Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Winchester Collectors Model 52

Can someone point me to a quick tutorial on the Winchester 52? If not quick, at least one that is accessible? I have an older friend who has one that he is willing to part with but it’s made under the Winchester trademark, not an early gun, and I want to treat him fair, but not dig myself into a hole.

Thanks in advance- coltfan

Assume you are speaking of the Jap built 52 sporter clone ?
They have no value beyond that as a decent shooter.
$700 max.
Plenty for sale all over the net.

There are two (Miroku Winchester's made in Japan) on Gunbroker that sold which gives you a pretty good idea of value. One went for $800 which was used with handling marks and the other was used but looks pretty new with the box that sold for $1292.00.

Thank you both, appreciate the input.

cf

Yeah, I saw one the other day for $700. Not very nice wood and it said Miruko on it. I passed..

This one appears to have been shot or used much, but has not been well cared for. The wood has a bit of mildew growing on the side and I haven’t had a chance to check the bore. Based on all of your descriptions, it’s definitely a late gun, a shooter, and condition puts it at the bottom of the price spectrum.

Thank you all again- coltfan

Do they have the panache of a vintage 52? Nope. But they are excellent rifles nonetheless. At the current rate of $3-5K for an original 52 Sporter I'll likely never own one, but I can swing a repro and have a very accurate elegant rifle.

I don't get some people turning their nose up at Miroku stuff. Excellent fit and finish coupled with better metallurgy than the vintage rifles, what's not to like? Is it an age old bias towards "Made in Japan" (reserve that for Chi-Com stuff), folks still PO'ed about Pearl Harbor? Maybe memories of Mom's crappy Datsun or the cheap toy that fell apart on Christmas afternoon 1962? I don't know.....

I've made him an offer so I'll keep you all updated. It will come with base and rings and a Leupold VariX III 2.5-8. I packaged it with a couple of other guns that will break me for a while, so fingers crossed.

Thanks all!

I have a Jap 52 that I bought at auction, really fun to shoot.