Winchester 52 Sporter first test fire

cdill

cdill

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I picked up a nice Miroku mfg Win 52 sporter copy on here a few months ago. It is the Browning labelled one and I believe this is a 52C.

Today was the first time shooting it. I put an old school gloss Leupold 3-9 AO on it that is starting to turn plum colour that I also picked up on here. Used Weaver bases and old school Millet angle lock rings with both front and rear adjustable for windage.

So I used some cheapo Winchester bulk ammo to sight it in. After getting on target I was quite surprised with the results of this ammo. Sorry no photos or measurements as today was a fun time at the back of the farm just sighting in some new 22 rifles and testing a couple old ones that I could not recall how they shot as it has been years.

The cheap ammo chambered hard and I withdrew one to look at it. I was unaware that these repro 52 sporters had match chambers because the bullet had the rifling clearly engraved on it.

Then I tried std vel CCI and Federal Gold Medal. They did not chamber nearly as hard as the cheap ammo and the rifling marks on the bullet were faint to say the least.

The funny thing is that the cheap ammo outperformed the target ammo. Not by a great amount, but it was visible without measuring for sure. Any thoughts or comments on this???

If I find the time again I must try this test with a more scientific approach and measure groups and pick a day when my shooting eye is not having blurring issues like today. Ever since I separated the viscous it has been screwing up with blurring by times.

CD
 
I have one as well. It is a fabulous shooter. If I use Winchester bulk 555 it dances above and below 1/2" at 50 meters. SK Standard plus shoots most groups but not all under 1/2" and RWS-50 shoots around 1/4" at 50 meters. My rifle is like yours, the Winchester bulk ammo is clearly seated in to the rifling, and the other ammo not so much.
 
Underthegun said:
I have one as well. It is a fabulous shooter. If I use Winchester bulk 555 it dances above and below 1/2" at 50 meters. SK Standard plus shoots most groups but not all under 1/2" and RWS-50 shoots around 1/4" at 50 meters. My rifle is like yours, the Winchester bulk ammo is clearly seated in to the rifling, and the other ammo not so much.
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Interesting. Thanks for the ammo suggestions. I am looking to place an order for some more upscale target ammo as all I have left in this category is some old Eley.

CD
 
cdill said:
Thanks for clarifying that.....I always get them mixed up and am too lazy to go check it out online.

CD
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Actually I jumped the gun. I just looked it up and it looks like it's the opposite. The Browning is the "C" and the Winchester is the "B". I've always thought it was the opposite but from what I found on Google it looks like I was wrong.
 
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Underthegun said:
Actually I jumped the gun. I just looked it up Xmas it looks like it's the opposite. The Browning is the "C" and the Winchester is the "B". I've always thought it was the opposite but from what I found on Google it looks like I was wrong.
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Well, at least my memory is holding up on this......wish I could say the same for other things..... ;)

CD
 
I have a repro B and with eley club it’s ridiculous. Tbolt short barrel and Remington 541t are close but the 52 is a champ. I’m now on the hunt for an original. Addictive fun. Enjoy your “plinking”
 
Sporter chambers which are usually found on repeating rifles are typically a wee bit "bigger" than their match counterparts.

Do both the Winchester 52 repeaters and single shot rifles have the same chambers? Are they both "match" chambers? According to the RFC Winchester 52 expert posting under the name Seewin, the 52 D and E chambers are the tightest.

I don't know if engraving a bullet while its in a chamber is the requisite characteristic determining if that particular chamber is indeed a "match" chamber. Chamber characteristics other than length (which would help cause engraving on the bullet) include chamber diameters, both rear and front, and leade angle.

PTG Reamers list a Winchester 52D Match reamer in their specifications. While all the chamber specs given below are not necessarily for "match" chambers , it is obvious that there are many varieties of chamber.

 
Brutus said:
I do believe the Winchester 52 in American hands cleaned up at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
The Germans did okay with thier small bore Mausers however the American shooters demonstrated thier better marksmanship.
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Gerry Ouellette and Gil Boa also took 1st and 3rd respectively in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne as well using A 52 Winchester-
Gerry’s Gun was broken in shipping and Gil loaned him his!!
Mr. Ouellette Shot a possible 600/60X with Gil’s rifle !:dancingbanana:
Cat
 
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