Myself, I wouldn't WANT to run a new bearing in an old race. Your replacement bearings are likely a different taper than the old ones. That, or the races were worn differently. You said "previous owner" so hell, who knows what he stuck in there.
Long punch, drive the old race out, install new. Tap all around the circumference of the race so it goes out straight.
Save the old races(at least one). Using a bench grinder, grind a few thousanths off the outer circumference of the race(old one) and use the old ground down race to drive the new race home. DON'T beat directly on a new race. DON'T use the bearing as a race driver either.