How "sporting" is the Winchester 52 Sporting Rifle? -- a problem with the factory sights|Winchester .22 Rim Fire|Forum|Winchester Collector

Does the 57E have a greater range of elevation? 

The 48F was a very expensive acquisition. Before I give up on it, I need to make certain I’m getting the full 60 minutes of elevation adjustment. I need to pull the sight and see whether there’s more available. It may be the longer elevation screw will  mostly or completely solve the problem by letting the bridge descend to bottom out on the receiver flat. 

The factory hood for the 52 Sporting was the very tall #3279, apparently made of Unobtainium. Most collectors have to settle for the more common #3278, which my gun wears. The front sight in the dovetail when I got the gun was a Lyman 81HA —  I believe it is .375 but it may only have been for show. The receiver sight base on the gun was a modified Redfield 70 missing its bridge and the gun wore a Weaver J3 in Redfield rings and base. 

But the default factory front sight was the Redfield FGB #255 (.360″). 

Steve, Lou and Timothy,  I would think that, at the 48F’s lowest elevation, assuming the tip of the bridge stop screw does not protrude at all from the ventral surface of the bridge, the bridge itself would contact the receiver flat. 

In the case of my rifle, at the point of vertical obstruction, there is about a quarter inch of clearance between the bridge and the receiver. 

Would any of you confirm that such clearance is not the normal minimum elevation for the 48F bridge?

If not,  then BRP likely has the answer.  I need to pull the sight and examine the underlying stock. If the “short” elevation screw presently installed is being obstructed and, after the necessary relief cut allows further descent of the bridge,  I will see if the bridge can be lowered to bear on the receiver flat. If not, I will install the longer elevation screw and adjust the relief accordingly. 

I realize the pointer associated with the 60 minute elevation scale is adjustable and not dispositive, but at the point of bridge obstruction, the pointer was exactly level.with the first hash mark at the top of the scale, indicating minimum elevation. It took me a while to observe there was still air between the bridge and the receiver. 

Steve, Lou, BRP — After your collective advice, I can better understand why Mother said I should go to law school instead of pursuing an engineering degree. I couldn’t quite get my head around the mechanical principle involved — that to lower the bridge I must lower the elevation screw to which it is connected and which moves it up and down. duh. 

Lou, you are right neither the Lyman 48F nor the Redfield #255 are original to the gun, S/N 99076C being an end-of-the-bolt Sporting Rifle. I only recently obtained both sights from BRP, who, in a moment of Christian charity, sold them to his fellow Anglican at (slightly) less than their current eye-watering market price. He furnished me two lengths of elevation screw, the shorter one presently installed but very likely still bearing on the stock.  

As you can see from the attached photos taken shortly after I bought the rifle, it came with the body of a Redfield 70 receiver sight, shade tree engineered to poorly fit the receiver. The bare stock photo shows (dimly) an indentation made by some sight’s elevation screw, although not likely the Redfield. 

I will remove the Lyman 48. Once free of the stock, I’ll see if the elevation knob will operate to further lower the bridge. If so, I’ll inspect to see how far the elevation screw protrudes from the sight base when the bridge is fully down, and relieve the stock to allow it. 

TxGunNut and I will then repair to the range and see if we can get the point of impact to coincide with point of aim at 50 yards. If it should prove to be an inch too high still, I have a ready remedy. A Redfield Sourdough .375 H now rests in my 1950 Model 70 Super Grade .30/06, paired with a Lyman 48 WJS-H.  I will install the Redfield #255 in the Model 70 and install the Sourdough in the Model 52. The Model 70 will then be stone “correct” and the 52 will be squirrel-ready. 

Hoping to be Spared, I’ll report further.

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Lou,  your dissertation on the correct front.sight for the Model 70 Super Grade of various eras was most helpful. I believe that rifle came to me with a 31W front sight and a Lyman 48WJS-T. 

I like your suggested process for diagnosing the Lyman 48F’s perceived ills and will follow it. 

Lou, in 1950 I was in the first grade of elementary school. Age 6.  Not a Winchester addict until 1954 but, even then at age 10, I was able to observe the marked preference of my Korean War and World War II  veteran neighbors and the friends of my WWii vet father, for high velocity bolt action rifles with telescopic sights. 

And I did not grow up in a place anybody would regard as a hunter’s paradise. I later learned the velocity and optical revolution had taken hold even before Pearl Harbor.  

My 1950 Supergrade 30/06 had belonged to a local physician and had been consigned to a local shop. It gave no evidence of a scope having ever been mounted; that is, there were no imprints of a base or bases nor traces of dried threadlocker. The particular Lyman 48 WJS on the rifle did not have Stayset knobs, so it probably wasn’t factory installed. Yet, the rifle also had a bright red , genuine Winchester recoil pad and the rifle itself had definitely been hunted. There were various small dents in the wood and one inch-long scar in the forearm checkering I had to steam out. But it had been well cared-for and the metal finish well- preserved.  

I later came across a newish 48 WJS-H  and put it on instead. It catches on fewer things in the woods. I later replaced the front sight with the Sourdough because I can see it better. 

Like my other Winchesters, I bought this one to use in the field and am not allergic to straying from the factory pure Way.

Good morning, Lou.  Your photo skills have always impressed me — not only because the images are legitimate works of art but also because they so clearly reveal details the collector and aficionado want to study.

Although the Hornet cartridge requires a scope for all but the most highly skilled to utilize its maximum humane range on small varmints,  a Model 70 in that caliber and equipped with a good receiver sight has a couple of advantages.

Firstly the Model.70, particularly the Super Grade in Hornet caliber, is not feathery light and the Hornet makes a good walking around varmint rifle. The ones I’ve picked up feel like 9 pounds, scopeless. Weight is nice for offhand shooting but adding a couple more pounds for an all-steel Weaver 8X, much less a big Unertl in gimbal mounts, is not fun for very long.

On the other hand a Lyman 48 can, with practice, allow the Hornet shooter to reach out 100-150 yards on ground hogs and prairie dogs and improve stalking skills in the bargain. 

Secondly, the Hornet is the best out-of-the-box turkey cartridge ever invented,  although some would argue for the 25/20.  Turkeys are not early risers so there’s plenty of light. A scope is just dead weight.

In our Western counties that have a Fall season, stalking the Rio Grande subspecies while wearing snake boots can be more fun than sitting in a patch of prickly pear and thorn brush,  even assuming it isn’t home to an irritable Western Diamondback. They rarely hibernate except for January and February.