I bought a much-used Model 52C. It shot well but the throat was burnt pretty good and the original stock was, of course, designed for prone, more than offhand, shooting. So, I set the barrel back an inch and rechambered it. Then I recontoured it to lose some weight. I had a piece of myrtle which had been drying in the rafters for about twenty years and I carved out an off hand (left handed) stock from that. The stock approaches the design limits but easily fits within. I even checkered the grip! It worked out real well. The latest mod was to cut the trigger off and weld in a spacer to move it back about 3/16 inch. This to compensate for some arthritis in my trigger finger which was messing up my mechanics a bit.
Another rifle is an old Model 75 Winchester. It is also restocked and is re-barreled with a Gaillard barrel.
The Model 52 is very accurate and shoots better than any 22 I have had. Standard Plus stays under a minute most of the time but the truth is, I shoot the 75 a little better. Dimensionally, the stocks are similar but the 75 holds a little better. It is 1/2 pound lighter.
I made the stock on the 52 so it feels as much as possible like the Pharr pattern stock (from Steve Wooster) I have on my primary high power rifle.
I didn't start shooting silhouette until I was 67 and I strongly suspect that's a little too late for a person to achieve his best scores! My goal is to hit 75% before I hit 75 yo and I'm running out of time!
Your 52 Sporter is a beauty! Too nice for the likes of me. It's too nice and too valuable to modify although, I suppose, one could restock it with a dedicated stock and save the original for show. My 52C was beat up enough that I had no trouble doing the mods. If I'm completely honest, stock fit might be good for two or three points in a forty shot round, no more than that; at least in my case. My biggest challenge is just trying to hold still! GD
