remember that .22 i bought from Seahawk?

[vash]

been awhile since i updated that story.

i left off at what a nice wonderful man Seahawk is about selling me what is essentially a family heirloom. i will cherish that thing for ever!! i truly feel we are all alotted one "barn find" in our life, and this is mine. (i never found that old senile lady out there with an early S in her barn, living with 50 cats...still looking).

Seahawk sent me tracking information for the rifle, and i followed that thing like NORAD tracking some chinese test missle launch. i got an email ping that the rifle was delivered and my FFL guy was as excited as i was. once his shift was over, he would run over and pick it up and start the process.

he called me and said, "cliff, did you buy a broken rifle?"

"hahah John, real funny.."

"no seriously, the rifle is broken in two"

i almost hung up on him. i contemplated the wisdom in my decision to quit drinking alcohol, and called and email paul. i thought of Targa911S right away, and sent him a PM.

the very next day, i get an email from some "david" saying he could fix it. i didnt realize david = targa911S. paul and david are friends! i mailed it back to the other side of the country, and david went crazy on it. we had options. for some unknown reason, david had a spare stock from a later rifle "laying around". or he could try to fix it. he did. he fixed it.

rifle was snapped in two, the gun sights took a serious hit and needed realignment. here are the pics.





thanks guys. PPOT has superpowers.

[onewhippedpuppy]

That turned out nice Cliff, David does nice work. But Paul's a shady character, how do you know he didn't sell you a broken rifle?

[Zeke]

Even though the grain is not running at the best angle in that part of the stock, it takes a significant whack to break one. Look at the type of break. Who was the shipper once the gun was in the system?

They suck.

[BeyGon]

What shipping company did you guy use, I don't think I want to use them.

[vash]

UPS.

in their defense, UPS really mobilized and got the insurance process started. i dont know the details, as it really is paul's business, but the UPS inspector was at my FFL's house in two days. they took pictures, took the box...

the inspector thinks the rifle went down the conveyor belt sideways, got stuck and some larger box slammed it. (FFL mumbled this to me)

i shipped it to david UPS. i insured it to the moon (pulled a # out of my butt). the UPS lady heard the story and said she would say a prayer for the rifle. i felt better know God was involved

[fred cook]

saving the original stock! That stock was used on the "1st issue" of the Winchester model 52 rifles. Somewhere about 1934 they changed to a more bench friendly design that eliminated the finger grooves in the forearm. The stocks up to about 1930 or so had an oil finish with the last four years or so having a varnished finish. You are going to absolutely love shooting your Model 52 rifle! The one that I have was made in 1928 and is still a tack driver. Spare mags are fairly easy to find and are not terribly expensive.

A picture of my Mod 52. The 10 rd mag was an option. The 5 rd mag fits flush with the bottom of the stock.

[Hard-Deck]

Nice gunsmithing! Awesome save!

I hate UPS and I avoid using them like the plague. They almost ruined our last vacation with their antics.

[Seahawk]

The good things are that Cliff still wanted the rifle (I would have taken it back, no questions asked), I did insure the transit, and I know Dave!

The really odd thing is I used a UPS shipping box specifically designed for rifles and packed it in it's soft gun pouch. I did go through an FFL on both ends and that has helped.

Cliff has been great and the email trail is pretty entertaining between Cliff, Dave and myself. Dave is, as always, awesome.

Still not quite finished, but here are some newer pictures. Fred, this is a 1928 as well!

I've decided to keep the gun

[Danimal16]

Very Nice work. Bummer on the damage.

I don't use UPS anymore. I have seen a lot more package damage than USPS. I stopped using UPS when they bent, yes bent an M1 Garand Barrel.

DanB

[vash]

talking to dave is awesome.

he has the voice of a radio DJ. serious.

[Superman]

Cool rifle. Very cool. Cool dudes, too.

If USPS had done this, the thread might be in PARF by now. Just sayin'......

[tabs]

This little story is why I always insure to full value. I always use tons of Bubble wrap and those pesky chips. Even then one an get something that shows u like that 52.

UPS once delivered a Flint Jagger rifle with the bare butt of the stock practically hanging outa the box..lucky there was no damage. I have had them deliver spoons to the wrong street.

The only damage and knock on wood so far was on shipping a C Sharps, how that rifle got damage is beyond me?

[tabs]

Your best bet would have been to restock the rifle. I probably wood have repaired the stock as well keeping it to maintain orginality. It is a shame that happened to a venable old rifle

[targa911S]

ya know tabs sometimes you confuse me. I felt saving the old stock was the best option. repaired but still original to the gun. Restocking to me was the last option.

[targa911S]

Originally Posted by vash

talking to dave is awesome.

he has the voice of a radio DJ. serious.

40 years of singing, 50 years of smoking.

[targa911S]

Originally Posted by fred cook

saving the original stock! That stock was used on the "1st issue" of the Winchester model 52 rifles. Somewhere about 1934 they changed to a more bench friendly design that eliminated the finger grooves in the forearm. The stocks up to about 1930 or so had an oil finish with the last four years or so having a varnished finish. You are going to absolutely love shooting your Model 52 rifle! The one that I have was made in 1928 and is still a tack driver. Spare mags are fairly easy to find and are not terribly expensive.

A picture of my Mod 52. The 10 rd mag was an option. The 5 rd mag fits flush with the bottom of the stock.

This will be oil finished. Thanks for that info. I want it to be correct. There were a ton of variants on this model. This one is a 52 target bull.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by targa911S

ya know tabs sometimes you confuse me. I felt saving the old stock was the best option. repaired but still original to the gun. Restocking to me was the last option.

I would have simply epoxied it back together also.... Hell that is child's play compared to some of the repairs Dave has surely done that require grafting in new matching wood and inletting side plates etc.

[targa911S]

Thanks tim. I used this stuff. Much better than epoxy.



Gotta be careful as it's so thin, so it wicks, that you cannot feel it on your hands. I glued a stock to my hand once. Yeah really duh. Thankfully I had acetone around LOL.

[Danimal16]

Tabs,

Who do you use to ship rifles?

[Joeaksa]

Nice work.

If something like this happens again, there is a guy in Oregon called "The Stock Doctor" who works wonders on things like this.