bit ago my son in law picked up a nice model52 at an attractive price (if that exists for a 52) anyway he is having the 3rd rd in the mag hanging up and stovepiping. he has replace the mag spring and recoil spring but the problem exists, but only on the 3rd round told him to check for a mag dent or follower problem,still no good anybody got an idea

could it be how he is loading that case.

With the Rim 38 case to do they have to be loaded with the rims orientated properly.

Just guessing.

I don't think so . The mag follower tilts the wadcutter round on such a steep angle .

Install the standard weight recoil spring &/or magazine spring & your S&W Mdl 52 will feed/ run like a swiss watch.

Not sure if it's fixed yet but I've been thinking about what your sons experience is with wadcutter sand if he's using new or mixed old brass . Mine was never picky but now some imported brass will not always function .
As soon as I load a mag with older Winchester brass , no problems . The bevel on the back of the Serbian rim isn't as pronounced.
As suggested , new springs are a yearly must for mine . I do shoot it .

I was having issues like that with mine, seems the magazine front feed lips had opened a bit from all the use, smith knows about this issue soft magazine shells on some. I had to squeeze them together a bit, its a bit of trial and error to get it right. Use a good functioning magazine to measure the opening, if you go to much cartridge will stick down ,if they are too wide cartridge rim that ejects catches next round and stovepipes it. aaron