P64 from AIM VZ50 from Century both arrived today!

[ol' scratch]

I ordered both last week. The P64 is amazing. I don't think the pistol has ever been fired. It has a chrome-lined barrel and only a little bluing loss near the muzzle. The import mark is pretty small and well done. It almost appears to be original to the pistol. The double action trigger pull is as bad as everyone says it is. I will be getting a set of Wolf springs. The fit and finish on this little pistol is very nice. It also came with two mags, holster and cleaning rod. Very nice pistol. The VZ50 was not as nice. The little pistol has seen lots of use and seems to have some pitting in the bore. It is not as well made as the Polish gun either. It is still very serviceable, however. It is also bigger and shoots a less potent round.

All in all, I am happy with both pistols. I am just really impressed by the quality of the Polish gun. If you have been thinking about getting one, the price at AIM is great and you get accessories too.

 

[Snowdog]

That great! I'm glad you're happy with your P64. I know I am with mine.

Just wait until you shoot it. It doesn't have the most pleasant recoil (you'll probably not want to shoot more than a couple boxes per range visit), but the accuracy is phenomenal for such a diminutive pistol.

How's the trigger pull on the CZ-50? I've been looking at both the CZ-50 and CZ-70 for a few years but never had a chance to personally inspect one. I'd imagine the double action is lighter than the that of the P64, but how heavy would you say it it?

 

[ol' scratch]

It is kind of gritty and still pretty tough. I would say around 20 pounds. The single action is really nice. When you dry fire this little pistol, it seems to rattle. The grips are uncomfortable and it feels like you are handling a block of wood. There is also some peening on the frame I didn't notice until I tore the thing down. In my opinion, the P64 is ten times the pistol for this price point.

 

[mgmorden]

How much did the Vz50 cost you? I sent my C&R into Century a while back but they never got it, and I haven't bothered to resend so I haven't been able to see the prices on those.

 

[ol' scratch]

It was $220.87 total after shipping.

 

[chhodge69]

What does the "IO INC MONROE, NC" stamp mean? That caught my eye because I live just a few miles from there.

 

[mgmorden]

What does the "IO INC MONROE, NC" stamp mean? That caught my eye because I live just a few miles from there.

That's the importer mark. IO, INC is Inter Ordnance Incorporated. They import a lot of the surplus guns that come in. Century tends to import most of their own stuff (usually indicated as "CAI" on their import marks).

There are several other outfits that are big into it too. All of them have to have an import mark etched onto the gun when it comes in. It's usually applied in a rather cheap and unattractive method, so IMHO it's good if they try to hide it rather than put it blatantly on the slide like that. Best place IMHO is on the underside of the frame directly forward of the trigger-guard.

 

[broken]

i had a p64 it was a good shooter,friend still has it, but i have a 1980 mfg ,vzor 70,.cz70 now like new,fits my hand better, i know its a smaller caliber but the gun is built as nice as my p64 was they are dandy little guns..32 acp is fun,fiochi or s/b is good ammo.

 

[ol' scratch]

The VZOR70 is basically a different gun than MY VZOR50. The VZOR70 is CZ manufactured at Ceska Zbrojovka Uhersky Brod. They are one of the finest manufacturers of firearms in history as far as I am concerned. I have a CZ82 and a CZ75B. Both are great pistols and the fit and finish rivals many pistols that cost twice as much. My VZOR50 pistol was made at the Strakonice factory. I think there may be a difference in production. Maybe they had better control later in production too. I know that there are many machine marks on the pistol and my Polish gun doesn't have those. If the pistol has a serial number in the 740000 range, it is a Strakonice produced pistol. My pistol is not a CZ. I really think that it makes a difference.

 

[broken]

my brother has a pa63 and me the cz70,i know their not walthers, but i call them our james bond guns,both reliable.

 

[vellocet]

Thanks for the heads-up on the vz50. I was thinking of getting one but now I'll wait. Too bad, I really like czech guns. You can never really tell with Century; one thing I have always noticed is that other wholesalers usually have the same thing for as much or less.

 

[Twmaster]

Dang. That's sad to see. I was fixing to order a CZ50 later this week.

 

[whetrock]

Those P64's may have a rough trigger pull but they sure do look nifty I dunno I'm a sucker for anything that is Milsurp and under 300 bucks.

 

[Snowdog]

Do it, whetrock. The P64 trigger is an interesting one; the double action is practically an example of the worst while the single action is an example of the best.
The SA trigger on mine is about 4 pounds, possible a bit less with absolutely no creep.

Unless you absolutely must have the first shot be in DA mode, just treat it like a single action and you'll likely be impressed with how accurate these little pistols are.
If the first shot must be double action, there are spring kits available.

There's a quality to the P64 which isn't all too common with military surplus. When inspecting mine, I detect a sense of pride that went into its manufacture; no corners were cut when it comes to fit and finish. I understand most P64s are made the same way.

Edited to show the finish my P64 came with. The pistol I received looked like it just came off the showroom shelf (paid handpick fee for at specific year though, which I received).

