You may want to consider the Browning or Winchester reproduction rifles made in the 1990's. They are copies of the Winchester Sporting rifle and were beautifully made by Miroku in Japan. Modern scopes can be mounted easily and the triggers made quite nice by removing the "lawyer" pin and, if necessary, installing a lighter spring.

The most common model was the pencil barrel but Zanders did a special run of 500 heavy barrels. I have both. Below are pictures of both and a target I shot with the heavy barrel using cheap cartridges.

 

Thank you, but I kind of wanted the nostalgic feeling of a 52. I know I could do just as well with probably any modern rifle, but the truth is, I want the rifle 1st, then looking for a game to play with it, not the other way around. Thinking of a 52 with an old school unertl style scope

 

The only issue with the Unertl scope is setting it to the next target distance. May not be as bad as I'm making it out to be with the silhouette distances but I do know it was borderline miserable changing long range targets with one.

 

Ok, definitely will have to check that out. I don't have any realy experience with those scopes, and the only people I saw using them were for bench rest, so no distance changing. I hadn't thought about that, and it makes sense being older technology that it would be hard to return to settings accurately.

 

WRT scoping an older Model 52, the EGW cantilever mount that attaches to the barrel using the rear scope block holes allows the use of a modern scope. The rear barrel scope mounting block is removed and the EGW mount screwed into place. They work well enough and the rifle can be returned to original easily.

 

If?
Considering a 52 for silhouette.
The early pre A, or A, or B standard target variation would have the thinnest barrel.
The B would have a more favorable trigger to work with as well as saftey.
Or as was mentioned.
A 52 sporter. Vintage original or the 1980s-90s reproduction.
As mentioned also, the barrel mounted scopes, unertl, lyman , fecker or such..
Changing from say 25 to 50 yard targets takes about 10 turns on the front objective.
Unless you fund a Unertl "Programner" model.
They only require 1 full turn for 25 feet to 1000 yards.
For benchrest, prone. Or position competition, the 52s still meet or exceed accuracy requirements
They will make you amile

 

Thanks for the info, this shortcuts my research quite a bit. It's looking like using a vintage long scope is not going to be very practical, so I'll just search for a lightweight single power

 

Years ago when I was still young enough to shoot offhand, I shot a lot of silhouette matches. The distances were 40, 60 77 & 100 meters. Some matches used 100 yards instead of meters but the chickens, pigs and turkeys were all in meters.

I used a Vortex 6.5~20X50 scope with an adjustable objective. Once the scope was zeroed at my chosen distance, I made notes of my elevation and windage settings for each target distance and I also marked the parallax settings for each distance on the adjustable objective with a small red dot using fingernail polish. That made adjusting everything very easy.

 

I found out I couldn't hand hold more than ~18x without getting target paralysis. Now probably more like 12x will be best. Thinking about using an ultradot for SB Silhouette. Figured I used them for HP/SB pistol silhouette, should be good enough for rifle. Also help keep my weight down

 

I've shot a pre-A 52 speed lock with the standard barrel in silhouette, using a Lyman Targetspot scope. It did okay, but was a bit heavy. I removed the front barrel band/sling attachment to lighten it so it would make weight. I think a target barrel 52 would be WAY heavy, a B or C likely wouldn't qualify because of its weight. The repro Win 52 sporter would qualify in the 'smallbore hunting rifle' category, the heavy barrel would likely qualify as a 'smallbore rifle.'

Any rifle will work if you just want to play. The repro Miroku 52s are competitive in hunting rifle class.

 

Ok, thank you good to know about barrel weights. I am just going to play, but the point is to play with a specific rifle that I've wanted. If the 52 target rifles would be way too heavy, not just for regulations, but also physically for offhand, then I will have move to something else. I'll have to see if I can find one and hold it in position to see if it is doable.

 

Keep in mind.
The early A, B "standard " target aren't that heavy.
But,
A barrel mount scooe, and rings, depending on exactly which size?. 1 1/2 - 2lbs, just added to the weight of the rifle.
52b Standard target, with Unertl 15x Ultra Varmit scope, 11 1/2 lb was my weight

 

We had a little .22 silhouette club here for a few years, just some old guys that got together on a Sunday and shot some pretty basic rifles. I used my 52R with a Leupold Compact 3x9 EFR scope which I sighted in 3/4” high at 50 yards and just held over at the different ranges. I actually won quite a few of those little shoots that way.

