Winchester 52C Sporting rifle - price & options in 1956

[flatland1]

Dad was a bit of a gun nut back in the 1950s - though with five kids to keep clothed & fed, he didn't have a lot of money to spend on a fancy sporter .22. He did have a S&W 6" K-22 Masterpiece and a Winchester M61 pump .22 that he kept in his pickup truck for as long as I can recall. He also had the 1956, 1960, & 1961 editions of the Stoeger Shooter's Bible, which I spent hours going through, drooling over the prints of the finest guns available at the time. I'm attaching photos of the listing in the 1956 edition for the Winchester 52C & 75 sporting rifles, and a shot of the cover of the catalog. You'll notice that Winchester offered the 52C with a stock of "selected walnut, if available". I've always wondered how much nicer the 'selected walnut' stocks were, and finally thought I'd post this to see if anyone out there has a 52C sporting rifle that was ordered with this option. Man, would I like to be able to buy a few of these rifles at this 1956 price, not taking inflation into account...!!!

 

[tuckybill]

My 52c sporter was one of the last ones made here by winchester and it very normal straight grain to it. In fact I think the 75 sporters had a better chance of nice grain wood than the 52 sporters. Not sure why. Just my experiance looking at many of them at gun shows in the last 40 years.

 

[flatland1]

Bill, I've read that same opinion about the 75 sporters having more examples of nicer wood on another forum where I posted this same question. I've only seen a couple of 75 sporters at gun shows over the past 10-12yrs, and didn't really pay that much attention to them. Will have to keep an eye out for more of those rifles during the gun show season this winter...

 

[MajorD]

Never paid much attention but wow the 52 was triple the price of the 75! ( 75’s were and still are pretty decent rifles) they never made many 52 sporters , back then money was tighter and far fewer people had the extra funds for a luxury like the 52 sporter.
the 52 target rifles of that era were the vudoos of the time. I have had a few 52’s over the years and I bet if tested head to head would shoot as well as the modern vudoo.

 

[RTH1800]

 

[Flyperk]

Nice pic!!

 

[RTH1800]

A couple things to consider.
The 52 was an expensive rifle to produce. It is said that Winchester lost money on every 52 and M 21 shotgun they made. They were produced to
Improve the overall brand image. Also because John Olin wanted them produced.
The expense of the 52 was high. Ordering fancy wood would have produced even higher cost. Also, only 1100 or so C sporters were ever made. Guessing only a few would have been special order rifles.

 

[RTH1800]

This is an example of what Winchester could do for wood when they tried.

 

[flatland1]

No doubt Winchester was always capable of building beautiful rifles & shotguns - a visit to the Buffalo Bill Cody museum in Cody, Wyoming would be an eye-opener to anyone who doubts that. I have a very small collection of antique Winchester lever action & single shot rifles from the late 1880s up to around 1910, and even though none of mine have extra grade wood, the inletting is precise, showing the skills Winchester employees had back in that era.

 

[RTH1800]

Never paid much attention but wow the 52 was triple the price of the 75! ( 75’s were and still are pretty decent rifles) they never made many 52 sporters , back then money was tighter and far fewer people had the extra funds for a luxury like the 52 sporter.
the 52 target rifles of that era were the vudoos of the time. I have had a few 52’s over the years and I bet if tested head to head would shoot as well.

I had 3 Vudoo rifles. All were sent to Eley for testing. All were very nice. Shot great. Not a thing wrong with any of them. I would say the accuracy was equal to most of the better Win 52's I owned. I realized that none of them shot as well as my best couple of 52's. When I started selling off my excess shooting gear only the two best 52 remained.

 

[RTH1800]

As an aside on the Win 52. My dad went to HS in a working class neighborhood. Two brothers in his class were given Win 52C sporters. My dad mentioned it a few times over the years. Neither of them hunted or shot much. I really do not know much about it other than that.

I think that the reason so many Win 52 Sporters are in such good condition is because the more affluent folks did not have time or interest in using them. My dad's Stevens SS is worn out and will not fire every time now.