S&W Mod 52A Barrel

[Ghbud]

I'm in possession of a barrel (only) for a Model 52A. Many years ago I bought a grab bag of parts from an estate sale. The deceased had been an armorer in the military for years and the box was plump full of 1911 parts. The barrel was the oddball of the group and has lain on my loading bench for 30+ years. I'm assuming this is one of the barrels that were given to the military for testing. The top is marked Smith & Wesson, beneath that, USA MTU.

The bore is crisp and the outside shows minor wear with the ramp having been polished. Any idea what it might be worth?

 

[Rick H.]

If someone needs a barrel then it will be worth whatever that person is willing to spend. If someone is just looking for a spare barrel than they won't want to spend top dollar. Watch a couple of the more frequented "for sale" websites and see what a barrel brings. I have 3 extra M52 barrels that I picked up over time and one is supposedly unfired. I think the most I ever paid for a factory barrel was about $75.00. At one time I had about 5 or 6 M52's and thought having some spare barrels was a good idea. Now both of my remaining M52's have Clark Custom barrels in them and I am pleased as punch with the results of both pistols. The Clark barrels and bushings were an expensive alternative, but worth it to me.

Rick H.

 

[Ghbud]

If someone needs a barrel then it will be worth whatever that person is willing to spend. If someone is just looking for a spare barrel than they won't want to spend top dollar. Watch a couple of the more frequented "for sale" websites and see what a barrel brings. I have 3 extra M52 barrels that I picked up over time and one is supposedly unfired. I think the most I ever paid for a factory barrel was about $75.00. At one time I had about 5 or 6 M52's and thought having some spare barrels was a good idea. Now both of my remaining M52's have Clark Custom barrels in them and I am pleased as punch with the results of both pistols. The Clark barrels and bushings were an expensive alternative, but worth it to me.

Rick H.

I probably should have made it clear, the barrel is for a 52-A which was an experimental model for the semi-rimless 38 special. They only made a handful of the guns and I believe they gave 10 barrels to the military to work with. Kind of a rare piece.

 

[Model52guy]

The M52-A is rare as would a spare barrel would be rare. But….. people who want or need one would also be rare.

 

[PatriotX]

I found a stash of AMU 38 ammo, I’d love to find a barrel with which to shoot them!

 

[Ghbud]

I've had a hard time finding any info about the 52A. Was the ammo full wadcutter?

 

[Sevens]

I found a stash of AMU 38 ammo, I’d love to find a barrel with which to shoot them!

I would think it would take a lot more than a barrel to actually shoot .38 AMU ammo. You’d need a magazine that could hold and feed your ammo and a breech face and extractor that also work with the cartridge.

The magazine for the Model 52/52-1/52-2 might feed .38 AMU ammo… but I also think you would need to slightly hog out a Model 39 or 39-2 frame to fit a 52 magazine, because it won’t simply slide in to place .

 

[gmborkovic]

Ghbud, you are correct. Barrell is chambered for the 38AMU cartridge. I dont know anyone
who has had enough ammo to burn one out. Simple solution, buy a 52-A.

 

[Sevens]

I've had a hard time finding any info about the 52A. Was the ammo full wadcutter?

The ammo was indeed full flush Wadcutter. The pistol itself was made in very low numbers and is highly collectible.

Here’s the thing however. The 52-A is historically significant and was a genuine step in the development of extremely accurate semiautomatic pistols, but as a shooter these days it makes precious little sense.

The 52-A was never really designed for retail sale or mass consumer use. The Model 52 and its successors were.

The Model 52/52-1/52-2 have a longer 5-inch barrel and a brilliantly designed barrel bushing. These pistols also have truly elite level triggers with an inspiring single action trigger break and fantastic target sights. The Model 52-A lacks these things and uses ammo that is vaporware. And as mentioned… they are extremely valuable on top of that.

The fact that the Model 52, 52-1 and 52-2 exist relegate the Model 52-A to a collectible museum piece.

 

[Ghbud]

appreciate the info. We picked up 4 boxes of parts from the estate for $75 and it was a treasure trove. Beyond the barrel there were 3 or 4 brand new1911 National Match barrel, spring, bushing and slides wrapped in oil paper. Enough parts to build up a bunch if frames and all sorts of miscellaneous armorer accessories.