 

I shoot both my CZ 457MTR, and my Remington 541T sporter shooting 22 Long Range Silhouette local matches. 50, 100, 150, and 185 or 200yards, depending on the range. On both I have PFI Rapid Reticle 22lr dedicated 3-12 scope. The "Christmas Tree" reticle has standard velocity ranges on the left, and high velocity ranges on the right. Once zeroed for the ammo, all I change is the parallax!

 

Thanks for the inputs, I need to get out to one of the matches and see what people are using on the line.

 

Don't be surprised if you see a lot of custom stocks, usually holding 54 Anschutz actions topped with Leupold scopes.
Although Rem700 pattern actions are starting to become common.

 

Yes, I'm considering that also, as I like annies and have a couple already, but for other purposes.

 

I'd love to shoot mine - a B and a C, both heavy barrels - in silhouette competition, but the weight is far beyond what the rules allow. In an informal match where rules and weight mattered less, I'd be tempted to try it, but have not found such a match.

 

This sounds like an excellent opportunity/excuse to buy yourself a 52 sporter!
The 52Rs are pretty nice and are decent shooters, but do yourself a favor and handle (..or shoot...or buy!) a real deal B or C sporter.
My 52c sporter is, hands down, my favorite rifle to shoot. Not only is it superbly balanced, it's as accurate as any match rifle.
Start your search now! You will not be disappointed!

 

I found a nice Annie 64 MSR that the stock was all beaten up for a great deal. Just stripped the stock and refinished and it looks great now, and it is really light (20" silhouette contour) compared to everything I was considering. Now I still need to justify why I need a 52 heavy barrel Thanks for all the help.

I've seen some great results from shooters benching the 52 and that may be enough to justify it. One thought, if the 52 is drilled and tapped for rails, does it essentially destroy the value. I see some 52s that have been and are still asking what looks to be collectors value (e.g. $1500+). Maybe it doesn't matter?

 

Your question will no doubt be answered by the buyer, not us. If a buyer is looking for a 52 and wants to put a modern scope on it then the threaded holes may suit his fancy as he won't have to pay for the work to be done. If the buyer is a collector than the D&T'd holes are a killer. He will no doubt want it without holes. It all depends on the buyer. And don't sell a Unertl or other long tube scope short. They work very well but you have to have a "good" one and do some range work determining distances. The adjustment ring can be marked for distance and any discrepancy will be sorted out by doing this. These are fun setups but the devil is in the details. If you go with a 52 and EGW mount get their steel mount.

Rick H.

 

I finally bought a nice 52D to add to my collection. It came with a set of Redfield Olympic sights, along with the barrel mounts for an Unertl type scope. It also came with a modern scope raile that used the first set of barrel mount holes and the rear vertical sight plate for mounting. So the action is unmolested, no drill and tap for the rail. I think I will sell off the Redfields and get an Unertl type scope. I have Annies with peep sights, and also benchrest scopes, but don't have a rifle with a vintage scope yet.

 

Have you thought of a Redfield 3200 or 6400 scope?
They were and are good scopes and the 3200 looks similar to the Unertl's in length and they can be found with different reticles and for a fair amount less than the Unertl scopes in up to 24X.

 

The 3200 is a physically very large scope and actually internally adjusted as opposed to the external adjusting Unertl, Lyman and Feckers. I actually think that the barrel mounted scope blocks on Kimber 82G and AAM rifles are for the 3200 scope as well.

 

Bought a Hi-Lux and took it out today. Shot pretty good, wind started kicking up on the 4th target. Anyone know how I can move the scope back further? I'm at the limit due to the front bell. I have to position my head farther forward than I would like. Want to know if there are any kind of rearward extension that can be added to the barrel mounts. I can go higher, as I don't need any kind of cheek weld.

 

I actually used to shoot silhouette with an early 52 pre-A target and a Lyman 8x junior Targetspot. I just used holdovers and didn’t dial in corrections and got along just fine.

 

I have a Winchester 52 PreA. It weighs about 8lbs, 10oz, with scope blocks in place and a trigger pull of 3.5 lbs. To that I would have to add the weight of an 8X Unertl or 20X Fecker scope or go with the EGW mount and add the weight of either a 12X Leupold or 8-32 Tasco Target scope.
My Anschutz 54MS is supposed to weight around 8lbs without scope (Just got it andI haven't shot it yet). The balance is better since its purpose made.
The 52 would work but I would have to practice more and up my work out at the gym.

Hope you find one you enjoy and good luck.