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Browning (Winchester) 52

dfletcher
I just purchased a 1990s made Browning version of the Winchester 52B Sporter. I got what I think is a great price ($525.00) and am interested in putting an older style externally adjusted scope on it. Does anyone know if the Browning is drilled & tapped for the Unertl style scopes? I'd be buying the newer made "Malcolm" style from Leatherwood.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/768788/leatherwood-hi-lux-william-malcolm-short-rifle-scope-3-4-tube-6x-16mm-18-long-fine-crosshair-reticle-with-external-ring-mounts-3-8-dovetail-matte-steel

I have plenty of the bases, just no idea (since the gun is in the CA 10 day wait) if the Browning is drilled & tapped for the bases and whether the bases included will fit.

Has anyone mounted this type of scope on a Browning 52?

The rifle is older stock NIB and includes factory rings for conventional mounting of a 1" scope. I have a Nikon Monarch for that purpose, but I'd also like to give this a try for the heck of it.
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Comments

7 comments

Date Votes
  • eastbank
    it is not D&T for unertle styl bases, if you can find out what the number is for the unertle bases i may be able to help you. eastbank.
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  • bartman45
    Great find! The Malcolm scope is a fine product; however, the mount, not so. The threads are coarse, and fine changes are not that easy. I've admired your model 52 for a long time, and my father had a 52 with a Unertl scope in the 50's which I shot in indoor matches when I was a kid. I have seen many older scopes/mounts at shows, and they do look there age. If you poke around on the auction side, and there are folks who deal in the older stuff exclusively, you can find one.

    If not, the new scopes are technologically superior anyway........
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  • Herschel
    In a scope application chart produced by Lyman that I believe was from 1952, the scope blocks needed for the Model 52 with Standard Weight barrel was a "B" for the front base and an "L" for the rear. The blocks were to be installed with the rear block flush against the receiver ring and the spacing of the blocks, center to center, to be 7 3/16".
    The chart shows three model 52 barrel weights. They are Standard, Heavy and Bull. The Standard barrel may have been heavier than the sporter barrel. I have Houze's book on the Model 52 but could not find any barrel diameter information, even though it may be in there somewhere. The scope mounting blocks now commonly referred to as "Unertl type" were in use by Lyman long before Unertl came on the scene. I don't know if he adopted the same block identifiers as were in use by Lyman.
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  • Dokey
    The barrel contour on the Browning is similar but not exactly the same as the the original 52 sporter barrels, and are much thinner than even the "standard weight target barrels", so the front block would have to be much higher than what a chart would suggest. Instead of D&T the barrel and destroying any collector value, why not just epoxy the blocks in place, then if you want to remove them later just apply some heat and fine steel wool
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  • dfletcher
    Thanks for the responses and info. I'll have to wait and receive the rifle before considering the scope. Since it's not D & T'd for the bases this is probably a dead end. Being a reissue I don't know that this will have "collector" value but I think it does have "nice gun" value and would probably want to keep it that way.

    Quick follow up on the Malcolm, the scope I linked to will attach to Unertl bases - correct? I have a prewar 75 Target model set up with Redfield peep and globe and may like to give it a try scoped.
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  • Hawk Carse
    Unertl once made short and long bridge bases that mounted to the screw holes for hunting scope mounts and extended out far enough for the usual 7.2" target scope ring spacing.

    Steve Earle makes one like that for the Browning 1885 single shot and might be willing to make one for the Model 52. You would have to furnish him good measurements on hole spacing and difference in height between receiver ring and bridge at the hole location.
    http://www.steveearleproducts.com/index.html
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  • bartman45
    The easiest and with the final result of getting the best optics, would be to put a very high quality scope of new manufacture on it. Being the Sporter model, a target type scope might look sort of out of place.
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