Winchester 72A

[richhodg66]

Picked one up this weekend. I had always liked the 69A with it's short bolt throw, and this is a nicer feeling rifle than the Remington 511 I've been working with (though it is a great rifle and very, very accurate). As far as I can tell, the 72A seems to be a tube fed variant of the 69A, is this correct?

I'm liking this little rifle and the main reason I bough it is because it was made late enough to be grooved for tip off scope mounts so it'll be easy to scope. Normally, I strongly prefer a detachable mag to a tube fed .22, but this one really got it's hooks in me at the gun shop and I couldn't pass.

Anyone have experience with these?

[Win1954]

The Winchester 72A is a great 22. My grandmother owned one (yes, my grandmother) and I loved shooting it as a teenager. It's simple, easy to use, cheap to shoot, easy to take down and clean, and just plain fun to shoot. One problem with this rifle is the bolt handle can get loose. Not the bolt itself, but the bolt handle. I bought a 72A and it was loose and the gunsmith said he usually just spot welds the handle so it won't "wobble".

I like the tube fed mag, but maybe that's because of my memories of using this gun when I was a kid.

I'm not familiar with the 69A, but I love the Win 72A.

[richhodg66]

Far as I can tell, the 69A and 72A seem to be the same rifle, one just uses detachable mags and the other a tube. This 72A has a loose bolt handle I'll have to deal with and I will want to refinish the stock. Otherwise, it's a good shooter, I don't think it's quite the equal of my Remington 511 accuracy wise, but it's nicer at least to me it is.

[EdS]

richhodg66: You may want to try the Locktite "wicking" stud lock fluid on your loose bolt handle. It cured the problem on my Rem 512! -Ed

[richhodg66]

richhodg66: You may want to try the Locktite "wicking" stud lock fluid on your loose bolt handle. It cured the problem on my Rem 512! -Ed

Thanks for the tip, I haven't dug into this one much yet, had to replace the front sight and have mounted a scope, but not happy with the scope on it so a permanent one is in the works.

It is a nice little rifle and parts don't seem hard to come by when I looked around.

[eck0313]

I've had 2 Model 72s. The only reason I don't still have them is I'm a south paw. They are great rifles, very accurate with a wide variety of .22 ammo.