Now back in the Dark Ages when I was a little Turd. Pasadena had a Civil Defense area.
Which had a great little small bore Range. It came collect with underground passages to the Target pits. There were a couple of them Where you could raise or lower your target without needing a cease fire being called.
It also had a rack of these fine Old Rifles that could be rented. The staff there also gave informal lesson for the want to be marksman / Mark Person now I guess.
Anyways,my Dear Old dad took me there as often was possible. It was easily one of the bright spots in my youngster years.
In the late 1930s, the management at Winchester Repeating Firearms Company were faced with a dilemma. They had been building a really outstanding .22 target rifle (the Model 52) since 1919.
It was the one of the unquestioned leaders in the small-bore target rifle world. However, it was not really designed around younger shooters who were just beginning to compete in rifle matches, or for use by the military and ROTC units.
It was a heavy rifle (about 10 pounds), and expensive. There was a void that needed filling – a moderately priced target rifle expressly made for beginning shooters, yet accurate enough to win matches when used by more experienced competitors.
Winchester had been producing an excellent mid-priced .22 sporter (the Model 69A) since 1937, and it had a number of advanced features. Winchester’s engineers were accordingly tasked with crafting a great yet relatively inexpensive target rifle, building it around the exceptional Model 69A speed-lock action.
The Model 75 was the result, with production beginning in 1938, with a Sporter model following in 1939.