Introduced in 1961, the .38-caliber S&W Model 52 was one of the premier American-made centerfire target pistols.

For the first 60 years of the 20th century, handgun target shooting in the United States was relatively simple. Those shooters who participated in rimfire matches generally used a high-end Smith & Wesson or Colt revolver. Then, towards the end of the period, a certain percentage of shooters came to favor semiauto pistols.

Among the centerfire fraternity, the situation was even simpler. Except for the limited number of military and civilian shooters who participated in the National Matches and were thus required to use the .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 .38 Special Mid-Range target wadcutter cartridge. 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. But things were about to change.

Beginning in 1946, S&W's president, C.R. 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. 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.

The task of designing the new pistol was assigned to the company's chief designer, Joseph Norman, who completed a prototype by October 1948. Known as the X-46, it combined a Browning tilting-barrel lockup system with a DA/SA trigger and a hammer-drop safety. 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. 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.

Smith & Wesson provided samples of the new pistol to the U.S. Army for trials, but the military quickly lost interest and let the project drop. Smith & Wesson continued development and released the new 4-inch-barreled pistol in 1959 as the Model 39.

In 1960, the U.S. Army Marksmanship Training Unit was so impressed with the performance of the Model 39, it requested that Smith & Wesson produce a similar model chambered for a proprietary cartridge it had developed, the .38 AMU, which was little more than the .38 Spl. Mid-Range wadcutter load but using a semirimless case. The new pistol was designated as the Model 52A, and approximately 90 pistols were delivered. They were used by the Army's pistol team for a short time.

S&W saw possibilities for this type of pistol, and in 1961, the company released it on the commercial market as the Model 52. It was similar to the Army pistol, except it was fitted with a longer, 5-inch barrel, used a setscrew to lock out the double-action option on the trigger, and it was chambered for the standard .38 Spl. Mid-Range wadcutter cartridge.

The company saw the Model 52 as the target pistol of the future, and great pains were taken to ensure quality. The company wanted to make sure it was the most accurate out-of-the-box target pistol available to the American shooter. One of the most prominent design features was the barrel shape, in that it increased in diameter at the muzzle so as to lock into a special threaded bushing that was screwed into the front of the slide and secured in place by a spring-loaded plunger. The setup removed all play in the barrel.