No. 40325A; “Winchester” model 52 .22 long rifle, bolt action, barrel length 711 mm, Cal .22, magazine (10 round capacity); Competition rifle. Rifle secured with a trigger guard in a locked glass cabinet.
This competition rifle was used by Lt. Gilmour Boa of the 48th Highlanders in the 1951 Bisley Competition in England. On 21 July 1951 Lt. Boa won the most coveted award of military marksman of the British and Commonwealth armies, the King’s Prize. That autumn Lt. Boa also won, for his second time, the King’s Medal at the D.R.A. (Dominion Rifle Association) meet in Ottawa.
The 48th Highlanders competed as part of the Canadian Bisley Team from 1895 to 1914 before the Bisley competitions were suspended during WWI. Sgt. William Hawkins had won the King’s Prize at Bisley in 1913. Highlanders resumed competing when the competitions began again after the war.