Welcome. I’m a tremendous fan of the Model 52 pistols. Here’s some scattered thoughts that I hope you can use:
Serial numbers at this time are wildly erratic and out of order, I have seen documented cases where some around this number shipped in 1969 and later numbers shipped in 1970. All we know for sure without getting a factory letter is that you have the more modern extractor and the frame is cut for the factory counterweight, these were what made a dash-2, and yours is an early dash-2.
Do understand that if you want magazines, you may experience an absolute SHOCK at what they sell at. If either of the two magazines you have give you fits, come back here and we can probably help.
As for the pistol itself I will add this tip:
Treat that barrel bushing with care. Think of it like an oil filter on a motorcycle — do not EVER make that gorilla tight. There is obviously a spring loaded pin that keeps the bushing from moving on its own, so once you have the bushing finger tight and locked in to a notch, there is no reason to make it more tight. If it comes to you super super tight then use a SAE 3-4” 12-point socket to carefully loosen in. Do not use the “official” S&W Model 52 bushing wrench because that piece of stamped steel is absolute junk. Bottom line is to treat that bushing with care, it is not extra stout and you almost surely will not find another if you damage it.
Your trigger is adjustable in two ways — for pre-travel and for over travel. Pre-travel is not something that matters a lot to me, maybe others are particular about it. It is adjusted with the slide off the pistol, top down in to the frame where you see the large hex head screw over the trigger. For overtravel, this is adjusted with the grip off, through the side where the magazine sits. NOTE! If you choose to adjust the overtravel screw, you already know you make small changes and check, small changes and check -BUT- don’t forget that you need an empty magazine in place to check! I know there is no chance that I am the only fool that made adjustments and could not figure out why I was not getting the job done, hahaha.
I cannot say that I absolutely agree with everything said so far with regards to ammo — at the same time, I am no authority, I just know what works for me and I currently have three 52’s of my own and feed two more that my buddy owns. I would not use any ammo with plated wadcutters as shown. I also do not agree that all kinds of special techniques are required to handload the ammo successfully, and I have heard other folks vehemently trying to convince that the best brass is UN-SIZED brass and I don’t agree with that either.
If you are a seasoned handloader, you will do just fine without any oddball “52 only” full wadcutter loading techniques… and you can and will add your own tweaks along the way as you see fit. Don’t need any wadcutter specific brass either, and I’ve had fantastic success with a slight roll crimp, just like every rimmed revolver round.
Powder? I have always used Bullseye. I’ve done 2.7 and 2.8 and seen very little difference so 2.7 is where I settled. Many love W231 here. As for Viht powders — I do not use them… but any appropriate Vihtavuori powder is almost sure to give excellent results. The biggest thing that all swaged hollow base wadcutter handloaders -HAVE- to know is that an over charge or a double charge is likely to blow the core out of the bullet. This can be an exceptionally dangerous situation if the full caliber skirt is left in the barrel. If this happens and you catch it, things will be fine, just get it out. If you do not catch it and you fire a round behind it, that’s where you can/will bulge the barrel and potentially worse. So yes, we do not ever hotrod a HBWC bullet for any reason, but it can be helpful to know specifically why.
