A short, inertia-type firing pin permitted moving the safety lever "Off" so the pistol could be carried safely with the hammer down, yet it could be fired without having to manipulate any controls.Īs I make no claims whatsoever to having any ability at one-handed bullseye-style shooting, I decided to maintain my self-esteem by test-firing the Model 52 for accuracy from an MTM Predator rest at the traditional distance of 25 yards. Rotating the slide-mounted safety lever downward interposed a steel bar between the hammer and the firing pin before tripping the sear, releasing the hammer to move forward. Known as the X-46, it combined a Browning tilting-barrel lockup system with a DA/SA trigger and a hammer-drop safety. The task of designing the new pistol was assigned to the company's chief designer, Joseph Norman, who completed a prototype by October 1948. At the top of his must-do list was a modern, semiautomatic pistol that utilized a double-action/single-action trigger mechanism and was chambered for the 9mm Parabellum cartridge. Hellstrom, embarked upon a program to improve and modernize the company's production facilities and to develop new products for the civilian, military, and law enforcement markets. But things were about to change.īeginning in 1946, S&W's president, C.R.
These target revolvers had been perfected over the previous decades to the point where they provided all of the accuracy one could possibly desire, and as has been the wont of shooters over the centuries, the paper punchers saw no reason to mess with success. 38 Special Mid-Range target wadcutter cartridge. 45-caliber Model 1911 pistol, just about every paper puncher of note was shooting a premium-grade Smith & Wesson or Colt revolver chambered for the. Except for the limited number of military and civilian shooters who participated in the National Matches and were thus required to use the. Then, towards the end of the period, a certain percentage of shooters came to favor semiauto pistols.Īmong the centerfire fraternity, the situation was even simpler. Those shooters who participated in rimfire matches generally used a high-end Smith & Wesson or Colt revolver. For the first 60 years of the 20th century, handgun target shooting in the United States was relatively simple.
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