S&W Model 52-2

[oneeyedpete]

Hi guys I am looking at this pistol for possible purchase and I was wondering what I should look for and possible value. Any help form the experts here would be greatly appreciated!

 

[824tsv]

Any time I pick up a Model 52 I look for a ringed barrel.

 

[oneeyedpete]

Any time I pick up a Model 52 I look for a ringed barrel.

You mean a bulged barrel from a squib? Thanks for your reply!

 

[824tsv]

Yes, also called a "Ringed" barrel. I've seen several. Replacement OEM S&W barrels are very difficult to locate.

 

[oneeyedpete]

Thanks for the tip 824tsv!!

 

[AJ]

Overall fit and appearance & function. If you can shoot it before buying it and check the operational functioning and the accuracy, those are the truth tellers.

 

[Old_Cop]

How many magazines?

 

[oneeyedpete]

Looks like 2 mags in the picture but I am not sure

 

[Jeppo]

Looks like 2 mags in the picture but I am not sure

I'm not sure there's a magazine inserted in the pistol.

 

[Drm50]

I look for cracked frame in slide stop area. They say it doesn't hurt them but I'm not paying $1K for pistol with cracked frame. Generally in dealing in target pistols, they were owned by average guy who put very little rounds through them. Gun looks new. If competition shooter owned it should be easy to tell from wear. I also look at bushing to determine wear.

 

[USSR]

I just bought a 52-2 in Mint Condition that came with one magazine and the original box for $1000. Came with Pachmayr rubber grips, but I bought a set of of original grips for $70.

Don

 

[USBP SW]

In addition to what the previous posts have advised, the model 52 is an excellent target pistol. Smith and Wesson advertised it as capable of ten ring accuracy at fifty yards, straight from the factory. The shooter may struggle with this level of accuracy, due to the long slide travel and barrel time, it's a very unforgiving pistol but the potential is there. The other things of note are that it is designed as a target pistol, the magazines hold only five rounds and the only ammunition is flush seated wadcutters nothing else functions through the magazines. I do have to admit, when everything comes together, they are a treat to shoot, they are a very well made pistol that is a classic and is no longer made. I suspect that they will certainly increase in value.

 

[Sevens]

I look for cracked frame in slide stop area. They say it doesn't hurt them but I'm not paying $1K for pistol with cracked frame.

Genuinely curious, not callin' you a liar. This is a very heavy all steel pistol running a sub-15,000 PSI target load. I would submit that S&W has perhaps never designed, built and marketed a semiautomatic handgun that is less likely to crack a frame, and I'm happy to listen to any counter arguments or examples of S&W pistols that are even less likely to crack a frame than a 52.

Have you seen examples of a 52 with a cracked frame? I've never heard of something like this in all my findings, and I'm a tremendous fan (and thus a dedicated student) of the 52.

Ringed barrel, YES. Screwed up barrel bushing, YES. Torn up and altered magazines, DEFINITELY. Extractor issues, even the very rare ejector issue or a disconnector issue or even a sear spring problem? Yes, yes, okay, yes.

A cracked frame on a S&W 52? Please expound.

 

[Sevens]

Looking at a 52:

The ringed barrel issue can and does happen when a foolish handloader either makes ammo that is too light, sticks a bullet AND then shoots another bullet behind it. The other way it happens is running too hot a load with soft swaged HBWC bullets — the core blows out and the outer ring of bullet remains and the follow-up shot is now greatly over pressure and the barrel gets ringed.

Personally, I'd LOVE to find a 52 with a ringed barrel -IF- it was priced properly. $500 and I'm thrilled, Clark Custom makes a replacement barrel that may possibly be better and has a twist rate better suited to longer distance shooting where the 52 as originally designed has issues stabilizing the bullet.

Some have complained that the trigger on a 52 doesn't always make "legal" weight for competition and it can be difficult to manipulate the sear spring to make the trigger heavy enough. Not a deal breaker, but this exists.

