not bad! not bad at all!!!
i bought two winchester 52d's today (that's the finest rimfire match/position rifle ever made in america, for those that don't know) at the cmp store...and a winchester garand (appears to be mainly s.a. parts used in the rebuild and gauges "fantastic" on the muzzle and throat of the 5-44 dated s.a. bbl.) just to make the 2-1/2 hour drive worthwhile.
the 52's are in the 116,xxx and 119,xxx serial number range. if not for a few light scuffs, i would rate the metal 95-97% or better. both bolts are very blue and the receivers do not have the milling mark high points more than lightly lapped. as is, i would grade them as "good". my gun refishing buddy has an easy touch up and polish in process that will have the blueing looking better...sometime this fall, probably.
buttplates are almost minty. one rifle looked like it never had sights on it and the other obviously did.
the wood is another story. no real usage marks that would indicate range time, but the handling damage was what i would describe as "significant"...scuffs, dings, gouges...you name it. after a quick oiling up and a fast rub down, i think they are definitely salvagable (as they are sound...no splits or cracks). they will have those 'character' marks that old guns often have! heheheh!
the buying process was a major pain this trip. i handed in my paperwork at 10:45am. i did not get the guns handed to me untill 3:40pm! as usuall, the place was a madhouse...and, of course, their antiquated computer system and crappy software went down...just to drag things out a little more.
no biggee. that gave me and a friend time to cruise vendors' row and search for treasure!
i bought a redfield palma sight set (with apetures) from champions choice, a turner sling from fulton armory and a few miscellaneous goodies up and down the buildings as i listened to several relays of the springfield 1903 match being shot on the range. the rapidfire volleys sounded so fitting for that grand old range on the shores of lake erie!
while i was there, i would guess that they sold 40-50 of the 52d's...and there seemed to be no shortage. every time the rack dropped below 8-10, a fellow would go fetch more from the back room. so you fellas that think you missed out (as i did) can hurry up your paperwork and probably stand a good chance of getting one of these wonderfull old rimfires.
i did see two 52's with cut-down buttstocks. it looked like about 1" was removed and the buttplates were not trimmed to the new contour.
also, the scuttlebutt seems to be that the redfield international sights will be available in late fall/early winter. one cmp worker had just returned from the alabama facility and said there were "hundreds and hundreds" of sight sets waiting to be cleaned, tested and cataloged for sale.
i placed one of the 52's on my bathroom scales. with sights it weighed out at 14+ pounds!!! perfect, if your offhand is as crappy as mine is!
reese surplus has new wood for $40. might as well buy a couple of chunks of walnut to stash back for the future while i shoot with the oem wood on them.
sorry guys. i didn't see an ak all day! after all...these are the national championships! heheheh!