Loading .38 WC's for a M-52

[Frank237]

I've done a few SEARCHES and surprisingly came up with very little.

Not wanting to waste a lot of time reinventing the wheel...Can any of you who have been loading for their M-52's give me some guidance?

These are not for organized bullseye shoots, simply gophers and plinking. But I do want to extract the inherent accuracy from the gun.


I have old WC load factory brass, all WW. , same length, etc.

Going to use HB WC's have 1K from Zero and some old Hornady's. Also do have a solid base DEWC mold as well. But short on pure lead right now. All my alloy is HARD.

Have Bullseye, 231, AAC #2 on hand. WSP primers.

Thanks....

 

[colt_saa]

There was just a thread on this 2 or 3 weeks ago.

Most folks load around 2.8-3.1 of Bullseye with the HBWCs, These loads are stated in the major loading manuals. If you do not already have one or more, you should acquire some

I used to load 3 grains of Unique but have switched over to 3 grains of W231

 

[Ignatz]

Theres some threads on 38 spl loads in the "Competitive" section right now. And 2.7 grs of Bullseye works fine. You could even start at 2.6 grs of Bullseye and see how it functions. Then work up.
I just set the powder charge for 2.7 and crank um out.

 

[TSQUARED]

I have used 2.8 gr. Bullseye behind the Remigton 148 gr. LHBWC for many decades. For use in the S&W 52 seat the bullet flush and finish with a very light roll crimp.

 

[cfplinker]

They've said it all.

 

[Nick Marciano]

i SHOT ppc FOR 20 YEARS AND LOADED STAR hbwc bullets over 3.2grs. WW213,seated flush with the case mouth and taper crimped. These worked great in revolvers and a lot of my fellow shooters used them in M-52's with no problem.

Nick10Ring

 

[forestswin]

plenty of M52 info on this site

Frank
there is plenty of M52 loading info on this forum. I'm learning to load and shoot it myself - so I've searched the issue before

A couple of suggestions:
See the Notable thread index - first thread of the Reloading forum page - find 38 special, then under that - model 52.

Also search boatbum101 and Model 52 (he's a M52 shooter on this forum) there are a bunch of m52 shooters on the forum - all with good advice- he's usually somewhere in the threads

 

[boatbum101]

Well Forestswin beat me to it . I too was going to suggest searching my posts as I've put a bunch of 52 loads with 50yd targets on this forum . Aboard ship now & don't have notes with me . IIRC 2.7 - 2.9 Bullseye , 3.1 - 3.2 W231 & 2.9 AA#2 will all work . Best in my52 are the above W231 load followed very closely by 3.6 V V N340 . Remington or Zero 148 HBWC & I taper crimp to .369 with R-P cases .

 

[forestswin]

Well Forestswin beat me to it . I too was going to suggest searching my posts as I've put a bunch of 52 loads with 50yd targets on this forum . Aboard ship now & don't have notes with me . IIRC 2.7 - 2.9 Bullseye , 3.1 - 3.2 W231 & 2.9 AA#2 will all work . Best in my52 are the above W231 load followed very closely by 3.6 V V N340 . Remington or Zero 148 HBWC & I taper crimp to .369 with R-P cases .

Yeah boatbum, not only have I read your recommendations throughout the different threads, I've also read many times that you were aboard ship and without your notes - just trying to help

 

[S&WIowegan]

Hi Frank,

I've been loading for my 52-2 for a lot of years. I use 3.0grs. of Bullseye since I thought lower charges seemed to run the gun a little slow. For bullets, I really like Hornaday swaged HBWCs which are lubed with a dry powder...way less messy to handload.

The critical factor is to get the bullet seated absolutely flush and roll your taper crimp over the bullet a bit. This helps immensely in feeding that 52.

Have fun!!

 

[4barrel]

2.7 bullseye hbwc & 3 gr. bullseye dewc. Size the dewc to .356 & seat flush & taper crimp to od of the brass.

 

[Senior Citizen]

2.5 grains of Clays and Zero HBWC's won

me more than 50 trophies and hand shakes back in the late 90's and early 2000's. The same load shot excellent in my 52-2 and my 686AFS and my lug barrel model 14. I won BE and Combat matches in my class. I wasn't a Distinguished Master but I could give one a run for his money.

I even got 2.2 grains of Clays to cycle the gun and be VERY accurate at the 15 yard line in BE and shot realy good at the 7, 15 and 25 in combat matches. Truth be known, The 2.2's grouped pretty well in the 10 ring at the 50 but wouldn't group well enough to consistently score X's. Thus the 2.5's.

good luck
SC

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

MDL 52

Have used 3 gr W231 in this baby for some time now. Works just fine, or better.