Wow!!
 

targa911s is THE MAN!!

well it is here. i have to admit, i cant find my glasses but i CANNOT find the crack!! it is flat out gone. the 83 year old rifle has a beautiful stunning patina on it. years of use has put some beauty marks on it. tiny scratches and nicks..but i cannot find the grandaddy break. i had to reference photos to even remember where the break was. thank you david for doing such a great job. the rifle has some heft. the barrel is thick and long (seriously). this is going to be fun. i am going to burn through a brick of ammo soon.

here are some pics. (thanks Paul..i will cherish this thing..the squirrels, not so much)

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1319041953.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1319041979.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1319042004.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1319042027.jpg

Even though I had to refinish the whole gun, I was careful not to erase it's history. Don't look to close for the break, once you find it you will see if forever. It was my pleasure. I hope you get years of fun out of it.

Front sight
 

I'm pretty certain that is a Lyman 17A front sight. The inserts are interchangeable from a set of 6 or 8 different ones. If you don't have the rest of the set (these often get lost) you can still get them from Lyman, Midway or several other places. I change the one in my rifle depending on if I'm punching paper or shooting gray squirrels.

Very nice!

anyway to know for sure? a front "post" insert would do wonders getting on a squirrel quickly.

vash if you move the little "blind" inside the rear peep facing you, you can vary the aperture too. Big hole, small hole, tiny hole.

Lyman sight inserts
 

These are the inserts that come in a set.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1319056202.jpg

Some more history on the gun (and thanks Dave for packing it in such a way that it made it there in one piece:cool:):

The gun came from my Great Uncle with the Lyman sight up front and the sight grouping in the rear. I am not sure who manufactured the rear sight.

Since I was nine when I got the gun, my Dad removed all the Gucci stuff and put on a pop-up sight in the rear and removed the Lyman sight in front, put a post in. We lived in the coastal mountains above Oxnard/Newbury Park which was very rural in those days. The gun got walked a lot.

When I was ten I learned how to drive the farm truck so I could deliver our horse manure to various large gardeners within five miles of us, all on dirt, private roads.

There were some really great elevated spots for squirrel/rabbit hunting, so my Dad let me scope the gun (cheap scope) when I wasn't walking. I have fond memories of leaning on the hood of the '58 El Camino sighting in ground squirrels at distance.

That is how I shot it until I got my Marlin 39A .22 carbine when I was twelve, which I still have.

My middle sister was always a good shot and took over the Model 52. She was good enough that my Dad put the Gucci stuff back on and she competed in a bunch of amateur competitions, doing very well. Meanwhile I was out running around the boonies of SoCal with my Marlin hunting rabbits and squirrels.

So there it is. I was too young to be trusted with the current sight package on the Model 52, so I know nothing about it!

Keep me in the loop, Vash, on how it shoots for you.

Best.

U refinished the metal?

Sights......
 

The front sight (Lyman 17A) came on the rifle. The rear sight should have originally been a folding sight with a center mounted slide that was adjustable via a micrometer dial on the top (when open). The rear sight that is on the rifle now looks to be either a Lyman from a later Model 52 or possibly a Redfield. If you look just ahead of the rear sight, you will see a filler piece where the original sight was mounted. Both of these sights were available in the Model 52 rifles by somtime in the mid 30s. The front aluminum hand brace under the stock could have been a Winchester part, but is likely an aftermarket piece added for the serious target work. The original sling would have looked very much like a 1903 Springfield military rifle sling. Occasionally you see one with the Winchester marks on it, but more likely not. All in all, great rifle, great story and great outcome!

Fred,

Now that I think about it, that is exactly right...it must have come with the gun as a spare when we inherited it and my Dad decided that was best for me (it was) and put the original back on.

Great information. Sadly, I don't know where the folding sight or the Lyman inserts are.

Thanks for the help, Fred. Very cool.

Paul the rear sight is marked Lyman. The front sight is a sleeve that will come out so you can change inserts. The stock is cut and the action is drilled for a mount on the opposite side of this one.
Tabs...no metal was touched in the process.

Beautiful rifle!