Smith&Wesson 52 unforgiving...

[ser2711]

Is common opinion tha S&W 52 for a lot of people cannot get used to them because they are very unforgiving. I add a weight see photos and avoid completely this problem I had too..

[Dr. Jim]

Yes, the addition of a forward weight does tame the unforgivingness substantially, but does not eliminate it. At least that has been my experience.
Dr jim

[ser2711]

In my experience before I adding forward weight I could do a good series of 10.. some 9 and one or two 8 and even 7..in a standard 25 meters target in academic hold.. now is hard to go out of 9 ...only if I shoot with evidence mistakes from my part..

[inthebeech]

I'm not sure about al this, though I have never owned one. But you guys know how rumors spread and become fact if they're perpetuated.
Why I say this, is when you actually calculate the times that the 38 and the 45 stay in the barrel, we're talking a difference between the two that most calculators don't have enough decimal places to display.
Yes, an engineer will do some pretty obsessive compulsive stuff when he's bored.
All I'm sayin yo!

I wonder if a national champ came up and praised the 52 it as a one-holer, whether we wouldn't all be shoulder-to-shoulder with them on the line, and shooting our best scores.

In addition to being an anal engineering geek, I am also a conspiracy theorist.

Gotta go. Someone is probably tapping in to my laptop (probably Cuomo).

[Rover]

"I wonder if a national champ came up and praised the 52 it as a one-holer, whether we wouldn't all be shoulder-to-shoulder with them on the line, and shooting our best scores."

Heh, heh.....all but the last part.

Of course, I receive regular abuse from the "latest greatest" crowd for my blasphemies.

BTW I USED to own a M52.

[Dr. Jim]

I'm on my third cycle through the love-hate relationship. Bought and sold. Third one came along as a not to be missed deal. It is staying on to eventually teach grandchildren the ferocious focus necessary to be successful. At least that's what I'm telling myself! Course I just acquired a P240 so what does that say about me?

[davekp]

Unforgiving relative to what?
Compared to a 22, any centerfire semi-auto will be unforgiving.
Compared to a 45, My mod 52 was slightly better scoring.
I tell people, when you shoot the centerfire gun you just do everything that you do with the 22- only MUCH BETTER!

[jpsIII]

As an experienced—but definitely not elite—gallery and fun-outdoor-match competitor, I can say that my Model 52 is a beautiful pistol, a pleasure to shoot, and capable of excellent accuracy. But it is spectacularly unreliable with both factory loads and reloads that span a range of Bullseye (2.6-3 grains) and the standard 148 gr. WC bullets, both factory and home-cast. It's basically an extraction/ejection problem. I have never had similar problems with the 1911 pattern (or even 9mm Model 39/59 families) with factory or reloaded target ammo. I've tried various permutations of grip/ammo/magazines…so I read your collective comments with humble interest.

[C. Perkins]

I will never part with my M52-1, it is just a sweet, accurate and alibi free shooter.
My best bullseye scores to date.
.22= 874
CF= 872
.45= 860

jpsIII;
What model M52 do you have and what kind of failures are you having ?

Clarence

[Rover]

Hey Clarence, has your M52 frozen up yet, up there in the Great White North?

97 here yesterday.

[C. Perkins]

Hey Clarence, has your M52 frozen up yet, up there in the Great White North?

97 here yesterday.

Roger;
It is 52 degrees here as I type.
Snow is gone and raining today.
You can keep the 97 and above crap, one of the reasons we moved :)
From one extreme to the other...

Clarence

[EdStevens]

I have an opinion on "unforgiving" guns based on my personal experience. I believe that guns that are extremely light (my Margolin .22 comes to mind) or have extremely heavy muzzles (my Model 41 comes to mind) can be unforgiving in that if you make some kind of anticipatory movement as the shot is about to break, they will tend to make the shot worse than guns that have a more "forgiving" balance. Very light guns have little mass and so react very easily to any movement, and if the shooter's hand is not very steady in the time leading up to the break of the shot, they can make for a very poor result indeed. Guns with a heavy muzzle like the Model 41 can dampen minor movements very effectively and produce excellent results if the shooter is on his or her game; but if a movement anticipates the break of the shot a little early, the momentum of that mass at the muzzle can turn a poor shot into a major flyer.

[inthebeech]

Well now "light" at the front being the cause of the 52's moniker as unforgiving, makes sense.
Thanks.