[Apple a Day]

Man, am I aggravated.
I bought a refurbished CZ-52 recently (refinished with bluing rather than the old 'green' finish) for no other reason that I couldn't find one in the original finish in good shape. I bought it as a fun gun and to add to my little group of eastern european military pistols/oddities.

Appearance:The CZ-52 with a new finish is like putting a pig in a dress. It isn't quite as ugly as it used to be but, well, it's still a pig. But some people like pigs and I happen to like surplus eastern european pistols, so I got it. The finish is pretty good but there are still lots of tool marks and such to give the gun character.

Comfort: easy as pie. I was expecting a lot more recoil and noise after hearing stories or the powerful 7.62x25mm cartridge. It was nice and comfortable, though... a lot easier on my hands and head than a .357 magnum. I have big hands so gripping wasn't an issue. The action smoothes the recoil and it tended to push back rather than flip up. It was fun to shoot. Lots of flash!

Accuracy: I set out a target at 25 feet and banged off some rounds just to get a feel for the range and point of aim versus point of impact. POI was a few inches below POA but horizontally it was dead center. Same thing at 50 feet. It only took an extra magazine to adjust and start putting them all in the black (3 inch diameter target) at 25 feet using both hands in a Weaver stance. At 50" they were all in the target area (8" target) but more like 5" or 6" spread, still mostly vertical. I'm not a great shot by any means and wasn't benchresting or taking particular care with regards to technique. I was aiming more to have fun and break the gun in.
It's not what I would call super accurate but worthy of a fun gun.

Function: Here's where it broke my heart. I had several light hammer strikes going through ~120 rounds. I brought 210 with me but didn't get all the way through and I'll expain why in a minute. As for the light strikes, I'm not sure if I had hard primers or if I have a weak hammer spring. The cartridge always fired on the second pull... always. The ammo I was using was surplus Russian (Ithink) which came in packs of 70, brass cased. That was survivable for a fun gun.
Then, disaster struck- somehow the extractor pin worked its way out and the extractor went walkabout. I found the extractor pin on the ground but the extractor and spring were nowhere to be found. The pin's bluing is marred on one end but intact on the tip, so I don't believe it sheared off, just worked out. I cleaned the gun pretty well before I took it to the range but didn't remove the extractor assembly. It may be that the preservative oil lubed it enough for the pin to escape. I'm just irritated about the whole thing.
Oh, well. Back into the locker it goes until I come up with some new parts and decide to fix it.

[Erich]

Bummer. I've seen good CZ52s, and I've seen bad ones. More good than bad. You're just not having luck, between this and your PA-63 grips.

(Get a Polish Tok! Your luck has to change!)

[Apple a Day]

I looked at a Polish Tok and almost got it instead. I might have to consider adding one to the collection.
I will forgive the CZ and consider this just part of the breaking in period. It shot really well before the bloody pin came out! I think if I can replace it and maybe get a stronger hammer spring it should be a nice shooter. Anybody have suggestions on how to prevent the pin on an extractor from coming out again? Is Lok-Tite a good idea or too much of a good thing? Should I scratch off the bluing on the replacement if it has it? I've never had to worry about the pins before and am clueless. If nothing else, I will remember to check the pin's seating every couple of magazines.

[erem]

I picked up a CZ-52 back in March. First time I took it to the range, two pins on the reciever (the large one through the slide lock, and the smaller one through the trigger) came out, and the pistol pretty much came apart in my hand. Several other CZ-52 owners told me that they'd had similar problems. I took it back to where I bought it, and the gunsmith there replaced them with visibly larger pins. I haven't had any problems with the extractor pin, but if you do replace that one, you might wanna consider replacing the others, as well.
-erem

[Bren]

How many dot's do you have on the slide?

Anyway, with the pins try stakeing them or try roll pins or oversized ones. I never had a problem with My 52.

Also the Tok's aren't as strong for that round and will break over time, the 9mm's are ok. Bren

[George Hill]

Sounds like you could have a broken firing pin too.

[JohnKSa]

Couple of things.

Check the firing pin as mentioned.

There was some ammo sold awhile back for a pretty good deal in red plastic boxes. The primers were very hard in this ammo and it wouldn't work in many guns.

