clarence said

Screwed said
I was curious about the barrel and its chamber and when I seated a CCI SV round, the rifling fully engraves the bullet.  I would assume this is normal too?

Right (as any match chamber should).  Seems like a fair price to me for a 52 with no remaining collector value.

    

Agreed, IF the rifle shoots well. Only you can determine the level of acceptable accuracy. I wouldn’t expect ragged one hole groups at 50 yards, a realistic expectation may be more along the lines of .5″.  It may take some experimenting with different ammo to find what the rifle likes. Stick to good target and match ammo for your best results. Forget High velocity ammo, it will make you sit down and scratch your head…….. Just my experience.

Erin

I would not jump to the conclusion barrel has been replaced. Winchester did not s/n the barrels. More than likely, your rifle was sent back to Winchester for some type of repair or modification. The 32591 is the control number Winchester put on the barrel to keep track of it while at the factory. I have several 52’s with similar numbering in my collection. What is the 2 digit barrel date on bottom of barrel. I would bet it is 27 or 28 indicating the year the barrel was manufactured. Proof marks appear to line up perfect, another indication barrel is more than likely original. 

    Rifle has had the rear sight changed at some point. It appears to have a RH mounted Lyman 48T instead of the factory 82A sight that was installed in the large dovetail on rear bridge of receiver. This could have been a factory installation, and thus the reason for its return to Winchester. When the 48T sights were installed on new 52’s at Winchester, receiver was left completely round with no dovetail for 82A sight. 

    It does appear the LH rear locking lug on receiver may be cracked. This is located just in front of the safety, and was a common problem with the early 52’s prior to the “A” revision. It will not affect safety or accuracy, but I would advise against using safety as this exasperates the problem. 

    Stock is not original to rifle. It is aftermarket of some sort

    Bolts on these early rifles did not have the deep & distinct s/n on bolt body as did the later rifles. It is very light usually, and sometimes very hard to see. I would have to see good close up pics to determine if yours has original markings. 

    Rifle does appear to have reblued, but for what you paid, you certainly did not get hurt. The 48T is worth at least half of what you paid for entire rifle.

Steve

I am certain barrel is original. Your rifle was serial numbered between November 12, 1927 and January 17, 1928. So, the 27 barrel date is correct. The other series of numbers are as I suspected, control numbers used at Winchester when at some point rifle was returned to factory for some type of repair or modification. The s/n on bolt look’s fine as as well. When rifle was reblued, it covered the s/n making it harder to see. I also noticed the “918” stamped on both bolt body and bottom of barrel. I have never seen Winchester use a 3 digit number like this on rework. Perhaps it was stamped by whomever reblued it?

Cannot tell if locking lug is cracked or not based on pictures, too much grease in area where potential crack would be located.

Steve

I cannot determine much with the pictures. No way of knowing if Winchester did the blue or not. Some of the pictures appear to show a reblue, others, such as rear of receiver look to have original blue. I would have to see it in person in some natural light to make a determination. Bottom of barrel and bolt body do look reblued. Based on wear patterns, look’s like it was done a long time ago, and is not an amateur job.

Steve

Half-inch groups at 50yds wouldn’t surprise me, could do even better with ammo it likes.

Mike