S&W Model 52s

How many shooters are still competing with an S&W model 52?  I've been looking at a couple listed online but don't know if their time has come and gone.  I'm also interested in anything I should look out for when considering a purchase.  I've found several that only have one magazine and that seems to be a problem that could be hard to fix.

Ask the sellers to sell the gun with the two it came with and stop trying to make an extra hundo from a single magazine !

I still enjoy loading and shooting mine, indoors mostly.

I tried to get three different sellers to cough up a second magazine with no luck.  They claim that they received the pistol with only one.  I haven't found any magazines for sale online yet.  I'm looking at a 52-1 right now that has some external wear, but comes with three mags and a barrel weight.  $1250 plus $40 shipping.  Seems fair.

52's are great pistol. I have a 52-2 with two mags and i wait for KKM 1-10 barrel for rebarrel my 52.

I emailed KKM about 2 weeks ago and they said barrels are not ready yet.  Please, someone post when you find out they are.  

David

It's still going to be a couple of months on the KKM barrels.  They are waiting on a steel order that is now over 10 months old.

kc.crawford.7 wrote:It's still going to be a couple of months on the KKM barrels.  They are waiting on a steel order that is now over 10 months old.

Thanks Kc for the information!

SW-52 wrote:52's are great pistol. I have a 52-2 with two mags and i wait for KKM 1-10 barrel for rebarrel my 52.

Please educate me on the difference between 1-10 barrels for M52 from KKM and the ones from Clark.  Thanks, AP

PhotoEscape wrote:

SW-52 wrote:52's are great pistol. I have a 52-2 with two mags and i wait for KKM 1-10 barrel for rebarrel my 52.

Please educate me on the difference between 1-10 barrels for M52 from KKM and the ones from Clark.  Thanks, AP

I signed up very early for the Clark and would have had it by now but when I heard from KC that KKM was going to be making them I decided to wait.  Why? well I have a 1-10 KKM in my .38 Super which KC built and I'm shooting a load (different 147gr bullet) very close to what I shoot in my 52 with great results so I decided to wait.

Clark is getting 2" @ 50yds I'm hoping the KKM will be slightly better.
Either way it's AWESOME that their are barrels available now for the M52
- Dave
I also have a 1-32 KKM in 9MM that is a 1" gun with a 115gr XTP @ 1100fps.

dronning wrote:

PhotoEscape wrote:

SW-52 wrote:52's are great pistol. I have a 52-2 with two mags and i wait for KKM 1-10 barrel for rebarrel my 52.

Please educate me on the difference between 1-10 barrels for M52 from KKM and the ones from Clark.  Thanks, AP

I signed up very early for the Clark and would have had it by now but when I heard from KC that KKM was going to be making them I decided to wait.  Why? well I have a 1-10 KKM in my .38 Super which KC built and I'm shooting a load (different 147gr bullet) very close to what I shoot in my 52 with great results so I decided to wait.

Clark is getting 2" @ 50yds I'm hoping the KKM will be slightly better.
Either way it's AWESOME that their are barrels available now for the M52
- Dave
I also have a 1-32 KKM in 9MM that is a 1" gun with a 115gr XTP @ 1100fps.

1-10 twist more accurate than factory sw-52 barrel. i was on wait list with clark but Kc mention KKM will making them i decided to wait. is possible EGW will make the bushing for this new barrel.

I'm shooting one, probably always will as I have a special connection to the 52.

My father worked at S&W for 30 years and helped develop the 52.  Model 52 production was under his supervision from its introduction until he retired in 1988.

I still see lots of them at matches. I bought one myself this year (2018) and have been practicing with it. I love how it shoots and instead of hurting my 1911 game as many told me it would, I think it has helped.

I know one of the concerns is repair and parts. I know another shooter who does not shoot his for that reason, but I feel like if you don't shoot it because it might break, then it might as well be broken.

I shoot one occasionally.  I picked it up used about a year ago with only one magazine.

I have two.  I always regretted selling an almost new one in 1987 before moving to the north east.  

One of the ones that I have is rather rare as it is one of the 25 or so for which AMT (hardballer) in CA made stainless steel frames.  They bought the slide assembly and parts from S&W in I think the '90s and assembled these guns.  As the story was told to me, the owner of AMT was a 52 fan and he decided to do the frames.  But, very few were made because they found that the amount of hand fitting required with the stainless steel made the guns profit too small.  

Perhaps a person more educated on this story can chime in and add information of make corrections.  

This link has information about the above:

http://www.amtguns.info/amt-sw-model-52_topic1363.html

David

Here is a photo of the stainless Model 52, isn't it pretty!

A question about the model 52.  

What is more important for accuracy:

Slide to frame fitting - or - barrel to slide fitting?

David

That stainless 52 looks great!  I just "pulled the trigger" on buying a 52-1 on GunsInternational.com.  It's in really good shape and comes with three mags and a barrel weight.  The only thing missing was the bushing wrench that I'm getting from Numrich Arms.  It went back to S&W in '72 for a rear sight change.  Other than that it's stock in the box with all paperwork.  Really looking forward to shooting a classic.

Bmitch996 could have noted also that his father, Eddie, was a Navy combat veteran of WWII and was a 2600 shooter to boot. I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with him at Mid-Carolina Gun Club a year or so before his passing at a very active age 92 or 93. RIP.

If your 52 has a fitter's mark of the number 2 on the bottom of the frame, it was built personally by Eddie Mitchell.

Russ Gill (Capt USN Ret.)

From one "old pilot" to another, thanks for that info!

Jim Edwards
CAPT, USN (ret.)

OldShooter43 wrote:That stainless 52 looks great!  I just "pulled the trigger" on buying a 52-1 on GunsInternational.com.  It's in really good shape and comes with three mags and a barrel weight.  The only thing missing was the bushing wrench that I'm getting from Numrich Arms.  It went back to S&W in '72 for a rear sight change.  Other than that it's stock in the box with all paperwork.  Really looking forward to shooting a classic.

Go to Sears and purchase a twelve point deepwell socket. Grind the end flat ( remove any taper ) and place some skate tape around the outside. You can thank me later..... forget about the expensive little spanner.

Oh well, just a tad too late.  However, if the spanner breaks I'll try out the 12 pt socket - but probably not from Sears. :0)

What size is the socket, I don't remember.  

David

3/4"

thank you

I thank you as well.