Bullet for S&W Mod.52

[SUB VET II]

This should have been the title. Sorry bout that!!!

Information

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[RayP.]

If you are in need of a bullet for reloading for a S&W mod. 52 TargetMaster .38 cal. pistol,we always used a 148gr. bullet that was flat and beveled on both ends,Midway and several other vendors sell them,go to google and type in "mod. 52 s&w targetmaster 148gr. lead bullet and you will get a lot of the various vendors,I used to cast my own because I shot so many.

RayP.

[AKA Hugh Uno]

is the Hornaday dry lubed HBWC. It is (or has become) a bit pricey compared to some no-name brands. I have shot all kinds of HBWCs and they all shoot good enough. In fact, other than .22LR, this is the caliber and bullet I shoot the most (over 3.1 grs W231).

[RayP.]

is the Hornaday dry lubed HBWC. It is (or has become) a bit pricey compared to some no-name brands. I have shot all kinds of HBWCs and they all shoot good enough. In fact, other than .22LR, this is the caliber and bullet I shoot the most (over 3.1 grs W231).

My S&W 52 never liked the hollow base bullet,my Colt Nat. Match 38spl liked them better than the flat base bullet,need to try both for best choice.

RayP.

[Sid]

I second what Hugh Uno said. I have shot many thousands of 148 grain HBWC
bullets through my S&W Model 52 without a hitch. I also use them in my Colt Officers Match Target revolver.

[jvm]

All 38 spl brass in not the same. I use R-P for my cast loads as it is thiner that the others. It deforms the bullet less when seating them.

I also use R-P HBWCs in my 52

[bigbore44]

I've shot thousands of Speer swaged HBWC bullets thru my S&W Mod 52 using 2.8 grs of Bullseye. My pistol loves them.

[Bruce_in_Oz]

I used to have one of those beasties. The mags had the follower button slots extended to accomodate six rounds, so I could play with the revolver shooters. Principal match was a service match that consumed 90 rounds at ranges from 50 down to 7 yards.

I used to load a standard hollow-based wadcutte over a now forgotten load of AS50 shotgun powder.

That thing was more accurate than I ever was.

I did learn a valuable lesson about load testing at one competition, though.

I tried some of these new-fangled Teflon coated projectiles. Same weight, same form.

Loaded up a test batch of ten and off to the range. A lovely little group, just a whisket lower at 25 yards. Quick adjust and load up for the "Big Match".

FAIL.

About halfway yhrough the 25 yard sequence, I started to get stoppages. By the end of it, I had to abandon the match.

Back in the fumble zone I popped the slide of. Yechhh! The guts were full of unburnt powder.

One of the other competitors came up and asked how things were. When I explained he told me that he had encountered something similar with his .357Mag. revolver: the difference being that his loads were accurate, but suddenly failed "Major" power factor.

Then I got it. The teflon coating on the projectiles, coupled with the thin-walled brass means that the bullet starts to run down the barrel with just primer ignition and the cartridge internal pressure drops too early. The propellant thus does not ignite fully and your gun fils up with crud.

A change to Bullseye and the problem went away.

Then I sold the gun and bought a 1911!

[Jerome Cooper]

As correctly stated several times the 52 works best with 148 grain flat faced wadcutter bullets. I have successfully used the H&G #251..my lube is/was the old NRA 50-50 formula but only in one groove. Trying to use more made for more smoke and poorer accuracy. 2.7 grains of Bullseye, a long time favorite of many 38 special shooters, worked fine, but I felt that the recoil was a bit sharp with the bullet face seated flat (deeper) with the mouth of the case. In comp where a match can be won or lost by pne point, the shooter has to play every card possible to that end. I found that going to 700X, which is slightly slower burneing..2.5 grains, worked the action as well and shot accurately. When I used commercial (R-P) cases I sized to .357" and when i used mil-spec cases which were thicker I had to size bullets to .356" to avoid any bulging. Keeping cases trimmed to correct and uniform length is important in the M52. The 52 has always done well for me and I have enjoyed owning it. Jerome Cooper