I have a Jr that is shooting bullseye and doing very good.
We are looking for a S & W 52 for her to shoot. We are looking for a
shooter not a collector. is there any out there?
Jr. looking for S & W 52
Moderators: pilkguns, m1963, Isabel1130
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Kate
Model 52
As a woman bullseye shooter, my advice is to stay away from the 52 as a center fire choice I had one years ago and it was notoriously quirky. I rarely got through a string without a misfeed. It also is not very accurate at the long line. a better choice would be a Sig 240 or a Benelli in .32. You can have either rebarreled to shoot very well at the long line. The other option (the one I currently use) is to just use the .45 for center fire and go with a really light load for the short line where recoil becomes a factor. Kate
M-52 for junior shooter.
I have 3 M-52s. The guest's comment may hold true. But $2400 for P-240 can buy you nearly three M-52s!, in spite of their quirkieness. Though the 52 is a hand assembled masterpiece way before "Performance Center" came to us, their individual problems are easy to work out. I have found that Military empty cases make the best choice for handloads. Use the standard 2.7 BE with those dirty old Remington 148HBWCs that come 2000 in a box. US mfg. factory loads will drain your bank account. I have no experience with the Czech stuff being imported, maybe someone else does. The magazine lip dimensions are critical, start with the P-240 magazine dimensions if you discover a bent mag. You may need to relieve metal from the mag well for slick dropping of mags. This gun cruds up with 700-X propellant, but not too bad with BE. Be sure you strip it down and soak it in witches' brew every 500 rnds. Be sure to consider the counterweight, as it turns the M-52 into a whole different tool. If you don't grip this gun with authority, it will flip a round and may short-shuck on you right when you are in the middle of a good string. This gun has tolerable recoil, but it likes to launch empties into the next aisle. You darned near need to get into better grips, Herrett stopped the ones with the larger thumb ledge, unfortuntely. Nill and Rink are just a money order away. The 52 comes out of the box with 10-ring scoring at 50yds. It is a fine pistol and I like it better than my P-210, Les Baer Wadcutter, M-41, Victor or the 952. Cheers! and enjoy owning a M-52 soon.