When Dad passed away a couple of years ago he left me a nearly new Model 52-2. It, along with two magazines was in his gun safe, while the box was in a cabinet at the other end of the basement. Upon opening the box, I was met with the foam liner cut for the gun and a spare magazine and bearing a late style aluminum handle SAT, cleaning rod, brush, and mop. Under the foam I found what I assume was a complete set of docs including test target and VIP. Apparently Dad stashed the wrench somewhere else, because I remember having seen it but it hasn’t turned up now. I know better than to use the wrench, but I’ll continue to look for it to complete the package.

Now for my question; there is no cutout for the cleaning rod, so I don’t know whether Dad just added the tools or whether they came in the standard poly bag(???). I’m thinking it would make sense to include a “cleaning kit” and SAT with a target gun, but there is no fitted place for it. There is a third cutout in the foam, but it appears to have been intended for the wrench, right?

TIA for any information you may be able to provide.

Froggie

I just looked at my 52-2 and it resides in the Bangor-Punta blue cardboard box it came in. There are cutouts for the pistol and two more for the magazines. At the very front of the foam rubber is a cutout running on the edge of the cardboard for the factory cleaning kit which normally came in a plastic bag. There is no individual cutout for the bushing wrench. So yes there should be a cutout as such for the cleaning kit at least in the box I have. There were several changes to these boxes throughout the life of the 52 series and some may not have had the cutouts as described. To the best of my knowledge every M52 I have owned came with a complete cleaning kit. Hope this helps....

Rick H.

Thanks, Rick H. My foam liner has two distinctly different cutouts, one of which fits a mag precisely, the other of which might be used to fit the contents of the cleaning kit (as it now is) but not the cleaning rod... there is no place for it. And of course if the brush, mop and SAT are in the second cutout, I guess there is no place for the wrench either. I guess there were so few of these made that they just decided to do the cutouts the way the Spirit moved that day!

Froggie

Hello Mr. green, looked at my late 1969 52-2 in a blue box,
No foam at all. Cut for gun and one spare mag. Tools and docs just laying there on the brown paper. Mike

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Went back and looked again... you were right. The foam had “migrated a little bit,” so I was looking at it wrong. There were two depressions for the mags and a little cutaway in front to slip in the cleaning kit and SAT. As you say, no place for the bushing wrench. I guess there was a standard...

Funny thing though, it had a 38 AMU mag with it when he bought it IIRC, which seems odd since everything else was so original. I guess he could have picked the odd mag up at a gun show, but I seem to remember him not being able to shoot it when he first bought it until he then bought a couple of proper mags... fortunately they were a lot cheaper 30+ years ago than they are today.

How many of us are old enough to remember the end of the last production run and thinking they would make another run “before long”? My Dad and my shooting buddy both got one, but I decided I’d wait “for the next batch.” My typical reading of a cracked crystal ball.

Froggie

Well, the 52 boxes that were two piece -WITH- light blue colored foam cutout were the scarcest run of boxes of all the 52’s ever made. I can’t say for sure exactly when or how long, but if I recall, they were late 70’s and early 1980’s use.

I believe it was a 1979 or 1980 production 52-2 that I formerly owned and sold to a good buddy, it had that scarce interior.

As for the bushing wrench, I believe they were typically inside a tiny little envelope, smaller even than the envelope they used for a spent case in later years when we were forced through that period of stupidity.

The wrench was never changed from day one to the bitter end, and they sell anywhere for $12-$15 each. For originality, I get it. But the wrench’s real-world value isn’t a plugged nickel. The wrench is sharp, sheet metal junk.

Not to hijack this thread but since you mention original cleaning kits.....
What is the length of the cleaning rod? Did they have a separate one for the 5" barrel 52s? 4" rods would be too short to pass through and 6" ones would seem to be over kill.
Just curious;
Mike

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Mike
S&WCA #2470

Hey frog, did you say you had an AMU mag? need one.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

Sorry, Mike. We sold it off at least 10 years ago when Dad was getting rid of stuff he didn’t think he’d ever need. Yes, I wish now I’d kept it, but who knew?
Froggie

Here's my Model 52-5, vintage of Oct. 1978, according to Roy. It's seen here in its foam-lined box. The cleaning kit is complete, but now in a zip-lock bag. I did not realize the box was one of the rarer ones. The cleaning rod has a 6" shank, but I'm not sure if it's original.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Well I think we would have to do a deep dive in to the exterior markings everywhere on the box... but unless/until we can do that, please let me clarify that it is the foam guts that are scarce.

