Anyone collect competition .22 cal. Target rifles?

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Win 75 with 10x Liechert scope.
 
Rembrandt said:
For some inexplicable reason find myself fascinated and drawn to Competition .22 target rifles. Maybe its the extra effort by manufacturers to display high quality barrels, triggers, and sights for precision shooting. Most are too heavy for any other use other than what they were designed for. The tricked out adjustable stocks say so much about the ergo dynamics required to make the shooter comfortable and consistent.

Maybe its for Biathlon, 3 position smallbore, silhouette, benchrest, or something else....I find these rifles take it to a new level of accuracy.

Hope to pick up a 40X and an Anschutz someday.

1936 Winchester 52 Speedlock International stock with Al Freeland hardware and Lyman Target Spot.

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My father in law has a 52 nearly identical to that, even down to the unertl scope and mounts. I think whoever built your stock also made his because they look identical from my memory. He used to compete in small bore with it and was nationally ranked.
 
This M-37 Remington is a faithful old friend that now holds an honored place in my rifle rack. The stock and international style position shooting accessories were by target shooting Guru Roy Dunlap. (The checkering was added later.) I first used it when on university rifle team before switching to a Hammerli rifle (Shown in previous post) and then switched back for later competitions. The 37 has a well deserved reputation for being indestructible, to which I can personally attest because my daily practice sessions consumed about 500 rounds per week throughout college and military teams career but this rifle never needed repair or special attention beyond normal maintenance. (But wore out some three sets of rear sights.) DSC_0057 (2).JPG DSC_0065 (2).JPG 37l (2).JPG 37ee (2).JPG 37j.JPG
 
someguy2800 said:
My father in law has a 52 nearly identical to that, even down to the unertl scope and mounts. I think whoever built your stock also made his because they look identical from my memory. He used to compete in small bore with it and was nationally ranked.
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The thumbhole for mine is not a Winchester original, appears to be a Reinhart Fajen. I've seen several like it, that makes sense your father-in-law's would be similar.
 
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Rembrandt said:
The thumbhole for mine is not a Winchester original, appears to be a Reinhart Fajen. I've seen several similar to it, that makes sense your father-in-law's would be similar.
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No certainly not the original stock. The originals were rather pedestrian looking, some of which had barrel bands. My father in law still has the original for his as well as the custom stock. I reread your original post and saw that I missed that yours has a lyman scope not an unertl. What brand are the mounts out of curiosity? Know anything about the competition history?
 
The third rifle from the bottom has some pretty nice lumber. Beautiful rifles all. I’m getting so vintage guns are all that really interest me anymore. Probably because I’m getting pretty vintage myself:)
 
1976B.L.Johns. said:
Boy, your friend may be upset that you unpacked his new rifle!.......:)

I do not own one yet but would like an accurate rim fire rifle someday. Would bring me back to the early seventies when my sister and I competed. We made it to the 1973 Junior Rifle Championship Meet!
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Don't know what I would purchase but Offhand has posted some nice rifles!
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Very cool. I know a guy from Detroit Lakes, my hometown, that was state champ National Guard. He shot national matches too. He started with a 540 XR like mine. I take it you are North of there. There used to be a national training camp near Ely. I have shot there and got certified as an instructor there in the 1980's.
 
Rembrandt said:
Offfhand, that's an interesting palm rest on your 37, is it wood or acrylic? Is that a Roy Dunlap exclusive? Beautiful rifle!
Amazing how many different palm rest variations there are.
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The palm rest , buttplate and other accessories were manufactured by Roy Dunlap, who also built target rifles widely used by top rifle competitors. The palm rest is aluminum with a heavy soft-surface coating.
Among the several palm rests I've used one of the most elaborate is on this Russian "free rifle". 21A_2856.JPG
 
I don't quite consider this pair of Anschutz target .22's as part of my "collection" because of they are still on active duty in silhouette competitions. Back when the Silhouette Competition program was in it's infancy (Having imported from Mexico and adopted in the US by the NRA.) I went through a series of rifles (Rimfire and Centerfire) and scopes, hoping to find the most successful combinations. Finally settling on this heavy barrel M-54MS for the Standard Rifle class (at top), and trim barreled lightweight sporter for Hunter Rifle Class (below). Both have had lots of use, and still do, as shown by the multi-colored National Championship inspection stickers on both. In theory, scores should be higher with the heavy class rifles because of the extra weight and lighter trigger pull. But like many other shooters I came to realize that despite its lighter weight and trigger pull restriction (2 lb minimum) my scores with both were not all that different. And since a Hunter rifle can be entered in both classes, why not concentrate practice and other match preparations on the one rifle? It has paid off on the scoreboard, which is why I'm now basically a one-rifle competitor but still take the heavy rifle along to big events, if needed. 21A_2844 (2).JPG 21A_2852 (2).JPG
 