 

[Ash]

"VZOR70 is basically a different gun than MY VZOR50"

Not really. The truth is, the VZ-70 is really nothing more than a VZ-50 with different grips and markings. CZ-UB began producing the VZ-50 once Strakonice was closed before "upgrading it" to the VZ-70. The UB-produced 50's have letter/number serial number combinations. The Strakonice (or Praha) produced 50's have six-number serial numbers. When UB introduced the 70, it was really nothing more than a cosmetic/name change to increase sales (after all, a model 70 is newer than a model 50). A significant portion of VZ-70's are just rebuilt VZ-50's. Any VZ-70 with a six-number serial number is built on an older VZ-50 frame.

In the photo above, the VZ-50 is wearing VZ-70 grips.

 

[AK103K]

I have one of the 70's brought in by CAI about 10 years back. They are well made guns, but a bit heavy for their size.

Mine came with the grips shown in ol' scratch's pic, which as Ash noted, are 70 grips. I replaced mine with the 50's grips, as I prefer the look and feel of them. The contour of the 50 grips is smoother, and lack the "hump".

The DA trigger on my 70 is one of the "two finger" type. You need "both" trigger fingers to get it to drop. The SA trigger is actually very nice. I tried fiddling with and clipping main springs to get it to lighten up, but to no avail. I did find (well, it actually just fell out when I took the spring out ) some sort of mag retaining plate while doing so, and since its been left out, the mags now drop free.

I fear the mags may be an issue. Mine came with two, neither of which would feed with more than three rounds in the mag. I found a couple of fixes over on the CZ site, that helped somewhat, but the real problem ended up being real simple, and the mag springs.

I also bought a couple of "new" mags from Marstar of Canada. They were not "new", and they had the same problem.

Luckily, Wolff has springs, and they are a cheap fix.

All in all though, still cool little guns, that even well worn, still have that old world quality pouring out of every pore.

 

[ol' scratch]

"VZOR70 is basically a different gun than MY VZOR50"

Not really. The truth is, the VZ-70 is really nothing more than a VZ-50 with different grips and markings. CZ-UB began producing the VZ-50 once Strakonice was closed before "upgrading it" to the VZ-70. The UB-produced 50's have letter/number serial number combinations. The Strakonice (or Praha) produced 50's have six-number serial numbers. When UB introduced the 70, it was really nothing more than a cosmetic/name change to increase sales (after all, a model 70 is newer than a model 50). A significant portion of VZ-70's are just rebuilt VZ-50's. Any VZ-70 with a six-number serial number is built on an older VZ-50 frame.

In the photo above, the VZ-50 is wearing VZ-70 grips.

When I said different gun, I meant it was made at a different factory and thus doesn't exhibit the finer quality I have seen on UB made guns. The CZ's made by UB seems to be of better quality, or at least those I have seen.

 

[Ash]

Interestingly enough, the majority of CZ-70's I have encountered were actually Strakonice-made and rebuilt to model 70 standards at CZ-UB. Strakonice made all 50's in 1950 and 1951 (okay, CZ-Praha also made them). Then came CZ-52 production, which was the last made at Strakonice. The first pistol that CZ-UB made was the CZ-50, which used a different serial number system (alpha-numeric) as well as a different way of stamping the slides.

Here is a Strakonice-built cz-50

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=239763593

Here is a Uhersky Brod-made CZ-50.

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=239762740

Here is a Strakonice CZ-70 (refurbed and rebuilt at CZ-UB to CZ-70 standards).

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=240020564

In any case, to each his own. I always preferred the Strakonice-produced pistols (even though I am a big CZ fan, and CZ-UB is what brought us the CZ-75).

 

[broken]

hey can someone tell me something,i was comparing my 70 to ol scratches in his picture and noticed my frame is two piece around the trigger, or my frame is broke.where the pin goes into the trigger from under slide is a crack that zigzags alongside the trigger to under the grip is this normal.thanks. disregard my question,looked up pictures of cz70"s on gunbroker they all have this sideplate.

 

[Ash]

Yeah, that is how you can access the trigger group. It is accessed via a nut under the grip. It's a neat way to get at things (including doing a good cleaning without detail stripping).

 

[vellocet]

Getting back to the original subject of the thread, I would not pay 220.00 for a beat-up .32 czech pistol, and I love czech pistols. Though I must admit, they were "good" condition as shown in those low-resolution, questionable pictures. Thanks again for the heads-up.

 

[Ash]

I didn't realize the CZ-50 was not part of the original subject of the thread. Must have overlooked it.

 

[stonecutter2]

I love my P64 from AIM so far! Very nice pistol. Yes, the double action requires some strength, but I don't think it's unbearable, just something to get used to. I will likely replace my springs anyways, just to ensure the gun operates correctly (don't know it's history) but I might just get stock springs. The grips seems comfortable to me, but i'm considering getting some Marschal grips just because they look really nice and you can pretty much custom order exactly what you want in a grip.

I did the handpick and got a 1976 one Very minor wear near muzzle, from the leather holster I'd imagine. Mags are well used but not abused, and electropenciled to match the serial #. Cleaning rod is well used as well, but I think it's nifty that it sits in the holster in a leather slot.

My family is Polish, so it's really amazing to be able to have a pistol from the "old country" that is part of Poland's history - and a service holster to go with it!

 

[broken]

well at the gunshow the cz70"s were going for 225.00 and he sold six,they were like new including mine.on gunbroker they"re from 180.00 up, plus shipping and ffl charge.and those have a lot of finish wear.blueing on mine is realy nice for a 1980 pistol.

 

[Snowdog]

I did the handpick and got a 1976 one .

It was a great year, for sure!