And as you might already notice, the foam does not age well and is liable to break down and powder off. Careful!

My foam still looks very good and is still soft and... foamy!. It looks just like the picture Paladin85020 posted. I haven’t gone back and measured the cleaning rod. My pistol has the shorter barrel.

I did notice that the box top (with upside down label numbered to the gun) is a slightly different shade of blue than the bottom... darker, not faded as one would expect.

Froggie

Correction: Went back and looked... barrel is regular, 5” length.
I need to do my own homework before asking questions and writing posts.

My 52-2 is foamy, too - which I didn’t even recall until I checked it. Looks like Paladins but mine is pretty beat up and oil stained.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What Sevens said plus in many instances owners just threw the boxes away. Few shooter/owners actually stored their 52's in the factory shipping box.. I have the foam lined box as pictured for one of my 52's and then I have a cardboard "cutout box" for the other. Those have been the only two designs I have ever seen for these pistols, but I have never owned or seen a "52" dash nothing box. I should note one of the problems with the foam liners is that oil and residual cleaning solvents migrate to the foam and not only discolor it, but can damage it as well. If any firearm is left for long periods laying on or between foam rubber it can cause finish damage. Foam can literally suck oil off the finish.

This is all rather ironic to be talking about shipping boxes for Model 52's instead of the pistols themselves. Does this mean M52's have reached "cult status"?

Rick H.

"Cult" from the Latin, cultus meaning "care".

"A social group with a common interest in a particular object or goal."

By these definitions, the M52 was indeed conceived, manufactured, and marketed to a "cult" (dedicated Bullseye Shooters), and, by extension, those who see the value in such narrowly focused items.

Not that there's anything wrong with that...

John

Just what I need... being a member of another cult!
Do I have to dress up with a mask and feathered jacket at midnight to take it out and shoot it? Is there a handshake or a high sign I have to learn? What about chants or mantras?

Froggie

That's the funny thing about cults...

If you're the leader, then you can decide upon the accoutrements.

If you're just a follower, then you must go along or face ostracism.

Either way, too many rules for me.

John

I would say “certainly not” as an answer to your clearly tongue in cheek query, but the fact is that there are those who believe otherwise.

Well, I have to make my rifle bullet lube at the crossroads by the dead tree at midnight under the full moon... and it’s getting harder every year to find toe of newt and eye of bat to go with the (now discontinued) ALOX,

Froggie, you and I will have to be de-programmed. Hey it may be fun.

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Mike 2796
SoFo Bunch member

I've always been crazy, it keeps me from going insane!

I have a 52 no dash. The question I have is my grips do not have the Smith & Wesson badge on them, I wonder if the are the original one or not.

You and Waylon.

John

If S&W shipped a 52 without the familiar walnut grips with emblem, it would be the first I have ever seen or heard about. My guess is that your grips are not original.

The stocks on the 52, 52-1 and (most!) of the 52-2 pistols were the same stocks as the 39 amd 39-2 pistols, and a few of the early 2nd Gen single stack full size (439, 539 and 639.)

The right side stock had a straight edge at the top, no relieved area for the right side decock lever that eventually appeared on the 439/539/639.

The very latest 52-2 models, the ones with the one-piece flip top box and the three alpha serial prefix were indeed shipped with the right side stock relieved for the ambi decock lever that of course no Model 52 ever came with.

In my travels, the 52-1 pistols seem to have stocks with the darkest color of wood of the entire run of pistols.

Well I would pass on the costumes for a M52 cult, but the secret handshake is a distinct possibility.

Rick H.

I’m guessing it will be a left handed handshake so we can keep our gun firmly gripped with our shooting hand. For you southpaws, oh well!
I’m snowed in here in Lynchburg for the first time in a couple of years, but added to the Kung Flu lockdown I’m starting to get a little antsy!! Maybe if I just get some of my Smiths out and fondle them (or wipe them down with RIG or RenWax) it will make me feel better.

Froggie

PS RickH, are you sure you don’t want a fancy costume??