edges, sort of parked, borders aren't cut correctly). Any thoughts that it might be a copy? No other W parts on the rifle appear to be made that poorly.
Thanks,
Dave

[musketshooter]

The groove it fits in is tapered like a dove-tail. It must be slid into place, not just dropped in.

[kcw]

As musketshooter noted, the spring slips in from the rear end of the receiver into a dovetail with the curve "up". The screw through the spring just keeps it from slipping out of the dovetail to the rear of the receiver. With the sight ladder held upright with in one hand, the bottom of the sight is pressed down against the spring until there is clearance for the cross screw to go through the sight and the "ears" of the receiver. You'll want to have the rifle stabilized in a gun cradle, or held by another person, while you do that job.

[FCPDAVE]

Thanks to both for the info. The W spring I got from Sprg. Sporters is so poorly made compared to the R spring that it wants to lie crooked in the groove. I wonder if the inter changeability issue is a problem here as the rifle is serial # 99,2__. It would bother me to put that substandard spring in, even though the rifle isn't hi level collector gun. I'll reply again when I get another spring.
Dave

[kcw]

I'd think that by that serial number the parts interchange issues with the early Winchester 1917's was ironed out, at least as far as the basic gun was concerned. More than likely you simply have a defective part. I had a NOS "E" stamped M1917 butt stock with all the correct WWI inspector's marks which wasn't fully inletted in the barrel trough at the forward end of the chamber area.. This caused the muzzle end of the barrel to stick up an inch+ over the muzzle end of the stock (rather than to bear down on the stock with 4 or 5#'s pressure at the muzzle end of the butt stock). In order to get the hand guards and bands on, the barrel had to be bent down, which is exactly what the armorer that assembled it during the WWII rebuild program did! That resulted in the gun shooting 2' low at one hundred yards! That was also the likely reason that it was still in "rebuild new" condition (the bolt was still stiff in the action from the WWII reparkerizing) when I bought it cheap a couple of years ago. Once I determined what the problem was it was an EZ 10 minute fix. Fortunately the barrel hadn't taken a "set" after all those years and I eventually got the rifle into suitable shooting order.

[musketshooter]

I have an extra W marked spring.

[warbrds]

I have an extra W marked spring.

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