Re: Any Winchester 52 people out there?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: kraigWY</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">why do people not make guns like this anymore? Cost? Lazy</div></div>
I think its both cost and market. No body cares about quality frearms. They are more into the plastic or 10-22 tacticool stuff.
Winchester quite making them but there still was a damand mainly from the Army so H&R started making the M-12 (or 5200 in the civilian version). They were pretty close clones to the M-52.
When I was running the AK NG Marksmanship unit I wanted to issue them to the units. Couldn't get 52's so I ordered 40 M-12s.
I had my best small bore shooters try them out. They were every bit as accurate as the M-52s
That was a while back (I retired in '92). The moron who replaced me didn't want to be responsible for all the crap I gathered over the 15+ years I ran the program so he turned them all in.
Which I guess it doesn't matter, the Army doesn't care about shooting amy more.
I liked the M-12 so much I bought my own 5200.
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Yes, cost and market are the reasons.
One of the reasons for the -D- going single shot was to reduce cost. No other company could produce an as accurate repeater as the 52-C-, so they concentrated on what they could make, an accurate single shot. The whole industry ended up going that way based on cost and market size. I see all kinds of repeater buzz with cad layouts and what not up here, and ultimately its all a lost buck bloody nose for whoever makes it.
Kraig,
I am sure you are going to think I am some kind of a snob,
BUT:
Its not just the overall quality and accuracy of any given one 52 we own. It is the first rifle that the US Army won an international shootin competition with in 1920 and continued to set records for 50 more years. 52's come to the table with a competition history that no other rimfire can come close to.
M12's are dam good shooters for the money, but at the end of the day they are a reasonably priced "late" Winchester 52 clone. I have friends that shoot M12's and 5200's and I have never seen one shoot as well as a 52-D- out of the box, but they do come close. I have seen a few 5200's shoot as well as a 52-D-, but they had glass bedding, recrowning and trigger work and ultimately it still has that stock that does not come close to a winchester marksman stock in fit, quality and comfort with iron sights. H&R got out of production pretty quickly too as they made no money on them, even with the cost cuts.
Do you need a manual and parts list for your 5200? I know my friend has one for the M12.
Anyhow, there's my rant.
Best to you and yours,
DS
The rifle was in rough shape having sat in a closet for over 25 years collecting dust. The finish was pretty worn and my first task aside from a heavy dusting was to remove the old oil finish. I left the original stain and refinished with pure Tung oil. It's an absolute shooter with any lot of SK I have fed it, and the few rounds of Center-X through it were quite impressive scoring hits on 6in IDPA steel at 300yds. The last picture is of my first "kill" with the rifle. An very unfortunate dragofly decided to land on the 100 yd target board I was shooting groups on. The group I was shooting is the 3rd image, my 5th shot was the dragonfly. 
