The slide on my 1970's vintage 52-2 won't reliably lock back after the 5th shot. It ejects fine - no stove pipes. It won't even lock if I pull the slide back by hand. The stop moves very easily and I can push it into place. Upon examination it looks like the part that engages the follower is too short. It barely, if at all, engages. I have both plastic and metal followers and neither one works consistently.

I tried buying a new stop at Numrich but they were sold out. I could probably send it to S&W to get a new slide stop fitted, but I'd like to fix it myself.

Could this piece be made longer? Could someone with a welder (TIG?) build up the end? Could I shim the opposite side of the mag to move it closer to the stop? Is there another source for a stop? Would one from a model 39 work?

Thanks,

Jeff

Sounds like it would be a good time to just wait on the parts to get replenished and/or hit Ebay or some other sources for parts, If you have another 52 owner close do a swap for a couple mags and confirm the problem.

If the stop is broken it should be obvious when you look at it. If it's jagged and feels rough to the touch then the stop needs replacement. The other possibility is a weak mag spring. It could also be the way you are gripping the gun. Your thumb may be impeding the stop on it's upward travel or you may be "limp wristing" just enough to keep the slide from going back far enough to engage the stop.

Thanks for the reply. As I mentioned in my original post the slide stop won't engage even if the slide is pulled back manually.
I believe the issue is the slide stop. (But I'll try a new mag. spring) Since there are currently none for sale I'm seeking help repairing mine.

Jeff

Also check the engagement point on the magazine (the step on the follower that pushes up on the slide stop), sometimes a little adjustment of the magazine spring, to give additional tension to the front of the follower can help. Otherwise, as previously mentioned, a new magazine spring is likely in order.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out, Steve

I lengthened the part of the slide stop that engages the magazine with JB Weld Steel Stick epoxy. It lasted long enough to show that was the solution to the problem. Now I need a more permanent fix.

Will a MAPP torch and silver solder work on steel?

Jeff

Make sure the slide stop is being held all the way into position into the frame so the inside tab is reaching as far as it can into the mag.
If it is drifting out a small amt,,the internal tab won't be able to be reached by the mag follower.

Sometimes slide stops even get bent slightly. Just a gentle outward bend in the lever will place the internal engagment tab over a few .000" and out of reach from the mag follower.
I've found this as the reason for this problem on a couple of semi-autos


Sometimes the magazine follower itself can be bent over into position to catch the slidestop.

Some sheet metal followers can be extended a few .000" to catch the slide holdopen by peening them at that edge. It's just moving the metal over a little to engage it and a little is all that's needed sometimes. A solid hit or two with a flat punch just in from the edge will drive the profile outward. The followers are usually pretty soft and work easily. This probably doesn't apply to M52 mags anyway.
A plastic follower obviously doesn't lend itself to that.

A worn engagment tab on the slide stop is possible but it takes a lot of use and even some abuse to get to that point generally on recreational target guns.
I'd look for another cause first unless the slidestop has obvious damage or a break,,and this as a last resort.

I've fixed a few Spanish pistols that needed it by silver-soldering a tiny piece of steel into a notch cut into the original tab. Notching it improves the contact area for soldering and squares it up to make soldering another piece onto it easier.
Then just file to shape and fit.
The soldering (hard solder) will destroy the bluing on the part,,so plan on polishing & rebluing the slide stop.
I guess a soft solder could be used,,the newer silver bearing soft solders are pretty good but the contact area is small. I'd rather hard solder or TIG weld some extra onto it to extend it.

If (when) you lengthen the slide stop tab that reaches inside the magazine and engages the follower to make it work,,do any adjustments to the length with a round or two in the magazine.
The extra length will both have to be long enough to catch the follower of the magazine,,but not so long as to touch a loaded round in the mag as they pass by it in cycling.
It's a balancing act and sometimes only a few .000 difference.
If too long,,the slide will lock back with each round fired as the slide stop is activated by the round(s) in the mag as well as the follower after the last round is gone from it.

2152hq:

Not having any welding equipment (or knowledge) I epoxied a piece of brass from a shell casing on to the bottom of the stop. After the epoxy set I used a needle file to to adjust the brass to the same width as the steel. After reading your last paragraph I then carefully adjusted the length of the brass until it cleared the shell but caught the follower. I didn't measure how much the brass protruded but it was probably about 0.040"
I took it to the range and it worked perfectly for about 100 rounds with 3 different magazines, until the epoxy let go.
Now I just need to see about a permanent fix.

Thanks,

Jeff

There's an old rule of thumb that if you have to modify parts, you work on the cheaper part.

Given that you needed to add 0.040 inches to the slide stop, That's not likely to have been the result of wear.

Might I suggest that adding some material to the lip on the magazine follower might be easier, and since the part would be under compression, stronger?

You might see if new magazine followers (and some magazine springs too) are available and try changing at least one of those out. Otherwise, consider the shim & epoxy trick on the follower. If you pull the followers, you should be able to solder the shims on if that's the issue.

If you actually do have to work on the slide stop itself, a really good person with a TIG welder should be able to take care of your problem.

Thanks for the reply. I've got new plastic and old steel followers - none of which work. The slide stop is at the gunsmith's as we speak. I had a long conversation with him at his shop yesterday and feel confident he can add enough metal with his TIG so that I can dress it down with a needle file to be completely functional.
I'm not entirely sure this stop was originally for a 52-2, or for this one. At one time I had 3 and was swapping slide stops between them. I was selling 2 and wanted to be sure they had functioning stops. I think I kept the bad one.

Jeff