S&W M-52 and light boolits

[Got_Lead?]

Hello all:

I just started working-up loads for my S&W M52-0. I found it a couple of years ago in a local gun shop for $899, almost unfired and in perfect condition. It may have had a couple of boxes fired through it, as there was a bit of powder residue in the lower action, but no wear to be seen anywhere, including the the magazines or guide rod. I bought it right then. While filling out the paper work, I inquired of the clerk whether he knew what kind of loads to use. He said "you're not going to actually fire it, are you?" Yup.

I started with the historical loads, Bullseye behind a 148 grain cast wadcutter. The barrel measures .355" with 5 grove rifling, so I'm sizing bullets to .356". I started working up a load at 2.2 grains of BE, increasing to 2.7 grains in .1 grain increments, the 52 seemed to shoot best at about 2.3 to 2.4 grains of Bullseye. This gives me 640 fps measured 7 yards downrange, and gently throws the brass about 3 feet. This is perhaps one of the finest features of the 52, the brass is large, shiny, and very easy to find.

Here is my 52-0


Groups from the 148 grainers are pretty good, I think I could probably improve these with better shooting on my part, these are hand held from a rest at 25 yards.


One day out of curosity, I tried some lighter bullets, 120 grain TC's, cast from wheel weights, these I seated flush with the case mouth, just like the 148 grain wadcutters. They look a bit different, kind of like large Nagant rounds, but they work well. The 52 seems to prefer low recoil impulse loads, with both the 148 grain bullets, and the 120 grainers. 2.8 grains of bullseye seems to work well with the 120's, however the action is barely cycling. 3.0 grains works the action better, tossing cases about 3 feet, but doesn't seem to print quite as tight a group.


Groups with the 120 grainers.


The 120 grainers are getting better speed than the 148's, about 800 fps vs 640 fps. They cut cleaner holes in the paper at this speed, especially as the cardboard backer gets chewed out in the center. The barrel seems to run a bit cleaner with them as well. Those of you who have had M52's and have looked down the barrel, they are chambered with conventional .38 special dimensions, which means the rifling leade is a good 1/4 inch forward of the case mouth (just like a revolver). I kind of wish they had short chambered the barrel, where the leade was immediately forward of the case mouth, as in a rimless cartridge like the .45 ACP. I think the leade would run a bit cleaner this way, as there would a much shorter bullet jump to the rifling. My 52 always has a few traces of lead in the leade, just like its revolver cousins, nothing that doesn't clean up easily enough with a couple of strokes of a bronze bore brush. The TC's seem to leave slightly less deposits here than the square shouldered wadcutters, maybe they guide better into the rifling.

Well, thats about the extent of my knowledge of the S&W M52. I had wanted one a for several decades since I first saw one in bullseye shooting back in the 80's.

If any of you can lend any wisdom on the care and feeding of these classic bullseye guns, please, chime in.

 

[Desolo]

Thats just neat....Awesome that someone that was willing to actually use it picked it up, to many really neat things like that just sit around collecting dust....

 

[Jim Watson]

I have never asked my M52-2 or the -1 that preceeded it to handle anything but wadcutters, this is a novel approach.

I DID try such bullets in my PPC revolver.
Recoil was nil and they cut a hole that looked like a .22 wadcutter if you ignored the pucker around it. But they were not quite as accurate as wadcutters. I was going to shoot them at 7 and 15 yards and go back to 148 gr wadcutters at 25 and 50. The problem was, for some odd reason they called for a change in windage as well as elevation from the wadcutters and I was unwilling to adjust both as I changed yardage.

 

[loadedround]

Got Lead: I shot a S&W 52-2 in Bullsye competition for about 6 or 7 years. At the time the standard load was 2.7 gr of Bullseye over a 148 gr LWC bullet seated flush to the case. This was the recommended load and I never deviated from it except to try different makes of LP primers and finally settled on Winchester LP primers. Interesting about the 120 gr bullets though.

 

[Got_Lead?]

I have noticed this too, that loads of different recoil impulse may shoot to a different point of windage. I have never liked this phenomena, nor can I completely explain it. There are a lot of things moving around both inside and outside when the hammer falls. But sometimes groups move around 1/2" to 1", depending on load. Some guns are worse than others. My 52 is perhaps one of the most consistent shooting pistols I own, and doesn't spray bullets (even with loads out of tune) or drifts groups. I wish I could get this out of my 1911.

 

[Got_Lead?]

2.5 to 2.7 grains of bullseye seemed to be the well accepted load behind 148 grain WC's. My 52 seems to prefer a slightly lower charge with the 148's, however, my security six absolutely loves the 2.7 grain load.

Here's the security six and 2.7 BE with 148 WC's. These are sized at .356 for the M52. I also took up some sized at .358" The accuracy was identical between the two different bullet sizes in the security six. However, the .358's shot about 60 fps faster, probably more resistance for more efficient powder burning and better gas seal through the throats.