.052 is huge unless you're burning together 3/4" plate all day. General purpose I actually prefer .030 but my last roll was .035 and was alright, went back to .030 though as most of my projects are under 1/4". The Pipeworx machines we have at the shop have 2 guns, .035 and .045, and quite frankly the .045 sucks unless over 3/8" carbon with a large gap to fill- the .035 melts in much better for your regular old lap joints and fillet welds. For what ya save on the wire, you'll spend that savings on rollers and tips. I wouldn't risk it myself unless you're doing nothing but heavy projects