[ZeSpectre]

Some days I swear I was a soviet bloc soldier in a past life :neener:

First time I handled an SKS I was in love. First time I handled a CZ-52 it was the same thing and I knew I'd get one eventually. So I'm picking up my first CZ-52 tonight and since I fully plan to make it a "project" gun I'm interested to see what (if anything) others have done to "spiffy" them up.

My first thoughts are an aftermarket firing pin and some nice wood grips. The guy I'm buying it from keeps hinting about "duracoat" as well.

So okay folks, let's see what'cha got :D

[Harry Paget Flashman]

I wish I had a camera. I got of one of those hard chrome CZ 52's from Classic Arms, Inc. and added some blond wood grips. Kind of like putting a tuxedo on a pig. I see one of their HC Mosin Nagant's in my future too.

[ZeSpectre]

Kind of like putting a tuxedo on a pig
Yeah probably, but it just seems like a blank canvas I could do something with.

[bear71]

You gotta love Commie guns, they're pretty good shooters and dirt cheap! I have two SKSs myself. I'll get a CZ52 soon, wish I had been on the ball a couple years back when the hand select models with the holster and accessories were around $125.00.

Any CZ52 experts that could give advice on which model to select, I understand some have black stocks, some brown, some great condition models, some dogs.

[nwilliams]

This might give you some inspiration I know when I saw it I wanted one. Although I'm not sure about the color choice.

http://www.surplusrifle.com/reviews2005/duracoat/index.asp

The way I see it for the price of a 52 why not get one, or two....

[dstorm1911]

Bear71, there is only one model, the black parkerized ones are later re-arsenaled the grey is the original Parkerizing, ALL of them are used, I've got 4 from when they were first imported with the super tiny VT century stamp 2 are original grey park the other two are the black park, there was only one grip ever used its a brown bakelite anything else is aftermarket,

That said, there is an excellent bargain in Czech made wood grips (they were never issued with them these were made later for federal arms corp) if ya go to the Century website and do a search for CZ52 one item that will come up is part of the old FAC inventory a set of checkered wood grips for $19.99 in order to order them though ya will need a minimum $75 order no problem if ya also want ammo just order a case and your over the minimum or get some others to go in on an order with ya. They also have the long lost slide stop with external lever for $19.99 using one will require trimming the left grip at the top some.

One of mine I customized, I've been working on guns for 38 years and its sometimes hard to resist the urg to improve some, the CZ52 trigger is notoriously heavy for a single action so it hadda be cleaned up some, This particular gun has a stainless barrel, stippled front and back strap, custom rubber black grips, A milled slide stop, I milled the slide with dovetailed front sight slot and barstow cut for rear sight so it could get Sig adjustable night sights and one of these days it'll get re-parked (it was one of the black ones) then the slide with be moly resined flat black with a OD Green frame all controls flat black.

The barrels are no longer being made, I got 4 that were the last Sportsmans guide had via their liquidation store while in St Paul MN. a good deal as they were half off outa the liquidation center, I've kept all 4 original serial number matched barrels although the two black parked ones had slightly pitted bores, the custom gun will easily shoot 1.5" at 25 yards all day long the other 3 are 2.5" to 3" guns, if ya do a google search for CZ52 ya'll find an artical I wrote some years ago on how to correctly re-work the trigger on these guns over the years many have followed the instructions to make some very sweet shooters, its also been posted several times on gunboards.com in the czech weapons section...


They are a great gun, but be aware to check that the drop safty is working, DO NOT TRUST IT untill ya can check it, I don't have time at the moment to explain the test proceedure its simple and if nobody chimes in by the time I log back on I'll post instructions..

[ZeSpectre]

dstorm1911,
Thanks for the tips. Know about checking the interrupter safety (and not using the decocker), thanks.

nwilliams,
Looked at that Duracoat article and suddenly thought to myself that outfitting a gun in the colors of the Czech Republic Army might be amusing (maybe put the coat of arms on the grips). Don't know if I'll do it but it might be a fun project.

[CZF]

PICS?? We want some pics!..

Because of the CZF CLUB 52, I have been wanting a nice CZ52 for some time now. Tax Return looks to be the way to do it. The guns look to have risen in price in the last year. Is $225 from a Dealer a bad price??

[bear71]

Thanks for taking the time to craft your very detailed post, dstorm. Very informative!

[brentwal]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v491/brentwal/cz52.jpg

1954

[Thylacine]

http://members.cox.net/thylacine/Graphics/CZ52.jpg
1954

[ZeSpectre]

Boy, I thought for sure somebody would post some uber-tricked up CZ by now :neener:

[tinygnat219]

This isn't mine, but Classicarms.us puts these together. Kind of a travesty IMHO, but there are folks who like this.

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