Sounds like someone messed with that pin during the refurbish. I've never heard of that particular malfunction with these pistols.

[Ewok_Guy]

I've had the same luck with the 70 rnd boxes (think its Yugo).
About 10 duds per lot. Definitely stay away from it, try S&B when you get it fixed, its been 100% reliable for me.

[Apple a Day]

Thanks for the info, all.
The firing pin is fine. My first thought when I heard that noise was ,"Oh, crap, the firing pin broke!" I checked it immediately. I am going to take it back to the dealer and see if they will give me some new pins/ a new extractor. If not then I will just order them online.
Cheers,
Apple

[Destructo6]

There's a lot of surplus 7.62x25 ammo out there with incredibly hard primers. The stuff that came on 10-rnd stripper clips always hung for a second in my CZ-52. S&B and most other surplus ran very well. I'd blame it on the ammo until you have an opportunity to try it with stuff you know is good.

[George Hill]

If the pin hasn't broke yet, it will.
The 52 is an interesting enough gun to keep around. It's worth upgrading, it really is.
I'd get the aftermarket "Match" firing pin, maybe a stronger spring for the hammer, and make some custom grips for it. Blued? Interesting. Post some pics of it if you can. I'd like to see that. I've never seen one blued.

[Bren]

Mine was a mat blued model, someone along the line blued batches of them instead of the park finish, thats why I want to know haow many dots, mine had three which ment it was refurbished/arsonalled 3 times.

The FP's can break but you can buy stonger ones.

The decocker can fail and these guns can go off when they wear down.

The surpluss ammo is corrosive so use some ammonia and water 4-1 right after shooting it or use Butches bore shine.

There is one brand of commercial KABOOM ammo out there and you know by split cases, I think it was marked 52 or52 with a star. Look at the mak sight, the info is on there.

The aftermarket rollers were soft but I think they fixed that.

CDNN sold wood grips real cheap and they have some sharp checkering but look better.

Hope this helps. Bren

[Sven]

Pictures!

..please?

[Apple a Day]

Okay, here goes an attempt at posting a pic. Note: the resolution isn't enough to pick out the markings but I used MSPAINT to scrub them off anyway. :neener: I'll take a couple more from different angles when the kids are napping instead of crawling all over me.
Okay, MSN is having problems. Many thanks to Sven for hosting the pics for me while I try to unscrew my regular web page. Here are pics of the pistol, the barrel with rollers, and the first target I shot using the pistol. Enjoy
http://www.imageseek.com/cz52/Cz-52.gif
http://www.imageseek.com/cz52/Cz52-3.gif
http://www.imageseek.com/cz52/Cz52-6.gif

[JohnKSa]

If the pin hasn't broke yet, it will.
Actually, the pins are quite durable if you don't dryfire. If you dryfire, they break in short order.

[Apple a Day]

Can anybody see the picture? This thing is actin' screwy. I think I got it this time. If it isn't coming up then PM me.

[Ewok_Guy]

It works now. Wheres the background? :p
John's right about pins. My original FP has fired well over 2K rounds and is still going strong. The trick is to not dry fire.
Seems I dont even need the stainless steel replacement I bought.
If it aint broke, why fix it?

[Apple a Day]

I took that pic by tossing a white sheet of printer paper on a chair and then the pistol on top of the paper. Once I played with the brightness and contrast settings it's hard to see the paper. You can see a wee bit of a shadow just to the right of the safety.

[Tropical Z]

All i get is a red X.Maybe it would post as an attachment you click to open?

[Sven]

Email or PM me with the photo and I'll post it for ya!

[Apple a Day]

Sorry, guys and gals,
The website which hosts the pic is down at the moment. I am waiting to upload more pics of the innards and target(s). When they come back I will update.
Svan, much obliged! I will send you a couple or three.

[Apple a Day]

Sven has hosted some pics for me while my regular site isn't working. Check the updated pics above while I cuss and work on the other files.
Thanks, Sven!

[Tropical Z]

I got em this time!
I LOVE 52's.In fact im picking up my third today!!!:D

[Gewehr98]

My extractor pin started easing itself out of it's hole after a couple magazines of shooting. Couple drops of red Loctite and it's stayed in place ever since.

