Just picked up this 52-2. What would the forum recommend for ammo for competition shooting? Specifically brand, grain weight, also where to find it reasonably priced. Thanks to all.

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MADE IN THE USA!!!!

Congratulations on your new addition.

Federal, Remington or Winchester. 95%+ of the shooters out there will not see the difference between the three brands

The ONLY commercial ammunition this firearm uses is Match 148 HBWC. Hand loaders and the various boutique ammunition houses will sometimes load a 148 DEWC for this firearm.

The HBWCs are more accurate, but again 95%+ of the shooters out there will not see the difference

Buy it anywhere. I would guess that every distributor has some in stock.

My personal preference is the Federal Gold Match. When a online seller puts it on sale I buy a few cases.

Product detail .38 SPECIAL (V311002) ? Sellier & Bellot

S&B also makes a wadcutter 38

Congrats on your 52. I love mine but you need to know if you have a fault of any kind with your shooting technique, the 52 will make it evident very quickly. As to ammo, it is very difficult for me to find any at all on retailer shelves in my area & is always very expensive. So, I load my own. 148gr hollow base wadcutter (remington if available) over 2.8 grains of bullseye. If you choose to buy it, you can sometimes find it at Champions Choice . They maintain a web site and cater to match shooters. I know you're gonna your 52!

I haven't looked for this ammo in years nor have I loaded any recently.

I started loading this round years ago only because it seemed every time I wanted it, it was like a seek and find mission of who might have it.

Commercial reloaders make this, too, but I've found, almost all reloads purchased from a commercial reloader burn dirty and gritty.

I recently lucked out being gifted 100 rounds from a good friend who loads regularly using quality components.

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ANTIQUESMITHS
LM1300 SWHF425

I ordered 1 box of this from Midway and like it. I since learned Mike's Gun Shop in Conway, Ark will reload so had them make 5 50-round boxes using 2.8 gr Bullseye with a flush WC and so far really like it.

Midway had no federal and it is pricey.

Paying $17 per box of 50 for my custom reloads, and short of doing it yourself am real happy.

Great pistol.

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My data may be outdated...I've not reloaded for the 52 in many years. I had great success with the 148gr HBWC, and found Spear and Hornady to make the best heads.

The Spear product was longer and seemed to have the most potential bearing surface, something I am confident leads to improved stability in flight. The liquid alox lube was tacky on my fingers and the process was dirty as compared to the Hornady heads.

The hornady heads were shorter but held dry lube due to a texture on their surface (as opposed to the grease grooves on the spear heads). I found the dry lube most easy to work with. (Head placement in the seating die was improved for me because the heads didn't stick to my fingers.

I am a believer in Bullseye powder (though again I have not shopped other types that may have been offered in recent years). 2.8 grains of Bullseye with a fairly aggressive roll crimp worked well. Good function, accuracy and an addictively tame recoil.

I tried to make my crimp flush seated with the bullet but had good function even if a slight amount of lead protruded. I never liked the idea of the brass edge striking the feed ramp so I made a point of not allowing the bullet to seat below the crimp. Others have done this with success though.

Good luck. There is nothing cooler than feeling the recovery of a 52. If you're focused, you can feel every stage of the process as if in slow motion...recoil, ejection, reload and lockup.

Fiocchi makes a 148 grain wc as well. A thumbs up to the suggestion for reloading for this gun, hard to go wrong with a 148 grain HBWC and 2.8-3.0 grains of bulleye in a 38 special. Looks like you got a nice 52-2

Do a forum search on reloading for the 52. A lot of experience and information, particularly if you're going to reload for it.

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Good shooting.

I just looked on GB and if you search under 38 special, and then look for 148 Grain, the listings will show up.
The one box at a time is a joke, but there are some with 250-500 rounds that are reasonably priced and free shipping if buy it now is used.
I found 7 pages of 38 special, and the good looking deals were on 6-7, by later today it will probably be page 5-6. Good luck and enjoy that pistol.

Everyone that I know that has used the Fiocchi's tell me that it will not cycle the pistol.
Ends up being a single shot.
YMMV

Clarence

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B.E.Master in&outdoor
D.R.#99

I've used Black Hills 148 gr. HBWC with no problems. But I usually make my own using a Hornady HBWC.

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Goal Life Member
Traveling Man

Picked up a few boxes of Zero brand 148 gr. wadcutters. Are they ok for a 52-2? thanks!

Are they hollow based ones? I just loaded 100 of those last week and shot 50 of them on Friday. They shot better than I do. I used 2.8 grains of Bullseye, in my cases. Some folks say 2.7 grains of Bullseye.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

The factory ammo from the major brands were never really widely available the last several years and Covid made that worse IMO.
Given the lack of demands compared to say 30 years ago the major players might only run it once a year and perhaps less. If you can find it, grab it.
As noted, reloading is the beast bet IF you can get the components!

Years ago when I shot bullseye I owned a 52. Reloaded for it. Must remember ONLY mid range wadcutter loadings. I had to trim cases at least every other reload, if not every time. Once I dialed in on what was the correct amount of roll crimp it ran flawlessly.

Factory .38 Spl midrange wadcutter is a rare bird these days, even in pre-Covid times. Probably will need to reload.

I forgot to mention, it's been here for years, but there is a great deal of information printed by Gil Hebard, who performed tests on loads he shot out of I believe 5 model 52 pistols. You will find other articles on the model 41, and the other highly modified model 41s.

There's some good information here. I initially started reloading only for my M52's as good factory ammunition was hard to find and was getting worse. The .38 wadcutter is about as easy to reload as it gets. I only use HBWC's but you have to take care to not overcharge the round or risk blowing out the bullet and leaving it in the barrel. I only use Solo 1000 powder and Winchester 231. Solo is almost impossible to find now as it isn't being imported, but it is a super clean powder. Initially I roll crimped my rounds but later began using a taper crimp and it works quite well. I seat my bullets at or just slightly below the rim so the bullet doesn't ride on the inside of the magazine and get hung up. I missed out on stocking up on Remington 148 grain wadcutter bullets which worked very well and now I use Hornady 148 HBWC and have had little to no problems with them, plus they have a dry lube on them. Factory 148 grain ammunition can be difficult to find, but reloading for the M52 takes care of that problem for me anyway.
Rick H.

If you have any Accurate No. 2 it burns really clean and consistently in light .38 Special loadings.

Zero 148WC works. You may see some leading in front of the chamber but they shoot well in a match. A Lewis Lead Remover kit and some brass scrapers cleans things up well.

I have a 95-6X 25 yard Timed Fire target that I shot with a M52-2 using Zero 148 HBWC in an Indoor match taped on my refrigerator.