The Model 52 is a purpose-built target pistol that Smith & Wesson built on the Model 39 frame. It is chambered for a very specific flush-loaded 148gr .38 Special wadcutter loading, to be used in bullseye pistol competition. It was first introduced in 1961 as a double action pistol, and replaced by the single-action-only Model 52-1 in 1963. It remained in production until 1993, with a few internal improvements in 1970 making it the 52-2. Ultimately, the production tooling wore to the point of needing major refurbishment which wasn’t worth the cost. The style of 3-gun bullseye pistol competition that the Model 52 was designed for was no longer popular, and so S&W chose to drop the gun form production.
Revolver
RIA: Roper Repeating Shotgun
Sylvester Roper is not a well known name in firearms history today, but he made a number of notable contributions to the field – in addition to his work with motorcycles and automobiles where he […]
Artillery
Maxim PomPom 37mm Machine Gun
“Pom-Pom” was the name given to the 37mm Maxim gun by the Boers of South Africa, based on the gun’s sound. It was a Maxim machine gun scaled up to the quite impressive 37mm caliber, […]
Book review
Book Review: The Great Rifle Controversy
Here’s a question: considering that by 1945 John Garand had developed working prototypes of the T20 rifle (basically an M1 with a select-fire trigger mechanism and a 20-round box magazine), why did it take the […]
I think what really killed it off was most competitors starting using their 45’s in centerfire instead of a 38. I shot one for a while in centerfire, but ultimately switch to a K-38 and ultimately an L frame for centerfire. I also ended up using a S&W revolver in 45 as well. However I started with a K-22 in 22 and switched to a Model 41 for 22. Very accurate pistol, but I always got higher scores with a revolver.
had one you needed to reload, flat faced .38 reloads were hard to find.