I was cleaning 5 of my Smith autos today and after putting the 52-2 together a few times trying to get the safety to function as a "Safety & De-cocker" I gave up AND I thought I would ask here first,,,, is the safety a "Safety Only" and not a "De-cocker"?

When I engage the safety the hammer does not drop and with the safey "On" if you pull the trigger then the hammer falls but hits the "block".

I did notice the frame on the 52-2 only has 1 metal "tab" sticking up that you need to push down to bring the slide back and most of my other 1st,2nd & 3rd gen Smiths have 2 or 3 "tabs" on the frame.

Thanks in advance!

The model 52 slide lever is only a firing pin block "safety."
It is not meant to drop the hammer. What would be the point of getting the hammer down on a loaded chamber in a single action target pistol?

For that matter, a bullseye target shooter doesn't really need a safety. There are several European target pistols that only have safeties to get import points for the USA, the home market guns don't have them.

I have heard of using the 52's firing pin block for dry fire practice, but I think I would be more comfortable with a snap cap. Actually, since I am not a serious target shooter, I only shoot my 52 occasionally but with real ammo.

Thanks a zillion JW, I wasn't sure if I assembled it correctly or not.