I haven't broken my firing pin yet, just over 1000 rounds of surplus ammo and my own handloads using Starline brass. I don't dry fire the gun, and I did buy a spare replacement firing pin, just in case.

I don't use the decocker function of the safety, mine doesn't completely stop the firing pin when it drops the hammer, which to me is a bad idea when you're trying to make the weapon more safe...

What I did do was ditch the bakelite grips in favor of some walnut Hogues:

http://mauser98.com/cz52rightsmallplonk.jpg

[Hand_Rifle_Guy]

I bought my CZ-52 in '95. It was my first handgun. It's probably eaten 2000 rounds or more. It always worked, except for failing to go into battery on some of those cheeseball surplus rounds with the split necks.

Plenty accurate. I shoot it at 100 yards and can harrass 2-litres with it. The dinky sights actually help for that.

It shoots a bit low, but dead on center.

The pins stay put, but the sideplate nut works loose sometimes. (A sideplate? On an autopistol?)

Trigger pull's great. Decocker still works fine. (I had it for a year before I even KNEW it de-cocked.)

The roller recesses in the slide are SLIGHTLY peened. They weren't when I got the gun, but got that way after a couple hundred rounds, and then stopped.

I think I need a new recoil spring. Mine's a bit kinked, (It came that way.) and it acts a little sluggish sometimes.

When I got the gun, all it had were some holster marks in the green finish. The slide was un-peened, the feed ramp handn't a mark on it, (Now it has a nice copper racing stripe.) it was completely clean inside, even the slide-contact points on the frame were still gray. It came in a box marked "very good plus", for $140.

I started feeding it Norinco Yellow-box 7.62 Tokarev ammo for $6/60. That's the Stuff that Klintoon banned importation of because it goes through body armor. Copper-washed steel case, copper-plated steel jacket, it's a little inconsistent as the loudness/flash varies some, but the gun always liked it and never choked.

It always drew inquiries at the range, as it has an impressive blast and 1-foot diameter fireballs. At the indoor range, the bullets would splash into sparks on the bullet trap. It's the only gun I've seen do that. No-one knew what it was, but they're a little better understood now. I guess I got on the bandwagon early. When I got arrested (I'm sorry, "detained".) on suspicion of being suspicious with my 52 in the trunk of the car, (Picked up 2 days earlier after the Kaliforny 10 days on ice. Grrr.) the Sheriff had no clue what it was, and was mighty suspicious of it's lack of a maker's logo. "CZ", even my mangled pronunciation of "Ceska Zbrojovka" and "It's a surplus Soviet military gun" didn't clear things up, despite the presence of the original sales receipt in the case with it.

I tried to research the gun's history at the local library trying to locate ballistic specifications, but information was very scarce. That's fairly typical of guns from behind the iron Curtain. I found one picture of it in one book that said only that it was Czechoslovakian military issue, and noted the caliber's origin from 7.63 Mauser.

The only other reference I found was a listing in The Standard Catalog of Firearms from 1985, which listed the value of a "very good to excellent" condition gun at $1500! :what: :D I guess before the big supply arrived, seeing these guns outside of the Soviet Union was really rare! That made me VERY happy about my purchase, as any gun valued THAT highly could not have been any sort of substandard crap despite it's slightly rough exterior. The fact that it had passed the rigorous testing that all military guns receive that I'd just been reading about while learning about my new hobby (Guns in general. This was gun #4.) also helped confirm the 52's outstanding good-deal value.

I got it for ten cents on the dollar. There's got to be a group of collectors somplace who are just STEAMED that their "difficult to obtain, rarely seen, unusual-design Eastern Bloc Military pistol" is now available for basically free. The lack of an import stamp is just not going to cover it. I like reading about other folks "discovering" these guns for the first time and finding out what I did 8 years ago. I'm still surprised more people haven't jumped at the chance to buy these guns that used to sell handily for ten times their current price.

