old s&w model 52

[buckweet]

howdy... i was given an old s&w automatic, model 52.
its been sitting in a dresser drawer for many years.
looks like a neet old pistol.
i havent fired it yet, i've ordered some wadcutter cast boolits for it, will try to load some up.
and load data for the model 52 ?

what you guys thinks of these older pistols ?

weet

[9.3X62AL]

VERY FINE MACHINES. They are wadcutter-load specific, with those WCs seated flush. Don't try to get creative with pressures--keep the 148 grainers in the 700-800 FPS ballpark. This pistol's accuracy will astound you. Feed it good ammo, and your alibis will evaporate.

2.7 grains of Bullseye, or 3.0 grains of WW-231 should fill the bill.

[Wheeler]

At one time that was one of the most desirable semi-auto pistols out there for Bullseye. That's a very cool gift.

[Dale53]

Al is correct. These were the finest .38 Special target pistols ever made, in my view. I had one for some time when I was shooting Bullseye competition.

I used cast wadcutters (that I cast) and they require a bit more powder for the same results (I suggest 3.0-3.2 grs of Bullseye). I had occasion to shoot with Tommy Campbell of Smith and Wesson (Smith's sponsored shooter and worked in the factory for Smith for MANY years). Tommy was EXTREMELY high in praise of these guns.

Gil Hebard (National Civilian Camp Perry Champion, back in the day) had an excellent article on loading details with these pistols in one of his published books. You may find they shoot better with bullets somewhat smaller than the accepted .358" in diameter (this applies only to the solid based bullets). Some of these early pistols had rather tight barrels...

Mine was not one of the first editions (52- something?) and I used .358" cast bullets with excellent results. Most of my acquaintances with these pistols used commercial, bulk packed, hollow base wadcutters (we could get them from Star bullets when buying in large quantities so cheap it hardly paid to cast them). Star is now gone, worse the luck...

Just a thought or two...

Dale53

[NoZombies]

I use a DEWC, and I seat .003 bellow the case mouth and apply a light crimp. 2.7 bullseye does work quite well, I've also used tite-group, as it's cleaner burning.

I'm using the lee TL DEWC mold, I tumble lube, and I do use the lee factory crimp die to uniform the ammo. I see excellent accuracy and consistent feeding. I had minor problems with getting magazines to load before I started seating the bullet deeper. I have several "good" magazines, and one that I have marked that I only use for plinking, as it just isn't quite right.

The only complaint I have about my model 52 (it's a dash 2) is that I spend too much time chasing down my brass.

[Dale53]

The only complaint I have about my model 52 (it's a dash 2) is that I spend too much time chasing down my brass.

You might want to take a look at this:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=19356

FWIW
Dale53

[Dframe]

Yup. Flush seated wadcutters ONLY. Hairsplittingly accurate. I regret I didn't buy one from Gil Hebard years ago when he had a used one for sale reasonable in his shop.

[subsonic]

Just pass it on to me, then you won't have to worry about how to load for it! :bigsmyl2:

Seriously though, post your results with your loads when you try it out. And if you decide to sell it....:bigsmyl2:

[NoZombies]

You might want to take a look at this:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=19356

FWIW
Dale53

Thanks for the Link Dale, I've been contemplating a brass catcher, and that might just be the direction I'll head in!