In some aspects it is kind of a sad tale. Last year I acquired a Model 52-2 that was in terrible shape to say the least. This poor pistol had suffered such abuse that I thought it would die on the first shot. Well it didn't. However, it had many major issues as the pics below will help to explain. First of all, who in their right mind would stipple the front grip portion of a Model 52 basically ruining it's feel and appearance. Then there is the barrel. This same individual thought that a good chemical wash would certainly clean the barrel. Yes it certainly did clean the barrel while at the same time wrecking it both inside and out because of it's corrosive properties. Then the pistol suffered the misfortune of being dropped striking the side of the barrel next to the Barrel Bushing Plunger taking a chip out of that side of the barrel well. After all of this abuse the pistol survived shooting a perfect score at 7 meters. By the way, the only reason that I purchase this pistol ($400US) was for all of the parts except, of course, for the Barrel, Frame and Slide.

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I have tears in my eyes after looking at the pictures. I have seen one M52 with stippled front grip area and a couple of M41’s.

Actually, it's good news - still shooting 10s and Xs after all the gentle ministrations of the previous owner . Enjoy!

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Just an example of the "good bones" built into S&W handguns!

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Bill

$400, great deal, even with all the issues.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

I am one who can simply appreciate the patina on this gun, unfortunate it has had such a hard and neglected life though.
It's in good hands now
Enjoy it for what it will offer you and thanks for all you give back to us!
Karl

Yes, agreed that I am leaning the other way than the early thoughts in this discussion. The barrel makes me sad because something obviously went entirely wrong there. The wood stocks are very unattractive, IMO, and look bloated, but are an easy, EASY fix. I think the stippling was done very well and if anything, it harkens back to a time when a pistol was purchased for a purpose and then USED for that purpose. I see no crime in that -- I also get emotional about the handguns that I love, but the firearm itself has no "feelings" and it doesn't care that someone molded it a little more the way they wanted it.

If someone at the shooting range offered it over to me to take a few shots AND THEN offered to sell it to me for $400, it would leave that range with me. That's a fact.

As soon as I'll wipe away the tears from my eyes,I'll start looking into one of these ultrasonic cleaners so that my guns will never look like this one.
Anyway,great buy for the price!
Qc

We bought them, we shot them lots, we stippled their frames, filed the sights, mint condition meant nothing, how does she shoot was the only question asked.

Only saw one bad mod 52, someone did a spring job on it and them went to work with a motto tool. It was left in a wet pistol rug for many soaks and was basically non functional, even the parts were not worth having, asking price $900 and someone bought it!!

You have to understand that there are target shooters that will do anything to a pistol if they think it will get them one or two more points.
I know a guy, former Navy pistol team member, who commits every atrocity imaginable with a big Makita die grinder on all of his pistols. I'm talking expensive Feinwerkbau, Steyr, Hämmerli target pistols with nice anatomical grips by Karl Nill, Morini, etc.
He just starts hacking on them and puttying up the grips with ugly green plumber's epoxy. Every now and then, he loses control of the die grinder and just hacks out huge gouges from the metalwork. He just doesn't care!
Sad but true!

Jim

Hate to tell you, but you're gonna have to test that M52 at 50 yards to figure out if it really still shoots.
7 meters is not gonna tell you much.

Anatomical grips are designed to be reshaped. That's sort of the whole point.

Yes, this is true. But, this guy would be holding the gun in one hand, a die grinder in the other. He'd lose control of the whole thing, sending the sanding drum skating across the side of the gun, or scarring up the trigger guard, rear sight, etc.
And, he'd just do it over and over.
His cleaning regimen was almost non-existent.
Just making a point that, sadly, for some folks, the looks of the OP's M52 is par for the course.

Jim

Meh. The 52 is out of production and a bit of a collector's piece. It's really not even practical as a target gun--you have to buy one and tune it up a bit to get it really competitive. Frankly, I'm just PO'd somebody bought one for $400, no matter what the condition! Should be my $400 52.

FWBs and such are still being made, and there are plenty of guys doing way worse. I don't get super-excited until somebody starts damaging the lockup, barrel, or trigger components. Most match guns that get campaigned good and hard get a little beat-up on.

As for cleaning, most guys don't clean their .22s. Hell, I just thought I had a problem throwing my first shot of the night for whatever reason. Finally, one of them literally keyholed, so I cleaned it, and--problem solved.

...tune it up a bit...? Do reveal.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Not to speak for him, but I would guess that when he used the term "tune up a bit", he may simply have been referring to personalizing the 52 to make it better for the competition shooter. Stocks, counter weight, perhaps adjusting the trigger (I have sometimes seen valid complaints that the trigger does not meet regulation MINIMUM weight for a sanctioned event) and other items here and there that may be done to take a 52 from "as shipped" to the pistol that someone competes with.

In the pages of this forum I have made it extremely clear just how much I love the Model 52. But here in 2017, this is miles from a cutting-edge Bullseye competition pistol. There are plenty of reasons to absolutely love a classic S&W Model 52 but we are kidding ourselves if we suggest that this is the right tool (today) for competition.

Simply... it is not. It is better than a 5906 but it's far down the list for competition these days. That doesn't tarnish the legacy of the 52.

So what present day .38 Special semi auto is better than the venerable Model 52?

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So many S&W's, so few funds!!

