S/W model 52-2

One of the best auto's ever made. 38sp Wadcutter only, not too common so parts and mags cost a bit more but one of the most accurate pistols ever, a real pleasure to shoot.

Get your friend to take up PPC shooting just because he has one.
 
s&w mod 52's are notorious for being finicky to load. don't shoot hot loads. also i have been told recoil even with mild loads is fearce. the frame is too high and the grip too straight.
 
The proper load is around 3.0 grains of 231 under a 148 grain swaged hollow based wadcutter, you'd have to work really hard to convince yourself that that load causes any recoil. Anything other than match full wadcutters won't work in the 52, since the pistol is only designed to feed the case length of a 38 spl case (no room for a bullet). Awesome gun, it'll make anyone look good, capable of piling all shots on top of each other at 25 yards.
 
Excellent piece and very nice to shoot. You have to reload or be very rich, but they shoot very well and it's easy to reload. At one point, I had about four thousand cast 9 mm. bullets and I sized them to .357 and seated them even with the case neck and they worked very well. Shoots much better than I can hold. I'm down to my last thousand or so.
 
They are excellent pistols, soft shooting and very accurate. I load mine with hollow base wadcutters and finish with a taper crimp die, just enough crimp to remove the slight flare in the casing for seating the bullets. If your rounds are all over the target with this pistol it is not the pistol's fault.
 
They're nice semi!

If you reload, put some crimps... it will thank you for it. My best result were with 3.4gr HP38 under a cast 148WC, using CCI primer and Dominion brass.

It's not exactly a forgiving gun, it will either shoot 9's and 10's... or you'll end up with a 5! The rear sight is pretty darn thight (Probably why it is so unforgiving... to my eyes at least)

Parts for the -2 are still easy to find, and magazines are available from either Brownells or S&W... +/- $60. If he wants to shoot PPC, he'll have to modify the magazines as they only hold 5 rounds.

As far as "bullseye" target guns are concerned... the M52 is considered classic, just like the old Colt National Match... and the Colt Officers Match Target and S&W K38 Masterpiece revolvers.

Nice used one can be had for $650-$1000...
 
BULLZEYE;
"also i have been told recoil even with mild loads is fearce."

You are basing this on what personal experience, ??
May I respectfuly suggest you stick to shooting .22cb caps.... If you think .38spcl mid-range loads are fierce....
In short this psitol in one hell of a target gun....
Maybe second only to the Colt National Match....
Yes I own both
John
 
i fired this gun and hated it. but then again i have no use for any of the old smith semi auto's. forget caliber give me a colt goverment, browning high power or a cz 75 anytime.
but that is my choice and if you choose a smith all the power to you.
p.s. when you could still buy handguns in the states ifound both a smith and a colt in 38 spl. tried them both and went back to the 9mm.
if you have a 38 spl auto enjoy.
 
bullzeye said:
i fired this gun and hated it. but then again i have no use for any of the old smith semi auto's. forget caliber give me a colt goverment, browning high power or a cz 75 anytime.
but that is my choice and if you choose a smith all the power to you.
p.s. when you could still buy handguns in the states ifound both a smith and a colt in 38 spl. tried them both and went back to the 9mm.
if you have a 38 spl auto enjoy.
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In 45 years of shooting I have never seen a 9 out shoot either the NM or 52 in 38, assuming the same shooter. If you want one of the most accurate pistols ever built, that is where you start looking. - dan
 
The S&W 952 and the Sig 210 are probably the only production 9mm's that are as accurate as a Model 52 but both are a lot more expensive. I've had my Model 52 for over 15 years and can't see ever selling it, you can't get a more accurate pistol for the price they sell for.
 
Silverback said:
The S&W 952 and the Sig 210 are probably the only production 9mm's that are as accurate as a Model 52 but both are a lot more expensive. I've had my Model 52 for over 15 years and can't see ever selling it, you can't get a more accurate pistol for the price they sell for.
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The new S&W Performance Center guns, ie. PPC9, will out shoot the 52 and new 952.

I've done a ton of Ransom testing with all of them, and it's incredible how well the PPC9 guns, either 5 or 6 inch, work.

My original mod 52 had no dash, as it was a double/single capable, then my next two mod 52-1, had enough mags modified to accept 6 rounds so I shot it them for a while. They were then outlawed for the game I was shooting, so they got sold. The weights worked well, and didn't change the point of impact that noticeably.
 
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