Ozzie,
Yes, I have shot the 52, as well as the 40X, the Mod. 54 action Anshutlz, Mod 64 action Anschutz, the 513 T Rangemaster, the 540X, 541X, 541T, 541XR, H&R Mod 12, the Mossberg 44 and 144, in fact, there is not a lot of .22 target rifles I have not shot. The 52 is a fine rifle, but as a competitive .22 these days, it is outclassed in 3 and 4 position shooting. Mostly the people who pay high prices for the 52, are the people like me who remember when it was the rifle to win with. They buy it and go out to the range, lay it across a sandbag and shot a nice group, take it home, put it up and talk about what a fine rifle it is. And it is a fine rifle, but, try to take that rifle and compete in 3P somewhere with it. You will come up sucking eggs unless you restock it, put a hook buttplate on it, work over the trigger, and balance it. And THEN, you will still be beat by the Anschutz. Sad but true. There is not an American manufacturer of true competitive .22 3P rifles today. you can go through the custom shop at Remington and get a 40X (with a cast receiver), and at outrageous price, but you will have to go Europe to get the sight set unless you adapt a high power sight to it, or buy a used Redfield somewhere.
Yeah, I'll stick to my guns on what I said earlier, the 52 was THE gun, in it's day, but today it is an overpriced conversation piece (that sets in gun cabinets and is talked of in reverance). I wish that Winchester had continued to develope the 52 as a target rifle, and we did not have to go to Germany for a competitive .22 rifle. By the way, I have 2 model 1403 (64 action) Anschutz that have had well over 10,000 rounds a piece fired through them, in my club guns. they still fire accurately. .22 rifle barrrels are hard to wear out unless you don't clean them properly. These 2 rifles have both worn out 1 firing pin and spring each, but other than that, no problems.
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