I bought it because I liked the look of it. I've always wanted a PPK a la James Bond, but they were going for about a grand. The 52 looked like a PPK on steroids, and the price was amazing. Now I know a LOT more about all sorts of guns, but I still don't have a PPK. (I bought a PA-63 instead. It fills the niche.) I found out about the unique action, the high-intensity cartridge, the amazingly flat thinness for a full-size service gun, the slick no-sharp-corners/edges feel of the gun that lets it slide into tight pockets like it was oiled and a lot smaller, and the surprising durability and accuracy through all the ammo I could afford until the supply dried up because of Klintoon's anti-gun politics.

This is the gun that I initialy learned to shoot a handgun with, although my proficeincy should be credited to my Colt .22 Auto by virtue of round-count. Trigger control, sight alignment, and grip rigidity practiced through a couple thousand rounds of ".30 Czech Magnum" at 100 yards made for a fun learning curve. I'll never sell it. I need another one. I need a couple, actually, for projects. Got some dangerous plans involving 9mm bullets, .223 brass, and hard chrome.

But first I need a firing pin. Mine FINALLY broke! :o :neener: :o ;)

[George Hill]

Gewehr98 - nice grips... Good looking 52.

[JohnKSa]

Before the wall fell, these guns were very rare in the U.S. and the value in the older "blue book" type references was very high.

A collector friend of mine recalls seeing two collectors come to blows at a gun show over one.

I imagine the collectors were SICK when they started seeing them turn up for only $120.

[Uncle Jaque]

Well Ahoy there, fellow CZ-52 Fans!

I've been around Gunboards.com and Parallax
http://pub109.ezboard.com/bparallaxscurioandrelicfirearmsforums
for quite some time, but am fairly new to this board.

I gave in a got my CZ-52 on my C&R FFL about last November, and have been having an interesting time with it.

for one thing, a lot of the milsurp 7.62X25 ammo was loaded for submachine guns and has notoriously "hard" primers, so the misfire rates you had are not unusual. It varies by country of origin and lot, but almost all of it is problematic to some extent.

the accuracy you are gitting is pretty good - some people report excellent accuracy, others not so hot. Mine is in the latter category, but I am finding that it takes a different hold and trigger management than my .45, and takes some getting used to.

My bore also slugs a little oversize - .310", so reloading with appropriately sized bullets might help.

the wandering pins are also endemic with this pistol - particularly the trigger pin. You are the second one I have heard of who has had an extractor "walk" out on them.

Installation of a Federal competition firing pin has improved my trigger pull immensely, and a 16.5 # recoil spring from Makarov.com seems to reduce the "battering" of the mechanism somewhat, and small parts, pins etc. seem less inclined to come loose or fall off when all that jarring is softened a bit.
It also keeps my ejected casings within a half-acre plot so I don't have to hike too far to police them up.

I'll try to paste some of my favorite online resources for the CZ-52 here to share with you all:



http://www.gswagner.com/cz52/cz52pin.html

http://members.fortunecity.com/oldvalkyry/cz52page.html

http://www.makarov.com/cz52/

http://buymilitaria.com/cz52_html/czech_cz52_pistol.htm

http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Gorge/4653/czech.html

http://www.weareguns.com/cz52pist.html

http://www.bobtuley.com/cz-52/

Also: about that Bulgarian milsurp ammo we need to avoid:
http://www.geocities.com/Yosemite/Gorge/4653/bad.htm

The CZ-52 is certainly an interesting piece of machineary, and a lot of fun to blaze away with too!

[Apple a Day]

Thanks, Uncle Jaque,
I did a little research on the ammo in Janes Infantry Weapons and the little cardboard boxes packs of 70 aren't Yugoslavian, they're Serbian. The ones I have are stamped with a little pi and then a little row (looks like a lower-case r) and the year of manufacture, in this case 1957. Manufacturer: Igman Zavod, Kragujevac.

[firestar]

What is beginning to make the most sense to me in this mystery is a suggestion by one Keith W on the C&R FFL forum (August 1998) that these ''dots'' are the results of metal hardness tests done upon rehab of the firearms simply to check the integrity of the metal and to test for metal fatigue! -kirbyTheOG

Now I am confused! Does anyone really know the meaning behind the dots? Mine has three dots and seems to have been re-worked in 1975.