S&W 52-2 accurate life expectancy

riley p

I've got a 52-2 that shoots very, very well. I shoot it mostly in our state winter postal league bullseye matches. Shooting along side one of our more senior bullseye shooters he claimed that they were good for around 5,000 rounds after which they would start to go down hill. Of course he's a 1911 shooter. Plenty of those around, shooting the 52 against a tuned up 1911 is almost cheating in my opinion.

Hand holding the gun aside, what is a realistic "accurate life" of a S&W 52??

MIKE WISKEY

"shooting the 52 against a tuned up 1911 is almost cheating in my opinion. "..........+1......I think you should add at least 1 (maybe 2)zeros to the 5,000 figure.

chiefr

Using correct ammo, I have never heard of someone wearing out a SW 52.

rufe-snow

Sounds like he was trying to phych you out, more than anything else. Don't imagine an old time, "1911 shooter", appreciates getting his butt kicked consistently. By a guy shooting a wadcutter .38 Special, semi-auto.

perry shooter

Model 52 S&W are great pistols with that said they do have some things to think about. If you do break something they are VERY hard to get parts for. The front barrel bushing only contacts a very narrow Band of the ring on the front 1/4 inch of the barrel This will be a point of wearafter many tens of thousand of rounds UNLESS you do like I do on my match 1911 pistols I use a rotary vice and contoured wheel on surface grinder turn this same type barrel ring But I then hard chrome the last inch of the barrel .004 I open the bushing .006 then hard chrome it on the inside .004 Then diamond lap the bushing. Back to your model 52 a Ransom restyou do need to find a mentor that has one of these to test your loads if you reload your own ammo can prove the pistol and ammo . The ammo is no longer loaded at least I cant find any with Hollow base wadcutter so Now you need to reload and it is a learning curve to get good results. Last but not least is almost no one shoots a model 52 at 50 yards in any wind THINK CAMP PERRY and if you don't have good follow through what might be a * 8 with 45acp will be a * 5 or miss with a model 52.When you are having a good day they are a joy to shoot but wind or 50 yards or bad day they will make you want to throw it in the lake. ONE more thing the bigger the bullet the more chance that bullet that will be .01 outside the scoring ring with a .357 plug will be inside with a .452 ring ,Red dot mounts are limited that work with a model 52. Don't fall for the mind games find out for your self . You may fall in love. "PRAISE THE HARD-BALL GUN" Camp Perry 1972-2005

CapnMidnight

Riley,
You just got the word, from a long time Bullseye shooter.
Karl knows as much about that discipline as anyone on this forum.
W.D.

beantownshootah

quote:Originally posted by CapnMidnight
Riley,
You just got the word, from a long time Bullseye shooter.
Karl knows as much about that discipline as anyone on this forum.
W.D.

This.

I'd say he probably knows about as much about that discipline as anyone around PERIOD.

He'* the biggest highlights here about using wadcutter .38s vs .45s. Smaller bullet = less chance of hitting a scoring ring, and in a game decided by single points, this is a BIG deal.

Also, slow light wadcutter bullet means both high wind susceptibility and longer barrel "dwell time" (bullet in barrel). This last thing means less than perfect form with follow-through will throw of your shot more than faster bullets. In my (very limited) experience with these, I've noticed that the .38 wadcutter is actually so slow, you can literally see the bullet fly through the air downrange under the right lighting conditions!

Anyway, to answer the question, competitive targets shooters will typically put several hundred rounds through their guns per WEEK. If a Smith Model 52 REALLY lost accuracy after only 5000 rounds the gun would wear out in less than a year, it would be worthless for competitive shooting, and nobody would ever use or have used these things.

I can't tell you how long these last, but there is just no way that number is even close to correct. I can say that wadcutter .38s are low impulse rounds, and I don't see any fundamental reason the gun shouldn't last for many tens of thousands of rounds, the same as any other.

riley p

Thanks, all. I think there was a mild attempt to "psych me out" a little. There was mention of the 52 being "difficult" at 50 yards.

And may I take this opportunity to thank all for your contributions. I start my day with you folks nearly every day, just to "see what the "experts" are saying". Usually informative, sometimes entertaining.

And a special thanks to Mr. Christian for his recent moderator administrative decisions. A boon to us all, I think.

dog1944

I have had my 52 for about 25 years and a estimate about 5 times the round count from your friend. It is still as good as it ever was, wish I could say the same for me.
It is just me but I always have shot better scores with it then the 45
Larry