Well, I did it. I bought the beat-up Winchester 52B. By the serial # it was made in Sept 1948.
Action is fine, and so is the trigger/safety. BUT the barrel is ringed about 1 foot back of the muzzle. How you ring a thick 22 barrel is beyond me, unless you lodge a bullet there and leave it for 10 years, which could easily have happened.
With the Lyman aperture sight it will shoot 1" at 50 yd as-is, well below 52-level performance. I don't know whether the ring matters yet. Gave the bore a gentle JB paste treatment then a thorough cleaning....rifling is quite sharp.
As I said, the stock had been butchered. The bedding is clearly poor. Shaving the high spots tightened the groups some.
Before I restock, I need to know whether I need a new barrel. I figure the thing to do is glass-bed in the existing stock to find that out. But it seems the 52 doesn't have anything I recognize a a recoil lug, which should be the centerpiece of glass bedding. So, anyone out there ever glass bed a 52? Where would you put your bedding? Under the receiver just forward of the mag, and under the tang behind the rear action screw is my guess. Plus a little under the first inch or two of barrel.
Action is fine, and so is the trigger/safety. BUT the barrel is ringed about 1 foot back of the muzzle. How you ring a thick 22 barrel is beyond me, unless you lodge a bullet there and leave it for 10 years, which could easily have happened.
With the Lyman aperture sight it will shoot 1" at 50 yd as-is, well below 52-level performance. I don't know whether the ring matters yet. Gave the bore a gentle JB paste treatment then a thorough cleaning....rifling is quite sharp.
As I said, the stock had been butchered. The bedding is clearly poor. Shaving the high spots tightened the groups some.
Before I restock, I need to know whether I need a new barrel. I figure the thing to do is glass-bed in the existing stock to find that out. But it seems the 52 doesn't have anything I recognize a a recoil lug, which should be the centerpiece of glass bedding. So, anyone out there ever glass bed a 52? Where would you put your bedding? Under the receiver just forward of the mag, and under the tang behind the rear action screw is my guess. Plus a little under the first inch or two of barrel.