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Can’t wait for delivery. Can a letter be ordered on this?
PRE WAR WINCHESTER MODEL 52 TYPE A SPEED LOCK HEAVY BARREL 22LR CAL. TARGET RIFLE MFG. 1938, 24” heavy weight barrel. Vaver Co. Ltd. Adjustable rear and globe front sights. Original and matching. Extra nice with 99% plus original blue finish. Stock refinished with forend stop and mounting plate removed. Otherwise very near mint. Original magazine. Very nice rifle in perfect working order and with a mint bore.
It took awhile in negotiatons but got great price and no shipping charges (VA to OR) or wait for check to clear.
music I’m so excited …..
Vince
Southern Oregon
NRA member
Fraternal Order of Eagles
“There is but one answer to be made to the dynamite bomb and that can best be made by the Winchester rifle.”
Teddy Roosevelt
Vince, not sure what you were told, but barrel has been shortened. Factory barrel length should be 28″. Also, the forearm in front of barrel band appears to have been cut off and inch or so. Based on metal color, I strongly suspect the metal has been refinished as well. I would need better close up pictures to tell for certain. All this is fine if you are looking for a shooter, but it will really have a drastic effect on the potential value, and virtually ruin any collector interest.
Steve
The “A” variant was the one produced in the smallest numbers, and this one must be one of the very last ones mfgd., because the “B” had already been introduced in the summer of ’37. Many shooters actually like the A trigger better than the “improved” trigger designed for the B. The Vaver sight is probably the best available at that time. Didn’t think this model was provided with a hand stop, but I could be wrong.
52 letters aren’t available.
seewin said
Vince, not sure what you were told, but barrel has been shortened.
Steve
Wow–didn’t catch that! Not good.
I do not go by what is advertised as far as production dates. There are way to many incorrect charts floating around. The s/n is a much better method, which can be accurately tied back to polishing room records. Production of “A” models started at about 36700 and ran until around 44400. There apparently was a parts clean up quite a bit later, well into the B production at around s/n 50800 at which time a very small number of “A” marked rifles were built as well. Many of the earliest revision “A” rifles were not marked with the “A” suffix, so do not strictly use the “A” suffix to determine model revision.
Steve
seewin said
Vince, not sure what you were told, but barrel has been shortened. Factory barrel length should be 28″. Also, the forearm in front of barrel band appears to have been cut off and inch or so. Based on metal color, I strongly suspect the metal has been refinished as well. I would need better close up pictures to tell for certain. All this is fine if you are looking for a shooter, but it will really have a drastic effect on the potential value, and virtually ruin any collector interest.Steve
Steve is right. Send it back for a refund. Big Larry
Big Larry said
Steve is right. Send it back for a refund. Big Larry
Since he got it for a “great price,” without shipping charges, this might be a one-way transaction, though I hope not. Question is, how great was the price?
I believe that gun was just up the road from me at David Condon’s.
He was asking 850.00, I hope he got for a severe discount with the free shipping!
Gregory said
I believe that gun was just up the road from me at David Condon’s.He was asking 850.00, I hope he got for a severe discount with the free shipping!
Condon has been in the gun racket long enough to KNOW very well about the problems of this gun.
$850 would be good price for a clean, un-vandalized, A model.
Vince said
Not bad for 675.
Would you prefer the truth or commiseration? Let me assume the former; in which case, have to say, I’m rather dubious. Somewhat depends on the worth of that Vaver sight, sold separately.
No doubt the Scouts will be happy to get it, but I hate to see a crooked dealer get away with what seems to me a somewhat shady deal.
I was to send check today, instead I sent an email pointing out the discrepancy of it not being a target barrel. Absolutely not the way to conduct business. Thanks for looking out for me and my inexperience. The best buy is membership to WACA.
It is a damn shame with all the individuals making fakes, dealers selling under false claims, a guy can’t seem to make an honest purchase. I’m not a perfectionist, but I will not be hoodwinked.
Vince
Southern Oregon
NRA member
Fraternal Order of Eagles
“There is but one answer to be made to the dynamite bomb and that can best be made by the Winchester rifle.”
Teddy Roosevelt
The barrel I see pictured on rifle IS a target barrel, not a sporter. Unfortunately it has had 4″ cut off. Originally it was 28″ long, now 24″. Sporter barrels are an entirely different profile.
Steve
Online
Vince,
I know you are disappointed but the guys have given you good information and I think you made the right decision in sending it back. There are many modified Model 52’s available for less than $675 and, as Clarence mentioned, for not much more $ you can get an original, correct rifle which will shoot just as well and appreciate in value.
I buy them all the time for use with the Boy Scouts in the $400-$500 range for the early 52’s that have been shortened/modified/D&T’d/re-blued/etc. As long as the rifle is safe and has a good bore that is all that is necessary for a BSA Rifle Merit Badge. 😉
Best Regards,
WACA Life Member #6284 - Specializing in Pre-64 Winchester .22 Rimfire
I looked the rifle up on Condon’s website and it definitely was a “A” suffix heavy target model. It is a shame, because metal does look like original finish. Had it not been for the cut/refinished stock and shortened barrel, it would be a nice gun.
Like so many dealers, it is not what they say, but what they do not tell you. The devil is in the details.
One other comment, the gun may make a great shooter, however I am always concerned about a 22 rf barrel that has been cut off on muzzle end. Most of the time a 22 rf match barrel will be lapped to have a slight “choke” at muzzle. Very often that is removed when a substantial part of the muzzle end of barrel is removed. The proper way to shorten is to cut off the chamber end and rechamber. Obviously, this is much more work, but the correct way to do it. Also, muzzle end could have been damaged requiring it be shortened on muzzle end. Hard to say at this point.
Steve
Vince, just to make you feel better,or worse, here is a pic of my M52-C BULLGUN that my friend Tom is cleaning up for me. Big Larry
seewin said
EW, no was not able to get the entire s/n. He lists it as 40XXXA.
Steve
Concealing the SN is idiotic. Like…somebody is going to claim the gun was stolen from him? Even if it was, it would cost him 10X its value to prove it in a court of law.
clarence said
Concealing the SN is idiotic. Like…somebody is going to claim the gun was stolen from him? Even if it was, it would cost him 10X its value to prove it in a court of law.
I concur wholeheartedly !! Additionally, crooks & thieves are not going to expose themselves to law enforcement agencies with a false theft claim.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
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