Gersley Vintage 22 Rifle Action

[seewin]

I was hoping one of our readers could shed some light on this 22 competition rifle. It was manufactured by "N. Gersley" in Roselle Park, NJ. I'm guessing it is an early to mid 50's rifle based on the fact that it uses a Winchester 52B bolt and trigger. The rifle currently has a Canjar triger, Eric Johnson barrel. and a stock of unknown origin. The action on this rifle is one of the smoothest and best finished that I have seen. All exterior surfaces appear to have been surface ground prior to blueing, and machine work is first rate all the way. S/N is 007, so apparently there were more than one made. Any ideas or comments?
Steve

[pickles]

Nice rifle, how does it shoot?

[seewin]

From what little I have shot it, it does very well. It is not really set up for bench shooting, but will hold its own with any of my factory or custom 52's.
Steve

[Fred J]

Nothing more than a 52 clone. Dought there were many made.

[Mdeneka]

N.Gersley is my wife's grandfather. He was an excellent machinist and competition shooter. He made a limited number of those actions.

[Dori]

My dad was N. Gersley from Roselle Park, NJ. There are 10 of those actions out there -- we have one/2 were left handed. It would be interesting to us to know where 007 might be or where any of them might be. Dad's name and address is on each.. I have the notebook with the numbers and the names of the men for whom the actions/rifles were made. If the stock is original, then we all had a hand in the hand-rubbing that Dad did on them.

[B.Larson]

My dad was N. Gersley from Roselle Park, NJ. There are 10 of those actions out there -- we have one/2 were left handed. It would be interesting to us to know where 007 might be or where any of them might be. Dad's name and address is on each.. I have the notebook with the numbers and the names of the men for whom the actions/rifles were made. If the stock is original, then we all had a hand in the hand-rubbing that Dad did on them.

Dori........ thank you for shedding some lite on our history as shooters.......your father did wonderful work......and what he taught you was invaluable........
bill larson

[404tbang]

My dad was N. Gersley from Roselle Park, NJ. There are 10 of those actions out there -- we have one/2 were left handed. It would be interesting to us to know where 007 might be or where any of them might be. Dad's name and address is on each.. I have the notebook with the numbers and the names of the men for whom the actions/rifles were made. If the stock is original, then we all had a hand in the hand-rubbing that Dad did on them.

Hi, Dori,
If you go to the top of the page, on the first post made by Seewin, click on his name. You will see an option to send him a personal message. I believe he not only has the rifle pictured, but one of the left handed ones as well. I wanted that one from an auction, but I seem to recall there was something necessary to make it complete. Wouldn't have mattered, I couldn't have outbid him, lol!

Steve is a very nice man, and his rifles are taken exceptionally good care of, in every way. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to talk to you. He's posted some pictures of some of his collection before. It's sorta like a museum!

If you know how it was that your Dad got ahold of the Eric Johnson barrel, please tell us. I have some examples of Johnson's work. He was amazing. His son once told me that his Dad didn't sell barrels, that only he installed them. His name was on the barrel and it HAD to shoot right. However, I know of one gunsmith Eric apparently trusted enough to install his barrels. Perhaps your Dad was good enough for that, too. The machining on the rifle looks wonderful!

Take care,

Greg

[AGersley]

Check with Seewin, as I have contacted him and updated him regarding his inquiry. My father designed and made the actions cited. He was a quietly brilliant machinist who took great pride in his work.

Hi, Dori,
If you go to the top of the page, on the first post made by Seewin, click on his name. You will see an option to send him a personal message. I believe he not only has the rifle pictured, but one of the left handed ones as well. I wanted that one from an auction, but I seem to recall there was something necessary to make it complete. Wouldn't have mattered, I couldn't have outbid him, lol!

Steve is a very nice man, and his rifles are taken exceptionally good care of, in every way. I'm sure he'd be thrilled to talk to you. He's posted some pictures of some of his collection before. It's sorta like a museum!

If you know how it was that your Dad got ahold of the Eric Johnson barrel, please tell us. I have some examples of Johnson's work. He was amazing. His son once told me that his Dad didn't sell barrels, that only he installed them. His name was on the barrel and it HAD to shoot right. However, I know of one gunsmith Eric apparently trusted enough to install his barrels. Perhaps your Dad was good enough for that, too. The machining on the rifle looks wonderful!

Take care,

Greg

[AGersley]

Nothing more than a 52 clone. Dought there were many made.

My dad was a first class machinist/tool maker and his design was, at the time, really innovative and well thought out. He made 10 of these actions/rifles-all for specific people. I have all his notes and have located another rifle beside the two that Steve has. I own no. 005 and will try to post pictures. It is uniquely different than the pica posted by seewin.

Alan Gersley