Might not want to do the restore thing to anything with a Pope barrel on it. You definitely have a very unique rifle in your hands. Is your barrel marked Pope or is it just hearsay. Have you taken the stock off and looked for anything under the barrel, Pope numbered all of his barrels. If it is indeed a Pope barrel I am not sure what it would be worth. I believe Harry passed on about 1951 so not sure if he would have been the one to barrel the action. It could be a take off barrel, but it could be allot of things. Tell us all that you know about the rifle that would be extremely helpful as well as maybe a few pictures.

J.Louis

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  Hello Bill --

   Congratulations on your new find and your very good fortune to discover the Harry M. Pope barrel.  You probably know that Mr. Pope was hired by the J. Stevens Company in the Spring of 1901 under a five year contract.  However, his employment did not last the full five years and he returned to the private practice of gunsmithing/barrelmaking.

For the expert J. Stevens information and assistance that you are seeking, and that your new acquisition would warrant, might I suggest you rely upon a very well educated and knowledgeable man with an impeccable reputation for knowing J. Stevens rifles and their appendages. 

My referral is to Mr. Paul Shuttleworth, who is one of the principals of the CPA Rifle Company.  Mr. Shuttleworth may be reached by telephone at his office 570-828-1669 or by FAX at 570-828-8333.

If I may be of further assistance on J. Stevens rifles or company history, please let me know.

Creedmoormatch

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Thanks, guys, for your help. The barrel is lettered on the top "H M POPE" - the bottom of the barrel flat near the receiver has some mysterious numerical markings....from what I can tell from researching pics on the net, these may be markings that indicate Pope's machine settings. 
I'd be happy to send pics - this is a Winchester Model 52A (I'm told, again, I'm relying on a gentleman I know who collects .22 caliber target rifles) made in 1936. It is ensconced in what can only be a target stock (it's about half a walnut tree) with removable comb so one can take out the bolt. The barrel has mounts that would make sense for a Unertl or Lyman scope or sight. Sorry, didn't know there was such a thing as a Stevens Model 52! Just shows you how little I know...my expertise, what little I have, is military surplus.
I'd be happy to send pics to any one of you who send an email address to me at kennedyb.kennedy@gmail.com for reference- I'm not very successful at posting them and both my techno-savvy sons have recently been relocated by the military branches they serve- one to Kuwait, one to somewhere in the gulf of mexico. 
Again, thanks for your help. 

Quote:


Hi Plain Old Bill,
You say that your barrel is marked H M POPE on top, the one I have is marked H. M. POPE 

I notice that yous does not have the periods after the H and the M, was it just a typo on your part or does it look like mine.
  Regards
    H. M. Pope

H.M. POPE-  on top of the barrel the H.M. POPE has the periods after the H and M and looks like yours font-wise. On the BOTTOM of the barrel near the receiver are the following- top line (imagine the barrel pointed straight up, and I will add  quotation marks for clarity)  "692" , next line says "B2" next line says "15.9", final line says "2.10.27"
Finally, there is another H.M. POPE exactly the same as the top of the barrel running lengthways...under it in very light letters is "ERIC JOHNSON".   
Is this consistent with what you know about Pope barrels?

Good Lord....not just the barrel maker, but the gunsmith is famous too? I am very happy that I've not yet started any kind of restoration. 
In any case, the only thing that needs restoration is the stock. It needs a buttplate- I'm altogether not sure how to go about putting one on. Apparently the buttplate must be removed every time the comb is taken off and the bolt taken out. Or...a two-piece buttplate?
The two places on the forend where I guess one would normally find tuning screws on a Model 52 stock (angled about 45 degrees earthward of the barrel's plane near the forend tip) have been filled in, perhaps with glue. 
The barrel has a nice patina, as does the action. The bore is in great shape. It looks like the only things to be done would be to remove the stock's finish and refinish the stock after a buttplate is added, then find a sighting system, scope or tube sight would seem to be appropriate given the sight mounts. 
But...now that I'm finding the history is so profound, maybe allow someone who knows more to take ownership? 
Sorry- thinking out loud!

I would not refinish this rifle, when your friends find out you have a Pope barrel on a Eric Johnson rifle they won't care much about the looks.   ledball

Quote:


Plain Old Bill,
I think the Eric Johnson work book is available, with the numbers on the barrel it may be possible to find more info on your 52. It sounds to me that it may have been a Prone rifle.

Winchester made some factory rifles with a two piece butt stock and the top half had to be removed to remove the bolt. 

Being that this is a Single Shot group, and your 52 may have been converted to a single shot, but guys here still consider it one of those new fangled Bolt guns with way to many moving parts, so you may find much more info on the Winchester Model 52 Group at:

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

The guys there seem to know a lot about the Winchester M-52 and the guys that built them.
  Regards
    H. M. Pope

The guys over at the Winchester 52 Forum on Rimfire Central would love to hear about your great find. Lots of good people who realy know Winchester 52's.

Thanks, fellas, just got the power back and saw your kind and thoughtful answers. I will not restore any part of that piece - sounds like it's better to leave alone. Thanks for the tip about the Model 52 site...I surely will seek some more knowledge there. 
Hope y'all survived the "Frankenstorm" with as little damage as we experienced, if you're in PA or near the east coast. Thanks again!