Ouch! It's almost painful to see such a ham-handed "resto-ruination" of what would otherwise have been a very nice, semi-custom Winchester Model 54. Note that the barrel markings say "Barreled by Griffin & Howe" which is not the same as a full G&H custom rifle (with a G&H serial number). Nevertheless, the rifle retains some nice features such as a Lyman 48 long slide receiver sight, Zeiss Zielklein scope in a period G&H sidemount with windage adjustment, and re-profiled bolt handle with checkered panel (might also be G&H work).
Unfortunately, the rifle has been virtually ruined through heavy over-polishing of the metal resulting in rounded edges and washed-out letters and markings throughout. This was followed by a hot dunk re-blue resulting in a garish "harlequin" purple finish on the receiver. Also note that the receiver was drilled and tapped on top for a scope (not factory on a Model 54), which is superfluous with the existing G&H sidemount.
The stock is definitely a replacement, with crude details and clunky post-WW2 proportions that are totally wrong for a light caliber rifle with a 20" barrel. About the only nice thing that can be said, is that the checkering looks fairly well executed. The original stock would probably have been the factory Winchester stock, possibly with some G&H refinements such as deluxe checkering and maybe a trapdoor buttplate.
Of course the seller's description is utter bollocks, especially the part about a "Douglas barrel" and a "4x scope" (the Zielklein is a 2-1/4x). Likewise, he makes a big deal about the leather Heiser scope case (included), which should properly have been a G&H marked accessory if anything.
Such details aside, I'm not sure what could be done with the rifle now, since the metal surfaces have been so thoroughly abused by refinishing. Restocking (or a radical restyling) and a proper rust re-blue would go a long ways towards restoring this rifle's lost dignity, but crisping up all the metal edges and restoring the lettering would take a lot of effort and may not be fully successful in the end.
Sigh...
Peconga in Boise, Idaho
Last edited by Peconga; 12/27/10 04:31 AM.
