I picked this up locally today. These are pretty scarce in my area. The is a 1964 Winchester 52D which is a single shot and this one was purchased thru the CMP so its was a Government training rifle. The gentleman who purchased it bought two and kept the one with better wood. Great! I'll take this one. I do have the original Redfield peep sights for it. Trigger is great on it. Anybody else have any 52s?

Great. Looking for range reports.

A 52E. The scope pictured is a Redfield 3200, but it has a different sight now. I bought it used in the early 1970s, and as I recall based on the serial number it was made in 1968. It is one gun I have never regretted having purchased.




Typo: 1968, not 1958 which would have made it older than yours.

I can believe that! Racking that bolt is a pretty sweet experience. Nice gun sir.

Back when I was shooting NRA high power competition I picked up a Win. 52C. I practiced indoors in the winter with it. In the summer 22 rimfire at 200 yards was comparable to long range centerfire. I had Redfield Olympic iron sights and a 12 power Lyman Targetspot scope for it.

several D's, from CMP
pre A, dates to about 21 or 22

have a B that was completely reblued, including the Redfield sights, to a high polish
family thought they were doing an old guy a favor, and reblued it for his birthday or similar,
saddened him so much he sold it to me , with the 1/8 min sights, glove, freelands case and a few accessories,

and a C , I think

need to open that safe and go thru them again,

I have shot the pre A quite a bit, it is very very accurate,
and had a D on the range,

Lyman, they are impressive rifles. I can't wait to get this one out for a test run. I'm leaning towards just cleaning the stock and adding some oil to the finish. It has a few small dings but nothing major.

I installed the Redfield Olympic sights today, couple of photos below.

Very nice, and inspires me to think about shooting mine with the irons again. Of course, with 7-8" of snow today, that may wait.

Yikes. 8" of snow would cripple us. Next week in NC the weather is looking a little better, so maybe I can shoot it.

quote:

Originally posted by got2hav1:
Yikes. 8" of snow would cripple us. Next week in NC the weather is looking a little better, so maybe I can shoot it.

Lol...we got a foot last week and delayed school for two hours. Did spend a lot of my day at work dealing with idiots in the ditch, though.

I'm a huge fan of those 52s. Our gun club has a couple and I've had the opportunity to shoot them on several occasions. Those aperture target sights are amazing, and those guns shoot like a laser. I'm always kind of on the watch for one when I peruse the used racks, hoping somebody doesn't realize what they've got. That was a great buy!

I thought this one was a great buy @ $750 plus another $100 for the sight set. CMP guns usually sell for less than the commercial guns but I was happy just to find one in apparently good condition.

They are great shooters. I have several including a pre-A, several B’s, a C and I think a D. Most are heavy barrels. One is a standard weight (slim) barrel and one is a bull barrel. The bull is a pound heavier than the heavy barrel. All are beautiful shooters.
I love and lean on the old Unertl scopes. While the competition peep sights are nice,I quickly move to the scopes when I can. I also have a reissue of the 52 Sporter that was made in Japan.It too is a quality piece.

As far as stock finishes. I think some of the military pieces were simply oiled stocks. If that is the case do whatever you want, as I have zero experience to offer there.
Some of the other stocks were a clear shellac. These scratch pretty easy and with age might even flake. What I have done is used alcohol (not isopropyl) and wiped the finish, in essence dissolving much of it. When I am happy with the uniformity of the finish I thoroughly dry it and wipe on a coat of paste floor wax. It buffs beautifully and isn’t at all slippery. In addition it resists any water contact (within reason). The same wax prevents rusting of any kind on them steel, so I wax that too. I have never been disappointed with this procedure. It is also easy to change - alcohol will remove the wax should you wish. More can be applied as you think it’s needed.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
What I have done is used alcohol (not isopropyl)

What specifically are you referring to? Some sort of denatured alcohol?

Your comment piqued my interest because I dropped a little cleaning solvent on my stock and it attacked whatever finish was on it, leaving an obvious damage spot. Assuming that alcohol would remove the original finish and I could end up with a waxed finish that you describe would be nice.

I believe this stock is oiled. So I'll proceed under that assumption. I do have a set of scope blocks for it and I have a old Lyman Supertarget scope from my model 75 that would look great on it. I'm going to shoot it some first with the peeps.

Went to a college where all males were automatically in ROTC. The ROTC had these rifles to introduce students to a rifle. I was put on the schools rifle team. Wonder if college small bore competition still exist? Really enjoyed the experience.

Sigfreund - I think you are right with the alcohol solution for your stock. Yes, denatured alcohol is what I use. You can dampen a rag wipe it on the stock gently. It will first soften and dissolve just a bit of the finish. You can stop at any time and see how you like it. On the 52 you might try it around the front sling mount. Unobtrusive. Stop if you don’t like it.
The paste wax goes on easy and is rather flat looking.A bit of buffing with a clean rag and it comes up nice.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by abnmacv:
Wonder if college small bore competition still exist?

They do still exist. I am a member of a local club that has a Junior Rifle Team. While some of the group are Junior High age, most are in High School. They compete regionally, sometimes nationally and even internationally.
The point is there are college scouts at these events. Two of the team were scouted this year and will be going to college in the Fall on full (yes, FULL) scholarships. While I can’t say which specifically, because I don’t know, these two colleges are in Kentucky and Alaska. Some searching will certainly bring up others.

quote:

Originally posted by abnmacv:
Went to a college where all males were automatically in ROTC. The ROTC had these rifles to introduce students to a rifle. I was put on the schools rifle team. Wonder if college small bore competition still exist? Really enjoyed the experience.

kinda,

high school in this area use Air Rifles (only a few, not every school)

VMI used to have a team, but not sure if they still do smallbore,

one of the teams (combat something) shoots a couple times a year at Rivanna, at the Service Rifle/High Power match,

UVA had a pretty good team, but not sure who is running it or if it still exists since Benneche retired,
tho he was doing some coaching at Rivanna last year or so, before his health got bad

I'm pretty sure NC State has a rifle team. As I recall they had a shooter who was highly rated a few years back.

quote:

Originally posted by Chris42:
Sigfreund - I think you are right with the alcohol solution for your stock.

Thank you. Perhaps a good project for the winter.