I don't have a 52, but do have a 1911 in .38 special. I ran into feeding problems once using some (at least) once fired brass given to me. My own brass worked fine. I used up that ammo in my revolver and threw the brass away when I was done. I would suspect the brass.

I disagree that .38 WC ammo must be taper crimped for proper feeding. Before I started reloading, I shot a lot of Federal .38 WC ammo, it was all roll crimped and it worked fine.

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Common sense isn't so common.