Model 52 Winchester mods

[Will Henry]

I recently picked up a decent, but altered, Model 52C, bull barreled, match rifle. A previous owner had done some checkering (apparently, with a knife and fork) and the receiver is drilled and tapped (thankfully, the holes are , at least, straight). I want to add a recoil lug and was thinking of simply making a washer-type; like a Remington. What, if anything, are others doing?
The bore is good but the barrel has been recrowned. There is just a hint of burning at the leade, viewed through the borescope. I may set it back and re-chamber.
I may decide to use it for silhouette, in which case I'll probably make another stock and save the original stock for prone shooting.
By the time I'm done, I should have a decent rifle which will have cost me slightly less than twice as much as a new Anschutz. WH

 

[1Merlin]

Been there and done that. Finally ended up with an Anschutz based rifle but I don't regret the experience......

 

[watercam]

I, too, have a 52C. I chose to forgo the factory stock and had Masterclass make one. Instead of a recoil lug added to the gun the rear of the receiver is supported by wood left high. Glass bedded the receiver into the stock and added pillars front and rear. Just shot a 200 yd. test with RWS R50 ammo and my waterline was terrific.

 

[Will Henry]

I shot a Model 75 for a year and it worked well enough but the stock was more suited for prone so I made an offhand stock and, since I didn't want to alter the original barrel and it was a bit heavy, I rebarreled it as well. The trigger is the main issue with it. Nonetheless, it shoots well but I always wanted to work with a 52. I like messing with these "vintage" rifles. I try to keep all the parts so that I can restore them to their original condition but the fact that this 52 has already been altered makes it a little less critical. WH

 

[Will Henry]

So, after studying on it a bit, I decided I would just mill the flat, on the bottom of the receiver, ahead by about 1/4 inch and use a steel insert in the stock for a recoil lug. Winchester had kind of started to do this but the engineer quit halfway through the job. I figured I might as well pull the barrel while I was at it so I built an action wrench for the 52 and turned out a bushing for the barrel vise since I didn't have one which fit. The barrel broke loose easily enough. The face of the receiver looked to have had some peening done on one side and the shoulder of the barrel looked a little off. So I now have to make some gauges to check thread alignment in the receiver. I'll turn a mandrel to fit the receiver so I can set up the receiver to re-cut the face and, possibly, the threads. If the original threads are misaligned, I'll probably open them up to 13/16". Obviously, I will have to set the barrel back which I was thinking of doing anyway. After careful consideration, I've decided to do what I can to restore the original, prone-style, stock and just make another for silhouette shooting. Does anyone else have projects like this that snowball out of control or is it just me? I have a model 75 which has gone through much the same process. WH

 

[Outrider27]

you're not the Lone Ranger, lol. I often start projects that end up snowballing like that, and I expect others on this site do too. Enjoy it.

 

[SBS]

The piece pictured below works well on all Win. 52 repeaters (if you're going to use them as single shots) and doesn't require any alteration to the receiver. It uses the same 2 screws that fasten the magazine housing to the receiver. What you found at the receiver/barrel junction is somewhat common with factory barrels that have been taken off and reinstalled. These barrels are not put on with much torque from the factory and often time when screwed back in, too much torque is used and the sight holes no longer line up. The front of the receiver is then peened to correctly oriented the barrel. The C, D & E receivers are case hardened and difficult to cut on. I've had to use a surface grinder to true up the receiver front; C6 carbide would not do the job. Ran into the same problem fitting an E type recoil lug on a D model, which requires making a large flat on the bottom of the receiver -- carbide end mill wanted to skate, so used the surface grinder.

 

[Will Henry]

Well, I faced .002 off the front of the receiver and it worked out fine. The threads check out close enough to perfect that I'm satisfied. I have now made it mandatory to set back and rechamber since the barrel turns past register. I may as well set back .750 (minus about .004" so the barrel will register) so I can cut a complete new chamber. I'll now move ahead with the recoil lug as well. Since I have to set back anyway, I may just go ahead with the washer type. WH

 

[ebb]

I once shot with a guy that had a 721/722 Remington chambered in 222 it was rebarreled and chambered with out a recoil lug. The new owner must have thought a lug was necessary and designed and installed his own version. I've never seen another like it, but the rifle was a tack driver so it must maybe some how have helped. It had a horseshoe nail driven in up against the tang. I am not recommending it but if you want to stop the snowball it may be something to consider. Good luck

 

[Hicksville Kid]

Well, I faced .002 off the front of the receiver and it worked out fine. The threads check out close enough to perfect that I'm satisfied. I have now made it mandatory to set back and rechamber since the barrel turns past register. I may as well set back .750 (minus about .004" so the barrel will register) so I can cut a complete new chamber. I'll now move ahead with the recoil lug as well. Since I have to set back anyway, I may just go ahead with the washer type. WH

I purchased a 52D from a pawn shop when I knew nothing about 52Ds.
- it was bedded as well as the stock shortened.
- it was recrowned
- it was rechambered
- the barrel is upside down and slightly over rotated.
It shoots well. ;-)

 

[ms6852]

My 52C is still all factory with Redfield sight. Love to shoot it at 200 yards but now with several eye surgeries will eventually have to put a scope on it. Luckily I purchased a mount made by Ken Vianni who no longer makes them but this mount uses the same holes used for the Redfield sights, so no tapping of the receiver is needed. Also have one for my rem 513T

 

[Will Henry]

I have a 20x Litschert which I plan to put on this one. With the barrel setback, the base spacing will be just a little off but not so much that it will mess up the click value all that much. This will work fine for shooting prone but I might have to use something else for silhouette. I have had issues with cross firing when I've tried the higher powered scopes before. I wish this Litschert was a 12X but it is what it is. My grandfather was shooting with this scope on his 22 about 90 years ago. WH

 

[justinp61]

I have a 20x Litschert which I plan to put on this one. With the barrel setback, the base spacing will be just a little off but not so much that it will mess up the click value all that much. This will work fine for shooting prone but I might have to use something else for silhouette. I have had issues with cross firing when I've tried the higher powered scopes before. I wish this Litschert was a 12X but it is what it is. My grandfather was shooting with this scope on his 22 about 90 years ago. WH

Just write your name on the targets, if it doesn't have your name on it, don't shoot it.

 

[Will Henry]

I don't think we're allowed to do that in metallic silhouette. On our range, the banks are color coded but, to me, purple and blue look exactly the same and the red and green are too close to call. If they put the red or green in between the purple and blue, it would help a lot but nobody seems to care! It is disheartening, on those rare occasions that I score a hit, to have it count for someone else. WH

 

[epc308]

Projects that snowball out of control? I’m still waiting for one that doesn’t, lol. It’s a constant in discussions with a good friend of mine; the ‘rabbit hole’ we seem to find ourselves in. When you have spent a lifetime working in tenths, firearms seem sloppy by comparison. It never ceases to amaze me how well factory rifles shoot out of the box. Give them any kind of love, and the results can be startling. Take an already very good platform like a M52, and it’s even better.