Gunbroker is the largest and most active single place where 52's appear regularly and are sold. You can learn a lot about this particular slice of the market by paying attention to the 52 trade there.
I have had an extremely close eye on the comings and goings of Model 52 pistols for about three years. I feel safe in saying that if you find a 52 with two magazines, no box, and it is fully functional... I don't care if it's totally beaten in appearance and perhaps even has drilled holes in the slide for some horrendous optic mount -- that pistol will likely sell at $800 minimum, and if it sold any less the buyer paid under market.
Your question... a 52-2 with two mags in fine shape with nothing else added? $950 would be a fantastic deal but I would expect it perhaps higher. The market is fluid and some steals can still be found.
Add to note: there is -NO- genuine clarity that I have found when it comes to
"which is better?" in the 52-2's, as there are two distinct groups. There are the A-prefix guns whose serial number is the letter A followed by six numerals... and then there are the three-alpha prefix guns that were the very last of the model produced.
The quick answer is the the A-prefix guns are "better" and while the market and the prices tend to support that assertion, I believe when you dig deeper there is MORE to the story.
A-prefix 52's tend to have prettier, deeper blue finishes and it also seems as if the wood stocks tend to have more attractive and often darker toned wood. However, I have also found that plum color slides appear far more often in the middle A-prefix pistols than in later guns.
The three-alpha guns have more modern lettering/stamping, they lack the "four lines" of S&W information on the left side of the slide and the bluing tends to be more spartan, dull, not as bright, shiny or polished. But every single three-alpha prefix 52 anyone seems to wring out and report on is a genuine tack-driving machine.
Yes, sure, we could say that about "all" 52's or at least most of them. But Roy Jinks has penned in a factory letter in the past that the last of the Model 52's were built by the early Performance Center team of craftsmen, and it was with this hands-on experience that led the Performance Center to create the first 200 units of the ubiquitous Model 952 pistol.
I have a TZT-prefix Model 52-2 (that would make it extremely late in the production run) and of the three 52's I own, that's the one I shoot and it's an absolute machine. It goes out west with me on a prairie dog hunting trip and has made me awfully proud.
My best summary? When all else is equal, the A-prefix 52-2 may be prettier and have more appeal and garner a higher sales price, but there is NO evidence that the three-alpha 52-2 pistols are inferior in any possible way when it comes to shooting, build quality, trigger and accuracy. They do tend to look a little more plain and they may be a little lower in price.
The three-alpha 52-2 is the sleeper in the market. I'm pretty sure I need more of them!
