Rimfire Central Firearm Forum banner

Need help in trying to scope a new Winchester 52 B repro

3294 Views 74 Replies 17 Participants Last post by  budrichard
3
I have this model 52 for close to 20 years and have never shot it. I now wish to turn it into a 95% target gun, 5%hunting. Looking to shoot everywhere between 25-30 yards and long range & silhouette. Mostly 50 & 100 bench to see how far she will go. Bought a Hawke 6-24x56 30 SF thinking she would go on it but after looking it over it looks like it may not work, but if it does will need a serious cheek rest pad. I know the bolt handle issue is a problem on these but once I started the process I had no idea of just how frustrating
it was going to be. If..... if the scope doesn't work out on this gun it's really no big deal as I wish to get another high end .22 for strictly target and most of them come with the 60% handle. I am looking to mount a tactical variable scope with as much magnification as I can get (26-36) with focus & parallax down to the 25-30 yard range if possible and all the other bells and whistles (return to zero, locking, (lite reticle if option) if possible, great glass) I would say $1000 would be my limit.

The Hawke in the picture has a 30mm tube and front 56mm objective which clears the barrel by about a 1/4" with the burris bases and 8 glued pennies atop... but the bolt handle is VERY close and tough to see if she'll actually clear the bolt to use. SK was going to make the split bases and rings for this gun but when I sent him the pic she stated "won't work, get a different scope". Actually this setup "might" clear as is and I would just have to use a cheek rest pad as she is high but not sure if having like this is a realistic look/approach. (opinions pls) Just for reference the 8 glued pennies are .450 in hight. Owner at SK told me to do the penny trick and let him know as he can determine height by # of pennies. If I did go with SK then I would have to remove the burris bases. If things work out would SK be a good option for bases & rings or just stick with burris and ??
So, I'm not really sure what to do. Since this Hawke has a 30mm tube does that mean I must switch back to a 1" tube as I would assume it would have a smaller ocular lense which is really where the problem arises. Do they make other high magnification scopes with 30mm tubes like above that have a smaller ocular lense ? Granted the 56mm objective on current scope is big but she clears by 1/4 but if I had to downsize that end of the scope to get things to fit I would.

I just don't know who how much of a scope I can put on her to get her to clear the bolt handle and barrel.

If setting this scope up this high (like in pic) works should I go with it or does it look out of place ? It's really just the rubber ring on the ocular end of the scope that is close, not the tube. If it weren't for those rubber turning knobs the scope tube would clear easily and could be dropped down somewhat.

(lastest picture) I JUST MOVED THE SCOPE AS FAR FORWARD AS I THOUGHT THE RINGS WOULD ALLOW AND MAYBE THE BOLT HANDLE WILL CLEAR THE RUBBER KNOBS AND POSSIBLY ALLOW THE SCOPE TO DROP A SMALL BIT. Would anyone happen to know what rings (heigh) might work for the burris bases I have. I would like to get and assemble to see if my problem is not longer a problem.

Does anyone have any specific scopes they feel might better help the above problem. Would love to put a scope on her with the specs like the one I have ..... I just don't know
if it's possible.

I sure hope someone can help me.
Hand Air gun Gesture Trigger Shotgun

Attachments

See less See more
1 - 9 of 75 Posts
I'll probably just confuse the discussion, but I like a scope to compliment the look of and balance with the rifle. That means gloss scope with a gloss blued rifle, of a size that doesn't overwhelm things and mounted low enough to get some kind of cheek weld on the comb. The 52R is a challenge because of the high bolt lift which as you've shown whacks the ocular end of the scope. My suggestion is to use a good compact scope that has a smaller diameter ocular assembly that builds in some bolt clearance. This is my 52R with a Leupold Compact 3x9 AO EFR mounted with medium Talley rings and bases. Everything clears and I think makes a very useable combination.
See less See more
I used the Talley rings because they are a close copy of the 2nd generation Kimber rings. I’m a pretty serious Kimber collector and have developed a real like for them.
The 52R is just a nomenclature thing that some of us use to delineate the 52 “reproduction” made by Miroku, instead of the pejorative terms, Jap 52 and repos favored by some.
An off the wall solution for your project might be to have a pair of Unertl style scope blocks put on your gun and then you could use about any flavor of external adjusted target scope you want. You would have tons of clearance. I’m actually thinking about setting up another 52R I have with those blocks so I can mount a Unertl Small Game scope on it, just because I guess.
My experience with the Burris warranty, with one exception, has always been “it’s not repairable but we’ll give you credit towards a newer model.” The exception was a scope that had been assembled with a reticle twisted appx 15 degrees out of square with the adjustment knobs. They told me it was in spec, so I sold it. As a result, Burris isn’t a brand I seek out like I do Leupold, although I have a couple of their scopes but they were screaming deals when I bought them.
If you would replace the Burris bases with another brand, like Leupold, you can gain an inch or more of rearward movement and possibly get the forward part of the ocular ring away from the bolt handle. The front Burris base has an extension out over the barrel that really doesn’t help you and a Leupold base puts the ring directly above the screws in the front of the receiver.
I’d try to find a nice gloss Leupold 6.5x20. It’s a long scope but might solve your issue of needing big power. It’s long enough that you should be able to slide it back enough to get ocular clearance.
Another solution I’ve seen is to find a replacement bolt handle at one of the parts places and have a good gunsmith bend it to get scope clearance. There’s some old posts about doing that.
That scope comes in an EFR version which should help the distance/focus issue and comes with the target knobs but they are not cheap. There’s several up on eBay, but I’m sure they could be found cheaper elsewhere.
Excellent post and link littlecooner. The OP has been gifted with some excellent information which should solve his issue.
“Of course it's not my rifle, but it seems to me the real problem is trying to use an ENORMOUS oversized scope on a nice light sporter. Kind of like trying to carry your living room recliner with you when going backpacking.:D

Most excellent analogy…
  • Haha
Reactions: 1
And those Weaver V24 and V16 scopes are great scopes.
  • Like
Reactions: 2
1 - 9 of 75 Posts
Top