Smith & Wesson 52

Smith & Wesson M52 . 38 special

The Smith & Wesson 52 was a rare handgun in that it was chambered for the .38 special rimmed cartridge. The pistol, however, did not fire the standard .38 special rounds, common to revolvers, but had to fire a special 'wadcutter' round that was fully enclosed in the brass casing (similar in appearance to the 7.62mm Nagant cartridges fired by the Nagant 1895 revolver). The gun was derived from the Smith & Wesson 39. The production run was limited to a few years in the 1960s and is considered a very accurate target handgun. The pistol can only take low pressure wadcutters and is not built to withstand the high pressures of its 9x19mm cousins.

Specifications

Type: Pistol

Caliber: .38 special wadcutters

Capacity: 5-round single column, detachable box magazine

Fire Modes: Semiautomatic

The Smith & Wesson Model 52 has appeared in the following films and television series used by the following actors:

Film

• Thomas Hellberg as Detective Gunvald Larsson in The Man on the Roof (1976)