The WINCHESTER MODEL 52 rifles
See also the .22 rim-fire Winchester 1903 semi-automatic rifle used as a First World War training weapon
Through the years, the Model 52, initially a 1920 design to provide the U.S. Government with a combination training/target rifle, underwent a number of modifications resulting in model marks A through D TARGET RIFLES .
A rifle design of remarkable longevity, it first became available in Britain, as a civilian target rifle, in the early 1930s. The rifle also came onto the market in Sporting guise later in the decade. By the commencement of the Second (1939-45) World War it was regularly imported as target rifle, but the War practically precluded further sales, although the Society of Miniature Rifle Clubs was still advertising it in their much abridged 1939 and 1940 catalogues.
Below is a 1933 advertisement for the rifle giving useful specification detail.
Do not hold us to the exact figure, but we think that the $44 price of this rifle then equated to around £18 with an estimated exchange rate of $2.50 to the Pound.
If you know better, then please advise us at: Miniature-Calibre-Rifles@rifleman.org.uk
Please direct any queries relating to the Leagues to: HARC-MRL@rifleman.org.uk
The "52" developed a remarkably good reputation; it was accurate, reliable and had a fast lock-time, later further improved with modifications to the trigger mechanism and the longstanding "Speed-lock" design. The bolt travel was comparatively short and the rifle could be either magazine-fed or single loaded with a platform insert. Five or ten-round magazines were available.
By 1954 the "52" had developed to the Model C, when the trigger was upgraded. At £63, the rifle was more than twice as expensive as the BSA Martini International Mk.II now on the home market, the 'International' now being much in favour with British target-shooters.
Still on the market in 1963, the "52", in Model D form, was beginning to be a little long-in-the-tooth by comparison with the latest BSA Martini International Mk.III, Anschutz and Walther rifles, despite being given a fine trigger upgrade and fully-floating barrel in the meantime. The fine Remington 37 Rangemaster had already suffered the same fate in the late 1950s, but had had the 40-X to back it up until about the same time in 1963. The 40-x was the only rifle to stay beyond 1965. Prices had, by this time, evened out between the rifles of various nations. The 1963 price list in "The Rifleman", the journal of what was now the British " National Small-bore Rifle Association, illustrates how the American products had been caught up and overtaken by the others in every respect.
By 1970, these prices had increased by a further 35 to 40 percent.
See also the .22 rim-fire Winchester 1903 semi-automatic rifle as a First World War training weapon
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