S&W 52 recipe

What would be the recipe for least amount of recoil or 148 grain hbwc Bullet, using bullseye powder or similar, and how low can I go safely and still be accurate at 50 feet for bullseye, using a 8 or 7 lb. spring. Mike

My Speer Reloading Manual #9, notes that the lightest load that will function in a Model 52 is 2.5 grains of Bullseye with a 148 HBWC. Their recommended load is 2.7 grains of Bullseye.  Muzzle velocity on the 2.5 load is 701 fps, 769 for the 2.7 load.

I have had good results with 3.0 gr of 231 with a 148 HBWC, either Remington or Magnus.

Not sure if this meets your recoil requirement but to duplicate the WW Ranger target load.

3.1 W231 and Fed Gold Medal primers!

Kills "X''s at 50 yards! Just might work for 50 feet too!

Smiles,

Going for super low recoil in the 52 can be a fools errand, IMO.  The function window in the 52 is about 2.7 grains Bullseye plus or minus .2 grains.  That isn’t much and you’d be far better to find a load that really shoots well and live with the recoil.  I’ve had decent accuracy at 2.6 grains and that’s as low as I want to go.