S&w 52-2

[GBertolet]

Those Colt 38 Gold Cups were quite unique and somewhat rare. Back in the 1980's one of the shooters in our indoor bullseye league had one. If I remember correctly, they were blow back, and had serrations in the chamber for retarding the extraction. As nice as they are, they could not equal the S&W 52 in overall reliability and accuracy. It's a shame they stopped making them though.

As for measuring 5 groove bore diameters, it is quite difficult, but possible. I had several people measure my S&W 52 slugged bullet, with different micrometers, and came to the consensus, that the diameter was .355. That's the assumption I am going on.

[35remington]

Bore diameter is the land to land distance. Mistakenly uttered when groove diameter is what is meant.

[GBertolet]

I phrased it wrong, groove diameter, not bore diameter, I stand corrected.

[dverna]

Google how to measure a 5 groove barrel

[Lloyd Smale]

never owned a 52 but did have a 952 for a while. I bought it to shoot ppc with. What I found was it was very precisely fitted and chambered tight. It shot great but any dirt from cast bullets (didn't have pc coatings then) would have it missfeeding in short order. I sold it and bought an sti trojan in 9mm that shot just as well, would feed about anything and never missed a beat. Its one gun I sold that I don't miss a bit.

[Ia.redneck]

I have a 52 that I've shot quite a bit. Arlon is right on the money with his comments about it not being forgiving on fundamentals. Your grip and follow through must be perfect or it will frustrate you, unlike the 1911.
It's an extremely accurate platform though with the right ammo!

[EMR]

I finally got a chance to take this out for a spin. You guys were right about this thing amplifying your errors! But I love it! 3.1grn of W232 are a little soft for it. They all failed to lock the slide back on the last round. Two out of the 35 failed to chamber completely for some reason. But WOW what a trigger! I am truly humbled by this pistol.

And what range report is good without a picture?

7 yards off hand slow fire.


Thanks everyone for all the input

[Texas by God]

I wish that I could still shoot that well!

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[tejano]

I wish that I could still shoot that well!

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I never could!

[EMR]

I wish that I could still shoot that well!

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I never could!

For some reason pistol shooting comes naturally for me. Rifle shooting on the other hand... I could never hit the broad side of a barn at 50 yards!

[Drm50]

At 69 I have to use two hands and still can't shoot that well anymore. For some reason I out shoot my self when I shoot K38 against my 52.

[tejano]

I traded my 52-2 years ago because I embarrassed the pistol almost every time I shot it. My best grouping in recent years was with my S&W 929 revolver. Shooting DA at 7 yards I put all 8 inside 2". I immediately stopped shooting and waited for the next cease fire so I could take down the target. didn't come close to matching that effort the rest of that day or since.

[Winger Ed.]

I had one made in the 70's. At 25 yd. it would shoot to one hole when it had a good day.
Still regret selling it back to the life long friend I bought it from.

I had a RCBS and a Lee mold for .38 wadcutters.
The double end Lee sized to .358 was consistently the best.

I can't remember the load, but I used Unique and the charge was about in the middle of
the span for it in the old Hornady book.

It was a light enough charge that someone could 'limp wrist' it and get an occasional stove pipe.

[Wild Bill 7]

I had two of them at one time. One and two and had to sell them both. My favorite load was 2.7 grains Bullseye and seated flush with the case mouth. My mold is H&G wadcutter mold 4 cavity. I have a Clark Model 61 38 wadcutter gun, smooth cycling and a fine trigger. Excellent accuracy at 25 yards free hand for me. Enjoy that gun because it is a fine machine and will give you unlimited enjoyment for years to come.