doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Another "you are at a gun show" thread

And you see this Winchester 52 on the table. It is in the original Winchester stock, but it has been very expertly re-styled. I think I am about 96% sure who did the work, but I'd like to know what you all think.







John

I'm will be in the gun room saying goodbye to my Model 52 target rifles. I will wait a while before I hit the "print" button. Wow.

No clue, but "Wow" indeed.

i know the maker of that quilt!

And a damn fine quilt it is. I had to wait until Ben was gone to use it. I think it is a toss up between that and his Mickey Mouse blanket, as to which one is his favorite.

John

John, That's a very nice rifle. I can see why you got it, congratulations!

OK, so who is it? I don't see any reason why mine won't be indistinguishable from the one pictured once I get through with it. There is one of those inside every standard weight 52 with a Marksman stock. I may even see one inside my 1948 heavy barrel 52B.

John:

I don't know who might have done the work, but I see you made the correct decision when you found it at the gun show.

Really a beautiful Model 52.

Rem

That was restyled from a target stock? Does it still have the heavy barrel?

I am just about certain the work was done by Harvey Rodgers. If it was not him, then they stole his checkering tools to do it. The shape of the diamonds, the style of pattern, and the style of border are all exactly like the other Rodgers guns I have seen. Other indicators to me are, the shape of the pistol grip, the slight suggestion of the flutes on the comb are as Rodgers did in his later work, and the way he transitioned to the beavertail forend. I tried to capture these elements as best I could with my limited picture taking ability.

This is an early 30's rifle with standard barrel and stock, it was not a marksman style stock. The great part is that I got it for about 80% of what you would expect to pay for an original 52 of the same vintage and in the same condition. To a Winchester collector this is just another ruined 52 with no collector value. To us early custom rifle enthusiasts, it is a treasure. Thankfully, there is way fewer of us than there are Winchester collectors. Like Michael always say, there are still a lot of treasures waiting to be found, particularly from those makers who did not regularly mark there work.

It may be because Arthur Hart was a competitive shooter, but it seems to me that a lot of Rodgers stocks are on target rifles. Of the 4 Rodgers stocks I have, 3 are target guns. Micheal, do you know if Rodgers was a competitive shooter?

Thanks,
John