Care and feeding of your 52

I have been thinking a lot about different ways to turn my 952-2 (9mm) into a 38 Super. There are just zero after market products for the 952. Today while reading more and more posts about the 52 it got me to thinking about turning it into a Super. Obviously there are no more parts laying around for a 52 then a 952 but there is a lot more room to play. I have some 130gr L-SWC cast by Magnus sized to .357 and a lot of extra brass. I started by experimenting with the length of the case and the amount of the bullet I wanted projecting past it. I took a few bullets apart before I settled on a case length of .935. This gives me an OAL of 1.16 and they load and feed great. I only made 10 of them. Five each 2.8gr BE and 3.0gr BE. It will be fun to see if they group..and function. They might be light. I run 3.8 to 4.6gr in my Super with this bullet but have a lot heavier spring. The 52 has only been around about a bazillion years so someone has surely tried this before.

Some pictures

I typed that too fast. There were a couple more things I should have mentioned. I used a 38 special sizing die. 38 Super powder/expander die. 38 special bullet seat die and a 38 super taper crimp die. The cases are too short to use all Special dies.

Len

So would that be considered a wild kitten caliber/load?

I was thinking Powder puff 52 but wild kitten works.

Len

I’d send it off to KKM or Clark and see if they’ll make a one-off barrel with a Super chamber?

Clarks new 1:10 barrel for the 52 in Super would be nice. I bet it would stabilize with a very light load. I don't plan on changing anything until I get past the "will this work" stage. But good idea. Thanks

Len

Len,
Have you tried plunk test of your 38 Super loads into 52 barrel?
AP

No, but I will now. I know they fit in the magazine. I trimmed these special rounds a little longer then the Super so there is a metal to brass contact on the magazine lips. Interesting thought.

Len

That was interesting. As you suspected the round plunked right into my 52. Apparently that extra .004" OD of the Super didn't hurt a thing. However I only have 200 brass that has the full rim. The Comp brass won't extract and my 200+P brass are all loaded with a round that won't fit in the magazine. So, until I shoot up a bunch of the full rim I don't have anything to field test with. The Super has a thinner rim (that might be the .004" I remember) I think I will cut down 10 more specials round while waiting for a sunny day and try some different loads.

Len

I'm more concerned with bullet shape, and projectile going into lands.  52 barrel is in .354"+, so entire round might be pushed to far forward for reliable strike on primer.  BTW for this experiment you can use any 38 special or even 357M brass, even though rim on latter is a bit thicker. 
AP

What if you just use that projectile in a standard .38 Spec case and push it back flush with the end of the case.

The case will guide it better into the leade and lands without gas escaping around it like it would with the shortened case.

I am assuming that you basically want to try that projectile loaded a bit hotter than the HBWC.

You could also try using 38 Long Colt brass...trimmed to Super length?

I was hoping I could come up with a round with the recoil of a 32ACP (none) and the flight characteristics of a pointy bullet ( no tumbling) The 52 is a great pistol but can be hard to master if your fundamentals are less then perfect or your getting older like me. I think some of those things could be achieved by using a faster bullet. You can not increase the load in the HBWC without risking serious failure. A 110gr XTP bullet might just be perfect. As long as I use cut down 38special cases I know they will feed and fire. The magazine stops me from loading them too long and the rim stops the case from going forward and letting the bullet touch the lands. I think 38 Super cases with full rims would work but they might get light primer strikes. On paper the 38S&W looks like the OD would be a little large but I thought that about 38Super before the plunk test. The rim on them is perfect but the case might be a little short. It looks like sunshine on Friday and time to hit the range.

Urrgh, I hate it when the barrels have 5 lugs. I slugged it before I tried loading any Jacketed bullets. As close as I can figure it measures .355 which changes a couple of things. Has anyone slugged a 52 before that has the right equipment to measure odd number lugs? It might go .356 but definitely not .357 (falls right thru my only gauge).

does this help?  http://forums.thecmp.org/archive/index.php/t-3255.html

Cheapest I can find 

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Find a gauge pin that just slops into the barrel bore and record the size of the pin.

Slug the bore and measure across it so you will be measuring between a land and a groove on the slug using a standard micrometer.

Subtract the pin measurement from the slug measurement and then add the difference to the slug measurement.


Here's what my S&W 15 measures, which seems about right to me.
.3517"  Slug
.346"    Pin
.0057" 
.3574"   Result

I've done it pretty much the same way as DA/Sa. it will get you within .0005

for me an example of two model 52 barrels were .354

Decades ago when I preferred to fool with loads instead of learning to shoot, I had .355 cast bullets in a M52. They didn't develop a lot of pressure because the chamber was large. Maybe l gave up too soon?

Thanks everyone. I am going to have to accept my .355 measurement. The 110XTP bullet is short enough it would have been perfect (but not at .357). I do have some 90gr XTP for my 380 that might work but I keep remembering how in-accurate that PPK is. I did a bunch of research and found some answers here on this forum. There have been attempts to shorten the case in the far past but there was a problem with thin walled 38 cases in the non supported area. Since I won't be putting a full length WC in the case I shouldn't have to worry about taper. Now I am thinking of using .357Mag cases and cut them down so a 115gr XTP fits. Like I said . Thanks for the responses.

Had to add this picture. Not all wild kitties are equal. I think he wanted that piece of chicken I was eating.

Finally made it to the range today. Shot a lot of 38 Super and a bunch of 38 Special. The Super testing went well. The 38 Special not so much. I could bore you with some really bad target pictures or just cut to the chase. The short SWC loads with light powder will print on the target. If you increase the load they won't. You can increase the powder till they print again but that sort of defeats the experiment. Here is the best and the worst target. It is not really the worst. There were 3 with no holes. Just the worst with a bullet hitting it flat at 25 yds.


It does fine with it's designed ammo. Might have to zero it again.