SW Mod 52 Enigma

The M41 on the left has barrel mounted weights. I dunno if they work to tame the mighty recoil but someday maybe I’ll test it out. Don’t know if there is an accuracy change either. Obviously the weights only fit either of the top 2 barrels.
I’m ready for Bullseye.
 
koldt said:
I've had the gun for awhile, and may have changed the grips for these. Pretty good shape and I liked the colour, but they might in fact be M39 grips. Most M52 guns I've seen had very light coloured grips. I dunno. Too many guns, too much crap. Said no one.
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FYI - the 52 no dash I owned also had dark walnut grips. I recall having to turn down the OD of some washers to fit under the grip screws. Two of the 52's I owned were well used and had slightly enlarged holes in the wood were the grip bushings fit. The grips wouldn't lift off but sometimes slightly shifted on the frame which broke my concentration.

I never put the weight on mine yet - but koldt and T&G got me thinking it may be the solution to the sloooow slide recoil cycle.
 
Jasper Morris said:
FYI - the 52 no dash I owned also had dark walnut grips. I recall having to turn down the OD of some washers to fit under the grip screws. Two of the 52's I owned were well used and had slightly enlarged holes in the wood were the grip bushings fit. The grips wouldn't lift off but sometimes slightly shifted on the frame which broke my concentration.

I never put the weight on mine yet - but koldt and T&G got me thinking it may be the solution to the sloooow slide recoil cycle.
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There are different recoil spring options as well.
 
koldt said:
There are different recoil spring options as well.
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Yup, I bought a bunch of parts back in the day when it was easier and cheaper to get stuff shipped from the USA. Got some recoil springs, mag springs, couple of extractors, repro magazines & barrel bushing wrench.

The repo mags work fine but are not as well made as original S&W. The bushing wrench is not much use - I never could get a bushing to go past finger tight to the next cutout by using the wrench. And so far never needed another extractor - which is good because the repo is made oversize and would need to be hand fit (and then reblued) to install.

I handload 2.7gr Bullseye with Campro 148gr copper washed HBWC. I think copper washed bullets keep the pistol cleaner than lead lubed bullets and improve the reliabiliity.

Used to shoot mine in centerfire club league but found out I'm a participant and not a contender due to a bunch of lame excuses - mostly not competitive enough. So now I just take the 52 out once and a while for the joy of shooting such a nicely made target pistol.

Enjoy yours, they're great guns.
 
That’s been my load for about 35 years; 2.7 Bullseye with HBWC. Was using Kurt’s BDX Missoula, bullets but ran out and now it’s between Delta or even some expensive Hornady bullets shooting B27 targets.
 
Interesting thread. When I started pistol shooting in the mid 1970's, I joined a range where the predominant shooting discipline was bullseye. In those days, the advice to a newbie was first purchase a S&W K-22 and then after a while when you have things figured out somewhat, add a K-38 and your done. Then, the Model 52 arrived on the scene and suddenly it was forget the K-38, the Model 52 was the ultimate. We had a Ransom Rest at the club, but did not have the Model 52 grip insert, so no one attempted to do a comparison test. Or if they did, I never heard the results.

I always wondered if the 52 was that much more accurate than the K-38, head to head. Price was also a factor as a new K-38 was $180 and a Model 52 was almost $500 IIRC.
 
tobin said:
Interesting thread. When I started pistol shooting in the mid 1970's, I joined a range where the predominant shooting discipline was bullseye. In those days, the advice to a newbie was first purchase a S&W K-22 and then after a while when you have things figured out somewhat, add a K-38 and your done. Then, the Model 52 arrived on the scene and suddenly it was forget the K-38, the Model 52 was the ultimate. We had a Ransom Rest at the club, but did not have the Model 52 grip insert, so no one attempted to do a comparison test. Or if they did, I never heard the results.


I always wondered if the 52 was that much more accurate than the K-38, head to head. Price was also a factor as a new K-38 was $180 and a Model 52 was almost $500 IIRC.
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Your post got me wondering too - so I dug out my copy of "The Pistol Shooters Treasury" by Gil Hebard which contains the test results for four S&W 52 pistols each shot from a machine rest at 50 yards. Three brands of factory ammo were fired in the test - 10 shot groups were fired 10 times for each brand of ammo in each pistol. 1200 rounds in total.

The worst average of 10 shot group size was 3.301" while the best average 10 shot group was 1.830". Hebard shows a target photo with a single 1.03" group and says its the tightest machine rest 10 shot group he's ever gotten at 50 yards with any .38 caliber gun.

My personal experience is that my 52-1 is more accurate than my 14-2 but the sample size from the test shows that there's still some variation between individual guns of the same model and different makes and lot # of ammo.
 
sillymike said:
Early 52's, couldn't these also be converted back to a double-action like the 39 :confused:
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I've heard yes. As I've never tried, I understand it's simply turn the trigger set screw in or out for double action or full time single. Never played with it as this has worked for the last 10 years or so.
 
In the should-have-but-didn't-know-any-better... When I first got into bullseye, On pretty much the same day I passed on a M41 short (because eh! bullseye is not shot with 22 short) and a M41 with a 5" and a 5.5" barrels... (because: Why would I want two pretty much identical barrel for a 22lr pistol...)

After all these years, I'm still wondering if the 22short was a conversion or a purpose built pistol... But the old guy is long gone...

Oh well, live and learn.
 
sillymike said:
In the should-have-but-didn't-know-any-better... When I first got into bullseye, On pretty much the same day I passed on a M41 short (because eh! bullseye is not shot with 22 short) and a M41 with a 5" and a 5.5" barrels... (because: Why would I want two pretty much identical barrel for a 22lr pistol...)

After all these years, I'm still wondering if the 22short was a conversion or a purpose built pistol... But the old guy is long gone...

Oh well, live and learn.
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I've never seen but read about the 22 short. Apparently the slide is aluminium to function with short ammo. Yup, you should have grabbed it. Gotta be worth (in another country) a big dollar. Not many were produced by S&W.

There is at least one barrel configuration with a front sight that extends, that I now have to look for. There were some aftermarket/gunsmiths that did it, but I've been told SW did one from the factory.

Funny how the weights are similar manufacture and come in a blue box, usually seen containing hand cuffs, but they aren't marked with any logo, etc.
 
koldt said:
I've never seen but read about the 22 short. Apparently the slide is aluminium to function with short ammo. Yup, you should have grabbed it. Gotta be worth (in another country) a big dollar. Not many were produced by S&W.

There is at least one barrel configuration with a front sight that extends, that I now have to look for. There were some aftermarket/gunsmiths that did it, but I've been told SW did one from the factory.

Funny how the weights are similar manufacture and come in a blue box, usually seen containing hand cuffs, but they aren't marked with any logo, etc.
Click to expand...

Ive seen the extended front sight set ups a few times over the years. Not as scarce as the 22 short versions I think. - dan
 
Back in the 70's I had a 41 with 3 barrels, 2 in .22lr (different lengths) and one in .22 short (long barrel and comp for Rapid Fire) with a lightweight slide. Erv at Custom Gun Shop moved it on for me, so it might still be around Alberta. It was a custom package from S&W.
All I have now in a 41 is one in .22 short. For long rifle .22 I went to the High Standards, ..... preferred the grip!
 
From what I gathered. The idea with the extendable front sight was that the shooter could have the maximum sight radius allowed for ISSF and NRA events, all the while only having one barrel.
- It was a good idea, that didn't quite catch on... as shooters would either buy a 2nd barrel instead (or a whole 2nd pistol)

Model41-UseALittlePull-500.jpg
 
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