Winchester 52 & Scope

[310Pilot]

I found one of these with the Unertle scope today in excellent condition.
Does anyone know what these are worth. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance,
Greg

I haven't kept up with the market for 52s, but I would bet you're looking at a minimum value of $2,500, possibly up to two to four times that, depending on model, scope variant and condition.

 

[DWalt]

I have a Winchester 52-B with bull barrel and 16x Unertl scope. I used it in competition through the 1950s and 1960s with great success. It also has a Marble-Goss rear sight, which was the top of the line target peep sight back then. You bought your own rear sight in those days, as different shooters had strong sight preferences. I don't think I would sell my setup for less than $2500, even though I very seldom use it anymore. It has lots of memories.

 

[BruceB]

When I joined the ROTC rifle team back in '64 we were shooting 52-C's and the next year traded them in for 52-D's. A year of so later, everybody changed to the much more difficult international targets and we we were suddenly competing against teams equipped with Anschutz rifles. That moved the competition to an entirely different level, and the old conventional Model 52's were no longer good enough. They were great rifles and I fired about 5,000 rounds a year through them with nary a problem.

This brings back memories. I started International 4 position competition with a 52 in 1967 at the ROTC range at UMass, but quickly switched to an Anschutz with all the fancy accessories. I think I found my original cuff sling and mitt when I moved last year. I had a lower-end Anschutz I had used as a youth coming up through the NRA Junior Markmanship program.

I did have one of these Unertl scopes on a prone rifle for a while for long range .22 matches, but most of that stuff went away when I went in the USCG. I wish now I had been more forward-thinking and kept some of that good equipment, but at 20 years old, it just didn't seem to matter.

I still find myself lingering near the guys selling the old target rifles at the gun shows, but then I have to remind myself that I'm not as young or steady or sharp-eyed as I was as a late teen.

 

[oldRoger]

Well guys I am as old as dirt and I just switched from a 1913-54 to a 2007.

I am going to continue to shoot off-hand until they put me away. I don't make an elegant display getting into prone (even less elegant getting up) but am too old to care.
As for holding steady, I probably never was very steady anyway, it's just a case of pulling the trigger at the right time.

Interesting thing about tight rimfire chambers is that you sometimes have to push a misfire out with a cleaning rod because they don't extract. I have Bully barrels for my M41s and a misfire almost never extracts. I keep a wood dowel handy.

 

[s&wchad]

I missed this thread the first time around. That little "click" you heard/felt just before closing the bolt was most likely the dual opposing extractors snapping over the rim of the cartridge.

 

[Cdog]

A quality rimfire is capable of jaw dropping accuracy. Those 52's are still used to win matches in my area.

A side note to those not familiar with rimfire rifles. These like anything else are only as good as the weakest link.

You can't expect Federal Lightening or other promotional ammo to shoot a single ragged hole @ 100 yds. Fed the proper diet, the 52, 40X, CZ's, and Annie's are quite capable of doing it though.

I recently traded off my last Anschutz, as I so rarely shot it anymore. I still have a couple of CZ's that'll stackem about as well as I can shoot though.

Rimfire match shooting is very addictive. I wish it were more popular in my area.

Really great to see the pics guys, Thanks!