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July 3, 2020
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Good things come in pairs…sometimes threes… my other 52 Custom project is coming along nicely and is supposed to be ready the first weekend of October. This past weekend I delivered it to my gunsmith to remove the 48J, TLC the stock and metal of the donor pre-A 52 that I found two weeks ago and install the proper Lyman 48T sight. I left with the wondrous anticipation of a kid waiting for Christmas… 4 weeks till I would have my “custom 52” in hand! Well, the next day after I set up at the Kalispell, Montana show, my gunsmith shows up and says “I have something I think you may be interested in” with a big grin on his face. He opens the rifle case and casually brings out a Griffin & Howe custom 52… the wood & checkering are amazing. The metal shows typical late 1920’s flaking… the Lyman 48J sight is worn… the butt plate is actually from a Springfield 1903 NRA Sporter as are the swivels. Needless to say, I was hooked…I had to own it… he was actually pretty gentle on me and I put it under the table. Later that day a gentleman walked thru the show with a mint early 52… beautiful, unmolested stock, early 82 ladder rear sight & 93A front sight. 🙂 🙂 Overall, the metal rated 98% or better. It didn’t have any original magazines… I made an offer… and he got upset. I said my offer was based on the lack of original magazines, he said the mags were factory because they had “W” on them… I tried to explain that they were not, but were made on original tooling and did function properly. He left and walked thru the show. He never passed my table again. I thought I had missed the perfect donor for the Griffin & Howe. Went to dinner… thought about that Pre-A 52 all evening… made my gut hurt.
That next morning I finally accepted the reality that I was still on the hunt for a nice pre-A to fill that stock. Than shortly after the show opened, I saw that same gentleman again… walking up the aisle towards me with that same 52… he had trolled it the entire previous day and didn’t receive an offer… as he walked up the aisle, I went out to meet him. I asked if I could look at the rifle again. He said, “I’m sorry for walking off in a huff yesterday… I went online last night and found out you were right about the magazines… I’m open to your offer.” Thinking to myself, do I stick to my guns or do I sweeten the offer a little to give thanks for a second shot… well, that was what I did. A few bucks the other way wasn’t going to hurt me, but owning that rifle would literally make my weekend…maybe my year! He graciously accepted… after a few minutes they Griffin & Howe stock had a new barreled action mounted to it. I now have a speed lock, pre-A 52 barreled action with a 48J sight and an excellent early 52 stock that I need to figure out what to do with…
Here’s a couple pics of the Griffin & Howe & nicer 52 barreled action.
UPDATE: Scroll down to see the pics directly… I talked with the “ghost of the WACA machine” and he directed me to the updated protocol… 🙂
July 3, 2020
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Here are the pics of the G&H before “transplant”…
July 3, 2020
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Here are some pics of the swivel mount on the G&H stock & “shark fin” sight that came on the donor unmarked A 52…
July 3, 2020
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Just talked with Bert… learned the updated photo protocol…
Here are pics of the Griffin & Howe stock & nicer barreled action:
July 3, 2020
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Here’s what the “original” Griffin & Howe looked like…
June 1, 2023
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Ben,
That is a really nice “Un-marked A” Model 52 rifle, and the G&H stock looks so much better with a nice barreled action residing in it. You really have been sailing under a lucky star lately!
BRP
January 20, 2023
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Whoever specofied the dimensions of the stock surely had arms like an orangutan. But you can see it’s a G&H design from across the room. Handsome, practical, and only the finest materials. Never a flyweight.
Does my faded memory defeat me or was G&H the creator of Major Hessian’s Model 52 sporting rifle, the one that became the progenitor of the Model 52 Sporting?
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
July 17, 2012
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Ben,
Here is a G&H ad from January, 1925 offering to restock small bore rifles (such as the Model 52) with custom stocks. If I squint real hard I can imagine the front sling swivel at an angle 
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
January 20, 2023
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Ben, congratulations on your acquisition and for your masterful closing stroke — giving up a few dollars in response to the Seller’s admission he was wrong. Lesser negotiators might even have lowered their previous offer to make him eat crow. The World is a much smaller place than such people think and being gracious in victory is good business.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
July 3, 2020
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JWA said
Ben,
Here is a G&H ad from January, 1925 offering to restock small bore rifles (such as the Model 52) with custom stocks. If I squint real hard I can imagine the front sling swivel at an angle
Best Regards,
Jeff…. +1… my “squinting” did the same. 🙂
July 3, 2020
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Here’s a G&H stocked Sharp’s I once owned…has the same “look”. It was very inexpensive due to a chunk broken in the wrist. I had Doug Turnbull fix it, the repair is almost invisible. It became very expensive after the repair. 🙂
…
January 20, 2023
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No doubt. Work that renders flaws invisible is the most difficult and expensive.
I hadn’t realized until just now that the G&H forearm swells laterally to a semi-beavertail at the likely gripping point. The ventral view photograph shows it; the more common lateral views do not.
- Bill
WACA # 65205; life member, NRA; member, TGCA; member, TSRA; amateur preservationist
"I have seen wicked men and fools, a great many of both, and I believe they both get paid in the end, but the fools first." -- David Balfour, narrator and protagonist of the novel, Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.
July 3, 2020
Online
Zebulon said
Ben, congratulations on your acquisition and for your masterful closing stroke — giving up a few dollars in response to the Seller’s admission he was wrong. Lesser negotiators might even have lowered their previous offer to make him eat crow. The World is a much smaller place than such people think and being gracious in victory is good business.
Zeb… that was something I was taught early on… one never knows if there are other items in the sellers possession and when the day comes to move them, a previous “positive” transaction may prove to be beneficial. Plus, it’s always good to be able to sleep at night… Hope to meet you in person at the Denton show…
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