I picked this up earlier this week. I won’t have a chance to shoot it for a bit, but it cleaned up nice and looks to be in very good condition over all and has a bright shiny bore with sharp rifling. It should shoot.











It has a Marbles-Goss rear sight with an adjustable aperture, but I’m not sure about the front sight.

Very nice! You should have a ball with it.

My Model 52.

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Keep your powder dry.

What a beautiful tack driver! Congratulations on your purchase...please let us know how it shoots...

Your front sight looks like a vaver. The front and rear tunnels if it's will screw off to allow sight inserts. The sight inserts just screw in and out, they usually come on a small strip of metal with the size of the aperture stamped right near each insert. My 52B is a few years younger and was made in 1946. Have fun. Mine won't be ready to shoot soon.A bubba got to it before I did. Found a stock in better condition and hopefully not much work to get it up and running, Frank

Nice looking rifle. Who made the sights? These folks can tell you more than you ever wanted to know about your rifle: Winchester 52 - RimfireCentral.com Forums Great rifles, have had about 10 or so. Only have a 52D & 52E left.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Very nice!

It’s cross posted there. I’ve been a member in that forum for about 10 years now. I don’t visit it much, mostly because I don’t really enjoy it much.

For example the first post in the thread was someone ‘splaining to me it was a pre-A not an A, based on the serial number. Winchester’s factory records are pretty clear on the last serial assigned at the end of each year and per Winchester’s numbers it clearly falls well into the latter half of 1937. The member in question was referencing George Hertel numbers from the Houze book, which are not in agreement with the Winchester records. Based on the Hertel reference it would be a 1936 and a pre-A.

If he’d have raised it more as a question rather than a statement that it was too early to be an A and instead was a pre-A in an A stock, it would have been less galling. Kinda like calling your baby ugly.

We could have argued about which source is correct, except the relationship of the wing safety and safety stud to the back of the receiver clearly make this an “A”. That was something I checked before I ever bought it.




Unfortunately it’s just way too common over there for some of the self appointed experts over there to just assume none one else knows anything and express their opinions in a less than tactful manner.

No "Crack of Doom" so that is good. Since I am not a collector, but a shooter the "Crack of Doom" means little to me. I don't use the safety.

As far as "Know-It-Alls" go, you get the same thing here. Just not quite as much and more folks telling them so.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

BB57, that is a real beauty. I really like Winchester 52s. It is an emotional attachment. As a boy I hunted squirrels with some really spectacular treeing dogs with my grandfather and great uncle, who used an original M-52 sporter and insisted on head shots because he didn't want to "mess up the meat." Grandpa used a 12 gauge because he insisted he always bagged more squirrels and "they'd clean up." Yup, fried squirrel, stewed squirrel, squirrel with gravy and biscuits, even squirrel and spaghetti was on the menu. The pups weren't left out either. LOL.

I have Miroku 52B and C sporters, a couple of target Bs, a C, and a D. I regret not picking up a nice A at a show 10+ years ago. I have yet to find an E that I want to pay the price of ownership.

Enjoy your new find. As for "originality" who cares? I am a couple of decades younger than your rifle and no longer have all of my original parts. LOL.

Lovely rifle. Here’s my preA from 1924. A sweet shooter. Got a deal on it. Refinished the slightly damaged stock, recut the grasping grooves and added the Lyman rear sight and sling.

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Once I owned a Win 52, likewise of 37 vintage. Despite being well used it still shot nice groups. I'm sure you will enjoy your new acquisition. Who cares if it's not all original; back in the day most were quickly customized a little by their first owner.

My 52 turned into a Kimber 82 at the right time for me. The 82 was a better gun for me for 4 position NRA outdoor bullseye.

Now I'm on the hunt for a Miroku 52B Sporter (Browning or Winchester) at the right price and condition to be a shooter. Maybe NRA Rimfire Metallic Silhouette, maybe targets/small game.

"Now I'm on the hunt for a Miroku 52B Sporter (Browning or Winchester) at the right price and condition to be a shooter."

I once had thoughts of letting this one go. Once...

I bought it new decades ago.

Still lust over it everytime I see it/hold it. So. It stays with me.

enjoy,

bdGreen

Tap on image to enlarge.

You'll like it. I learned to shoot at a High School gun club with one when I was 12. Must have had a million rounds through it, but would still hold the 10 ring when you did your part.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I have two of the Miroku made Model 52 reissue sporters:

One of them has typical wood that the big W rifles were known for:





The other one has very nice striped wood (left, next to the Rem 541S):



Both are very good shooters with 5 shot 100 yard groups around 1.25 MOA with SK Std. Plus.

I recently found a Kimber 82 Govt for $450 and brought it home.