If you look at the MSH, you may find that however they finished this part is NOT very durable when it comes to fighting sweat and skin oils. Many 52's quickly show wear in this area. It's only a finish issue, doesn't affect function.

The bushing is a great design but the threads are extremely fine and a ham-fisted owner could cross thread them and torch 'em. There will NEVER be a reason to torque that bushing down with gorilla strength but it happens a lot. The included "bushing wrench" is complete trash and should literally never be used on a 52 bushing for twisting in either direction. It is stamped sheet metal and this wrench is an abomination. If a prospective purchase doesn't include one, good.

Magazines were often altered to hold more than five rounds. Some tinkerers were better at this than others. Magazines for this pistol currently carry a ridiculous price tag. Even a poorly altered magazine should hopefully still work with the original 5-round capacity.

If you see circles on the frame around the slide stop hole — that's almost certainly evidence of a frame mounted scope rail. These marks are ugly but they don't hurt anything.

Some 52's will show wear by exhibiting hammer follow. While letting a slide slam home with a totally empty chamber isn't friendly gun handling in general, it is the method that many builders use to manually check for hammer follow if you aren't able to live fire the pistol. A few times dropping the slide isn't going to hurt anything and it may show you if there is hammer follow. If there is, it is fixable but takes some skill.

My first 52 was a game changer for me, and an INSTANT REGRET! Sorry, that was a cheap misdirect. I emptied my first five shot magazine and my first emotion was to beat myself about the head for waiting this long in my life to buy one. My second emotion was "dammit, this gun is out of production so owning just this one isn't enough."

So I have three. I'm probably not done.

 

[Model52guy]

Sevens probably said everything I would have except to keep the little bushing wrench for display purpose only. I would have 7 M52's except my daughter talked me out of one of my 52-2's so I'm down to 6. They all shoot better than me so I shoot the one 52-2 I built from parts I bought in a bag at a gun show a few years ago. As far as price: Anything under 1100 for what your picture showed would be good. With box and everything, up to 1600.

 

[oneeyedpete]

Thanks for all the information guys! You are really knowledgeable about these pistols!

 

[kidcom]

I look for cracked frame in slide stop area. They say it doesn't hurt them but I'm not paying $1K for pistol with cracked frame. Generally in dealing in target pistols, they were owned by average guy who put very little rounds through them. Gun looks new. If competition shooter owned it should be easy to tell from wear. I also look at bushing to determine wear.

To be honest, I've never heard of a cracked frame on a 52. The only S&W, that I know, to ever have a cracked frame was the 46.

 

[Rick H.]

I have owned a lot of M52-2's, they are the ones I like best. I also have never heard of a cracked frame on one, but I suppose anything is possible. People have an uncanny knack for screwing stuff up so could be. While the M52 may not be the absolute best choice these days for many shooting disciples, it is one of the best guns ever made for dedicated bullseye use. It is a dream to hold and shoot and even just work the slide to and fro and see what real craftsmanship was like back in the day. While my serious bullseye days are long gone I still get great enjoyment taking one or more of my M52's to the range. Better yet is knowing I can reload quite economically for them which is a major plus today and custom tailor my reloads to what I want and not what the factory gives me. I recently had a Clark replacement barrel installed on one of my M52's and while it was expensive the returns are well worth the money spent. I also have installed a couple of Trijicon RMR's with 1 MOA dots on 2 of my M52's and the results were impressive...for me anyway. These are super fun pistols, but sometimes they need some TLC and a basic solid understanding of the platform. When you get a good one you will most likely never get rid of it, because there will never be another pistol made like it.

Rick H.

 

[mschneider]

Hi guys I am looking at this pistol for possible purchase and I was wondering what I should look for and possible value. Any help form the experts here would be greatly appreciated!

It is my favorite!!!! ammo hard to find

 

[USSR]

It is my favorite!!!! ammo hard to find

So, make your own!

Don