Howdy all,


I just won a M52-1 on an auction site. Been wanting one of these forever. Serial number is 100741; any idea when it was made?

I got it with three magazines and the box. It haven't reached my FFL yet. the wait is killing me!

Thanks

Vic

non-prefix serial numbers ended in 1970 with 115000. My ballpark guess would be 1968, but I am confident somebody with better info than me will jump in soon.

I have two 52-1’s and love them. The -1’s don’t sell for as much as the later models because people are afraid of the more fragile extractor. If you are careful to always load from the magazine there is less chance of breaking the extractor.
I use 2.8 gr of Bullseye or 3.0gr of 231 with a Remington or Magnus HBWC. Unfortunately, the Remingtons are hard to find but I have found that the Magnus bullets shoot as well but will lead a little in my pistols.

Congrats on your acquisition. You are now a proud owner of one the finest semi-autos ever made by S&W. Enjoy.....

My 52s are my favorite guns that I shoot, you'll love it.

Kp321 hit the nail on the head, in my opinion. The market looks a little more fondly on the dash-2 because of the extractor update.

Me? I have a lot of hands-on experience with multiple 52-2’s. I have never had the pleasure to shoot or handle a 52-1. I’d love to own one. I definitely agree (with all semiauto pistols but especially long extractor S&W 39’s and 52’s) that all rounds chambered always need to be stripped from a magazine with no exceptions.

Here’s something I definitely do know about 52’s and 52-1’s...
Lots of folks ordered a spare replacement long extractor when the revised 52-2 came out. It seems to make good sense that if S&W thought it might be a weak link that owners should cover themselves with a back-up extractor.

AND... maybe you can guess the next bit. -MANY- times we will see for sale someone’s old 52-1, and tucked away in the box is a spare, never used, extra long style extractor!

I have also heard shooters from the last generation prefer the 52-1 trigger to the 52-2, but I haven’t had a chance to compare them. It seems to me that you could grab any two random 52’s from any era and find a difference in the trigger feel.

Can you tell that I love the 52?

S&W Mod 52: my biggest regret in handgunning

I wrote this a bit more than three years ago on the subject of these great guns.

Thanks for the tip about the extractor.

I didn't know Magnus offered a hollow base wadcutter. The only ones currently in Terry's catalog are the #501 double ended and the #502 bevel wadcutter . Terry is local to me; I get my cast bullets from him directly.


I got a notice today that the gun has shipped and will be at my FFL Monday.

Thanks

Vic

Vic, I have a 52-1 #101151 and it was shipped in 1965, the highest 52-1 # I have seen is A104373 so it was very near the end of the 52-1 run. Now the lowest 52-2 # I have seen is A104657. David Nowak LM537

VIC, I have 2-52-1’s. The newest is SN 104295. I shot the 52-1 for years and had a spare extractor but never needed it. I also have 3- 52-2’s which it shoot one of them all the time. It is the one I built from parts (see M52 bag-o-gun thread). The reason I shoot it is it has cosmetic issues already so it is the perfect ‘shooter’. The earliest 52-2 I have is 106472. I reload and use the 148 grain HB wadcutter exclusively. The secret to accuracy is consistent ammunition. Once you shoot the M52, you will always compare everything you shoot to it and they will never measure up.

Attached Images

BE74AC38-8D05-4627-B624-03C172AE895A.jpg (53.3 KB, 16 views)

Vic,

My S&W Model 52-1, #100374 has a manufacture date of Aug. 1968

__________________
Bill

I find it strange that your 1965 gun which is 777 higher than mine (100374) was manufactured 3 years before mine.

__________________
Bill

Bill, when I was hunting down 1949 K-22 you should see the WIDE difference in ship dates and serial numbers. Spend time in the data base and ship dates and you will see what I mean. As Roy has said many times S&W is in the business to make money and not so much in sending things out by serial number. David

Finally picked it up. I had two other guns coming and my dealer is a couple towns away so I waited for all three to arrive to drive up and get them.

Haven't uploaded pics but it looks way better that the pics show. Hope to get to shoot it this week. I have to renew my membership at my range so its a good excuse to shoot.

Also picked up a S&W M57 Classic 41 Mag and a Browning BDA 380. Both also in better condition that I had though.

Thanks for all the tips and insight!!

Vic