I also have a M1922M2:

I have a 52B made in 1946 has the last two numbers of the year it was made stamed on the underside of the barrel. My sight setups are a Redfield International for rear sights and up front is a Redfield Big Bore target globe front sight. And still have the mounting blocks for either a Lyman or Unertl scope. Bought a second stock as a winter project to resand and remove all the dings and gouges. Best part it came with an original checkered buttplate, missing on the other stock. Haven't seen one in many years. Take care of them they ain't making anymore. Frank

Love those old 52s. I had a 52b for quite a while and traded for something else years ago. Could kick myself for that. I now get my vintage .22 target rifle jollies from a Springfield 1922 M2 with an 8x Lyman Junior on it.

I do have a nice Winchester 52R sporter that I enjoy quite a bit. It has serial number 5 (BS0005) on it. Wood is better than average, but not spectacular. With some trigger work, it has become a pretty good shooter.

I have one of the later ones, made by Miroku. Early on, on Rimfire Central, there were a lot of detractors to this rifle, because it is not original, not made by Winchester in the USA, etc, etc. These negative comments seem to have largely abated. I can't give a report on how mine shoots because on the several occasions I went out with the purpose of testing it, something came up to interfere. Since then life seems to have gotten in the way. One thing I can say is that this rifle is beautiful, which as I read, is typical of how Miroku turns out all their firearms. I have a blue Colt Python and blue S&W Models 27 and 52, the top models in their line ups, and this Miroku/Winchester 52 is easily their equal in fit and finish.

The purists over there did love to hate on the Model 52“R” rifles because they were not “original” Model 52s made under the original Winchester banner.

They were not exactly wrong, but they it took the, awhile to figure out they were missing the larger and more important point that the Model 52 reissue rifles are superb rifles in their own right.

Browning made 5000 of them under the Browning label with a C style stock. Then then made 10,000 of them from 1992 to 2002 with the Winchester label and the straight comb B style stock. My straight grained example dates from 1992 and my figured wood example dates from 1997.

Being manufactured in those numbers and still being only about 30-40 years old doesn’t make the Model 52 reissue riffles a collectible firearm in the same class as an original Winchester Model 52 sporter, but it does make them arguably one of the best production .22 sporters ever produced in terms of both finish and accuracy.

Even if you look at them from a custom perspective, you'll note inset swivel studs, steel butt plates, grip caps, highly polished and deep blued finish and other "options" that would add around $1000 as options on a custom gun. IMHO, that makes the Model 52 re-issue rifles a great deal as about a decade ago when I bought both of mine, they were selling in the $800-$900 range in 95% condition or better.

The last one I saw on Gunbroker was in August of 2020. It was a Winchester marked example that sold for $1505. That’s basically $600-700 in appreciation in roughly 10 years.

Then or now, you’ll pay a few hundred more for one with very nice figured wood, but I'd buy it if you see it, as there are not many around.

I finally got back from SD and found some time to get out and shoot the new to me 1937 Model 52A.

It shoots very well.

I found a full set of inserts for the Vaver globe front sight and it proved useful today in optimizing the sight picture in the changing light. I also re staked the sight in its dove tail as it was a bit loose. Finally, I also substituted a Merit master adjustable rear aperture.



Once I got it zeroed I started shooting 5 shot groups on an A-23-6 at 50 yards.

It started out good, with a 50-2X



Then got smaller and scored a 50-3X:



I’m happy with it. Given that it was already 28 years old when I was born and obsolete then, 56 years later it still shoots exceptionally well and does it with inexpensive mid grade SK Standard Plus ammo.

I now have two of the reproduction Miroku 52Rs. Both are Browing stamped. The lower one with the fiddleback has been around me since 1992 and I have put many rounds down the barrel. Accuracy is amazing. I have been shooting NRL22 the past couple of years using the old gal againist those guys with Vudoos, etc. I picked the second one up a couple of years ago, could not turn down the nice stock. I found a great lot of the RWS ammo that Federal was reboxing as Federal Gold match that I am using in the NRL22. .35-.4 inch groups at 50 yards are the normal on no wind days and that stuff will stay around .75 inch at 100 and around 2 inchs or less at 150 yards in the older gun when the wind is working and I do my part from the bench. The new one will not shoot quite that good. Yes, some look down their nose because these guns are made in Japan. Yet the same guys have their 101 Winchester over unders, and they were all made by Miroku. Fit and finsh is fantastic on these guns for the cost.

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Pick up a scoring plug. I think if you used one that would be a 50-4X.......

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Love the 52. Have the browning Miroko sporter and a m 75 sporter.


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I have one, but it was in the sight bag I left home. I suspect it would be a 4X as well but I’d rather under state and over state.