TargetTalk

I found a picture of this rifle a M52 .The stock looks really well done and the rifle is from the early 1950's.My question is who made the stock. Is it an Eric Johnson or a Freeland, anybody see something like it.

You might be talking about a Winchester 52E, but as the picture itself did not come through that is just a guess. ;-)

Dude

It's been a long time since I visited Freeland's shop in the late 1960s, but my recollection is that he was making the international style stock for the 52E for Winchester, and while Al's international style stock was better than the American style stock on the 52D it wasn't up to par with Anschutz's stock. Remchester wasn't interested in producing guns to compete with Anschutz and Walther. I don't think that it wasn't that they couldn't, it was that they didn't want to expend the resources or effort. When you went to Camp Perry in the late 1960s and early 1970s, both Winchester and Remington had fairly fancy buildings on Commercial Row, but they weren't pushing their competition arms. Winchester, for example, was only open in the day-time when we were shooting. The one time they were open when I was free, I asked about having their custom shop make a left handed stock for the International Army Match version of the Model 70. The sales rep laughed at me. Savage, which was the importer for Anschutz at the time, had two German gunsmiths from Anschutz in their bare bones facility who would literally rebuild your rifle except for a new barrel or stock.

Every morning the Remington and Winchester reps would walk the firing line recording what people were shooting. Except during the prone matches when their was somewhat more variation, the chant was Anschutz and Eley.

Regards,
Don