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Offfhand said:
I don't quite consider this pair of Anschutz target .22's as part of my "collection" because of they are still on active duty in silhouette competitions. Back when the Silhouette Competition program was in it's infancy (Having imported from Mexico and adopted in the US by the NRA.) I went through a series of rifles (Rimfire and Centerfire) and scopes, hoping to find the most successful combinations. Finally settling on this heavy barrel M-54MS for the Standard Rifle class (at top), and trim barreled lightweight sporter for Hunter Rifle Class (below). Both have had lots of use, and still do, as shown by the multi-colored National Championship inspection stickers on both. In theory, scores should be higher with the heavy class rifles because of the extra weight and lighter trigger pull. But like many other shooters I came to realize that despite its lighter weight and trigger pull restriction (2 lb minimum) my scores with both were not all that different. And since a Hunter rifle can be entered in both classes, why not concentrate practice and other match preparations on the one rifle? It has paid off on the scoreboard, which is why I'm now basically a one-rifle competitor but still take the heavy rifle along to big events, if needed.View attachment 979716

This is identical to my first ANNIE, mine wears irons and sees more 3p use,

As far as the rest of these rifle, down right sexy, all of them!

Probably the reason I took up high power, because there are way to many rifles to collect and shoot.
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I have gotten into the old .22 target rifles, the past year or so. I found a nice Winchester model 75 with Redfield Olympic, front globe and rear. It is a fine shooter. A few months back I found a 1924 Winchester model 52, with the original rear ladder sight and barrel mounted scope blocks. I found a nice 15 power Liechert scope and rings. It made a very neat setup. On the older model 52s, you have to watch for the death crack. Around the safety, is weak and is prone to cracking. Lucky, the one I bought is ok. I read about it after I had bought it. I love the way these older .22s are built. They were made at a time, people took pride in building them and people took pride in owning them. A lot of what is being made today is, the cheapest gun they can make, that will shoot. Back in the day, there was true craftsmen making them and they show the skill and craftsmanship when you pick one up. You just don’t get that feel now.
 
Gary W. Strange said:
.....On the older model 52s, you have to watch for the death crack. Around the safety, is weak and is prone to cracking. Lucky, the one I bought is ok. I read about it after I had bought it.....
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Ahhhh yes, the dreaded "Crack of Doom" found on the older 52's, pre B-C's and D's. Receiver lug cracks if bolt is bound and forced. One of the early flaws that later designs remedied. I've seen a few at gun shows going for premium price where dealers were unaware what they had. After pointing it out tried to politely let them know the gun was worth about half what they were asking. Nobody wants to hear that.

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The crack of doom is over exaggerated, except for collector value. Had a pre-A with the crack and it shot very well. I always thought it was caused by the safety camming the bolt rearward. The entire stress was placed on that one tab.
 
I ordered this Remington 40-X a few decades ago with intentions of using it in Rimfire Silhouette competitions. It worked out fairly well in a few early matches but I did better with my Anschutz .22's (See earlier post in this thread.) so now the 40-X is pretty much retired, but still nice to have around as a reminder of when Remington made fine target rifles.. 21A_2891 (2).JPG 21A_2882 (2).JPG 21A_2886 (2).JPG
 
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Not trying to hijack a beautiful thread, but I figure you guys will know; why do so many competition telescopic sights have such long tubes? There must be some advantage, but obviously I am not an optics technician. Thanks for your expertise.
 
Good question, easy answer. (Actually more than one answers) (1) In the "good old days" high magnification, usually more than 10X, required a longer tube because of the traditional optical systems of the time. It wasn't until after WWII that an increasing demand for High X's in shorter scopes led to development of more compact high-mag scopes now available. Lyman was a leader in this development because of demands of benchrest shooters, followed by Redfield and Leupold in the early 1970's. (2) Another reason long tube scopes were almost exclusively used by target shooters is/was because the external type adjustments allowed more precise and exact sight changes than typical hunting style scopes. (3) Target rifles and even some varmint rifles of those happy days came with factory mounted "target blocks" with assumption that the high-mag. long tube scopes then available would be used. Examples being varmint type rifles offered by Remington, Ruger, Winchester and others back in the '60's & "70's. Like this vintage Remington 700 Varmint Special equipped with vintage Unertl Ultra Varmint scope.. DSC_1111.JPG
 
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Rembrandt said:
Ahhhh yes, the dreaded "Crack of Doom" found on the older 52's, pre B-C's and D's. Receiver lug cracks if bolt is bound and forced. One of the early flaws that later designs remedied. I've seen a few at gun shows going for premium price where dealers were unaware what they had. After pointing it out tried to politely let them know the gun was worth about half what they were asking. Nobody wants to hear that.

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I wonder if a bent safety shaft can contribute in some way to the crack developing. I noticed that, in the case of my Pre-A, the weight of the entire rifle (and scope) rests on the safety lever when it is set down on that side......:confused:

Fortunately, I didnt bite on the gun right away and went home to do some research before going back the next day to purchase it, so I knew to look for "The Crack."
IMG_20210724_005823_5.jpg
She is GTG, but Im never touching the safety! :)
 
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