 

[PatriotX]

I would think it would take a lot more than a barrel to actually shoot .38 AMU ammo. You’d need a magazine that could hold and feed your ammo and a breech face and extractor that also work with the cartridge.

The magazine for the Model 52/52-1/52-2 might feed .38 AMU ammo… but I also think you would need to slightly hog out a Model 39 or 39-2 frame to fit a 52 magazine, because it won’t simply slide in to place .

The ammo fits nicely in a M52 magazine, and cycled by hand in a 52-2. I didn’t want to try my long-extractor 52-1.

Heck, next range trip I may see if a stock barrel will work.

 

[PatriotX]

I've had a hard time finding any info about the 52A. Was the ammo full wadcutter?

Here are a few pics of a comparison between AMU Wadcutter and 38 Special Wadcutter.

Note the rim diameter and extractor groove differences.

AMU on left in all pics.

 

[Ghbud]

Appreciate the pix!

 

[6string]

The main difference between a 52 and 52a would be found with the slide. The breech face of each was cut differently to accomodate the different rim diameter.
One would have to closely examine the difference between a 52 and 52a barrel to see if there is any difference in in the chambers to reflect the rimmed or rimmless cartridges. It might be worth doing a chamber cast to very closely examine the chamber mouth and rifling leade.
I suspect the only difference will be the rollmark on the barrel hood.

Once feeding issues were worked out for the 38 Special cartridge, which was primarily magazine related, the 38 AMU was quickly abandoned. A problematic issue with the AMU cartridge involved headspacing. As it lacked a rim, and did not have a sufficient case mouth due to the roll crimp, headspacing was dependent completely on extractor tension.

 

[gator59]

87 Model 52-A pistols sold to Gil Hebard distributor as I recall. Show up periodically on Gunbroker. Sell in the $7,000-8,000 range if still NIB which every one I can remember seeing has been. Most of barrels in those that were shot have been modified to shoot 38 Special.

A box of 38 AMU ammo used to sell for $100 on Gunbroker. Nowadays people are trying to peddle a box for $300-400.

I reload 38 AMU ammo for my Colt 1911s that have 38 AMU barrels. Simply use 38 Special dies with a 38 Super shell holder.

 

[Ghbud]

87 Model 52-A pistols sold to Gil Hebard distributor as I recall. Show up periodically on Gunbroker. Sell in the $7,000-8,000 range if still NIB which every one I can remember seeing has been. Most of barrels in those that were shot have been modified to shoot 38 Special.

A box of 38 AMU ammo used to sell for $100 on Gunbroker. Nowadays people are trying to peddle a box for $300-400.

I reload 38 AMU ammo for my Colt 1911s that have 38 AMU barrels. Simply use 38 Special dies with a 38 Super shell holder.

At that price it gets pretty easy to justify reloading!!! Bet you dont leave much brass laying at the range!

 

[gator59]

At that price it gets pretty easy to justify reloading!!! Bet you dont leave much brass laying at the range!

I recover all my brass since my range is at home.

 

[jglenn]

In the 60s i had an early Clark 38 special that used a modified 38 amu barrel. They simply cut the hood for the rim of the special. Worked fine. Smith & wesson also made match grade 1911 barrels for the AMU in 38 spl and 45. my old bullseye pistol had one of the 45 barrels in it. Also have 2 of the 38 barrels.

 

[Ghbud]

I'm starting to think there may be more of these barrels floating around than originally reported.

 

[Sevens]

In the 60s <SNIP> Smith & wesson also made match grade 1911 barrels for the AMU in 38 spl and 45. my old bullseye pistol had one of the 45 barrels in it. Also have 2 of the 38 barrels.

Okay, just trying to learn and to follow here, I snipped a bit out of the quote simply because this is how it seemed to read as you wrote it.

Are you saying that in the 1960’s, Smith & Wesson produced 1911 barrels in two different calibers specifically for the AMU?

You’re saying that while S&W did not actually market a 1911 pistol until after the year 2000, they made 1911 barrels in the 1960’s?

Or am I misinterpreting what you wrote?