One thing to look for on these 52 PreA,s is a crack on the rear of the receiver near the safety called the Crack Of Doom

 

I have one from 1924 and love it. I did some light refinishing on the stock as it had already been messed with. A great .22. Also upgraded my rear sight to a Lyman M-48J. If you don’t bother with using the safety, which on a real target rifle is unnecessary, you’ll never have to worry about getting a ‘crack of doom’. Sounds worse than it is as it doesn’t affect how well the rifle shoots or bolt/trigger operates. Good shooting.

 

I have a 100% original Model 52 Slow Lock also without the infamous crack of doom and the original .22 Long.R follower marked magazine.
Mine was manufactured Aug 25,1927 and it is now my favorite firearm.
I also do not use the safety and have never even tried it as I don't want to run the risk of the dreaded crack of doom.
I would recommend acquiring some of the aforementioned Wisner's reproduction magazines and safely storing your original magazine for the future.
I truly hope you enjoy your rifle as much as I do mine.
If for whatever reason you should choose to install a globe front sight DO NOT LOSE the original and hard to find 'shark fin' front sight!
I prefer the 82A ladder type rear sight as it is much quicker and easier to change it's settings for various ranges as I don't usually shot at fixed distances.

 

Looking at your 2nd photo, the rifle does not appear to have a cracked locking lug (again, only important from a collector standpoint; makes no difference in shooting). Here's a link to a thread in the Winchester 52 Info superstickies with more info:

Win 52 Pre A Rear Locking Lug Crack

Thanks to Steve aka SEEWIN here are a couple of pics of the Win 52 Pre-A where it is notroious for cracking in the rear locking lug. If anyone has any info or pictures to add please do. thanks joe:)

www.rimfirecentral.com

The gun is the earlier slowlock version. Can you provide the SN to narrow down date of manufacture?

In that general time period there were additional barrel choices. Anything unusual there?

The aperture on the 82A rear sight appears to have been enlarged - this is a fairly common modification.

Your magazine has the ".22 Long R." marked follower, which has a collector premium of USD 40-50. Wisner's makes good aftermarket magazines (although currently out of stock) for ~USD 25 each.

 

Oh - this Pic shows a nearly readable serial no 118xx

 

I make out SN 11871. In that case, per Houze, the SN was applied July 14, 1927.

 

That is correct. My father owned 11044 from early 1928 until his death in 1999. It's still in the family.

I have serial number 10931 made between June 4 & June 11, 1927. All original and in excellent condition. See it below.

 

My slow-lock M52, 10401 from 1928 with 14X Unertl.

 

Oh - this Pic shows a nearly readable serial no 118xx
View attachment 400509

My slow-lock M52, 10401 from 1928 with 14X Unertl.

View attachment 400657
Hey thanks Guys, awesome pictures and very nice shooting. Im inspecting the rifle later today so will report back.

Thanks
View attachment 400658

 

Thanks very much Gentlemen for your thoughts, appreciated. I inspected the 3 M52 rifles today and have tentatively chosen this one.

The other choices were the very original rifle I first mentioned and a very heavily altered pre A (to a sporter configuration, it shot extremely well but neither fish nor fowl really) .

This pre A isn't original either, the bolt handle has been ground, the barrel shortened to 27.5" and non standard sights fitted, not to mention numerous additional sling holes in the stock.

This rifles saving grace is its honesty and the bore, which is immaculate and shoots. I'm not really a collector and this rifle will not be ruined by a bit of further judicious tinkering to improve the sights (for example replacing the Parker Hale foresight with something a bit closer to original) and making provision to scope it, maybe with something a that better reflects its long life - it's serial is # 35835

Thanks again and your thoughts are welcome.

 

The rifle you selected was manufactured on 26 September, 1934. It has a Loudensack stock and is a Speed Lock model. Find the cartridge it likes and it should be an extremely accurate rifle.