Some guys simply can't resist butchering perfectly good guns to make them better. We have/had an old coot at our private club here who did some of the damnedest things to perfectly good guns. To make matters worse he absolutely had to show and tell those ruined guns to any poor soul who visited the range. Old retired guys(me) got the brunt of his attention. To top it off, he was doing battle with various cancers, he said. We tried to be tolerant but the board of directors finally spoke to him. I did not rat him out because I felt sorry for him, but he got so he was handling his guns while guys were down-range. Haven't seen him so he may have passed on. Selling his guns would be a real chore.

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Bob.
SWCA 1821

Most competitors looking for an accurate centerfire self-loading pistol to use in Bullseye, ISSF International, etc. have moved on to the Pardini 32, Walther GSP, or similar. I'm as surprised as anyone that 9mm (be it in a built to spec 1911, AMU style M92, or the venerable SIG P210) has also superseded the 38 wadcutter, even in Bullseye, in no small part due to events like the CMP service pistol matches.
A lot of these are solid 1" guns @ 50 yds. The S&W M52 was never really intended to be much more than a 3" gun @ 50 yds.

I know only one guy still using a M52 for the CF stage of the 2700. He only shoots for fun, but his CF scores are about 100 points lower than his 22 and 45 scores. Of course, his 38 WC reloads aren't the best, either.

If I wanted a CF match pistol today, I'd either go with a nice vintage Giles 1911, get a 1911 built to spec, look into the Hämmerli P240, or get a Manurhin Match version of the MR73.

But, that's just me.
I'm sure there are folks out there using a M52 and are doing well with it, that find it suits their technique, or have figured out it's idiosyncrasies. I just don't personally know any such guys!

Respectfully,
Jim

That is very pitiful. Poor gun. Abused but still kicking along. Well, you've got you parts gun, but I'd feel sorry for it and get it some medical care since it shoots. The barrel is ROONED but a little polish in specific points might keep it from destroying the slide and contact points. Something can be done with the grips and other fixes to alleviate its suffering without doing too much with it. I feel better knowing that if found a good home.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Trigger work, because nobody is ever happy with a trigger out of the box. From there, I see a lot of accuracy-related jobs being done, and the occasional red dot mounting (which I do cringe at, since it involves altering the slide).

Remember that it's competing with the excellent European .32 S&W Long pistols--the Walther GSP, Pardini SP/MP, and Hammerli SP 20, to name a few. Aside from the fact that those pistols are all top performers, many are also convertible to .22LR.

It's a discerning market with a lot of disposable cash to throw around. By any and all objective standards, the 52 is an excellent pistol. You're dealing with people that send their Model 41s out to have the triggers redone, because the factory trigger isn't good enough. And plenty more 41s get rebuilt barrels because they're not accurate enough.

My standard for judging accuracy with a pistol or new load is 100 rounds at 50 yards. Each of us has his own standard and that is what we should use when comparing pistols and sharing the distance and number of rounds used to judge the quality of the pistol.I feel this information is essential for communication

Anyone can shoot a good 5 or 10 shot group at close range or even long range, the the larger the count of rounds the better our understanding of the pistol.

While I understand the benefit of either a 32 or 38 (lower recoil) in the centerfire stage of a 2700, I have to remember the comments from both my departed gunsmith and my coaches when I shot with the Region 1 ROTC pistol team out of Ft Meade ages ago ... why shoot a 38 when the 45 will always be a little closer to the line!

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Judge control not gun control!

I took the 52 to a gunsmith friend of mine for his assessment. According to him he believes that the barrel's demise is the result of corrosive primers. Now who in their right mind would ever use corrosive primers back in early days of the 52.

At my club if you cross the Red line which is painted along the firing line floor while someone is down range I as a Director and Range Officer send them packing right then and there. There's NO second chances on Safety as someones life may depend on it. This is rule ONE and rule 2 is NO loaded Mags left on the firing line either or loaded wheel guns either. I go Ballistic when these infractions Happen in front of me. Safety is Priority One "Period."

Good for you Barrie for enforcing safety. On the other hand, I’m a member of two clubs each with different safety rules. Each clubs rules would be totally opposed by the club safety officers. Don’t you think there should be consistency with safety regulations at all clubs?

Naturally one man should be responsible for safety of the range. An untapped but effective source of range safety is the folks around you, make it everybody's responsibility.

My best match ever I only dropped one X on the PPC, I was so high and tuned when the last bullet went down range, I knew the revolver was empty and anxious to get to the scope to read the target. My friend and partner knew I was in 'tunnel vision land" and was right there to take take hold of my arm to keep me from sweeping the rest of the shooters.

40 years later I still remember his awareness and support.

The same goes for a exigent circumstances, our potential individual contribution responsibility needs to be encouraged with a little coaching and welcome.

Kind of makes me wonder how corrosive primers could cause pitting on the outside of the barrel? Maybe the environment that corroded the outside got on the inside too?

Corrosive primers? This is absolutely the funniest thing I have ever heard.
This Forum does offer copious amounts of humor. Especially on Sunday.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

To be honest I agree with you. It was my LGS that suggested this. I believe I fell victim to a weeeee bit of BS me thinks.....

Sounds like a windbag from the Ruger forum.

That’s amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a beat 52. Usually they’re pristine!

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Member MVGCA, OGCA, NRA Life