Right - "vz" stands for "vzor", which means "model". The Czechs had the vz52 pistol and the vz52 rifle, just like the US had the M1 rifle and M1 Carbine.
Basically, roller locked guns use the rollers just as round locking lugs, requiring some external force to unlock (short recoil, in this case). Roller-delayed blowback designs use a carefully-calculated wedge design to split recoil force in the receiver and the barrel, thus slowing down how fast the breech opens. I did a video called "Last Ditch Innovation" that looks at both systems in detail on two prototype late-war German rifles. That video will give you a better description.
I'm sure Ian isn't looking at these old video's comments but I'll just say this: it's remarkable how much more comfortable Ian is in front of the camera now verses during this video, 2013. This isn't bad but he's really improved as a presenter. Keep it up!
In a nutshell, recoil operated designs rely on part of the gun (usually the frame or receiver) remaining in place (held by you, or by a tripod) while the recoil force from firing pushes a second part of the gun (usually the barrel and bolt) backwards. This allows the breech to stay locked while the internal part is moving backwards. Once it has moved a certain distance, the breech will unlock and the empty case will be ejected.
Dunno why people call this an ugly gun, I think it's sleek and beautiful, and I hate the way most semi-automatics look. It's like a Makarov's big brother.
Like a Makarov's better looking big brother. Considering when it was designed, I think it looked futuristic back then, which makes it an interesting artifact of the style of those times. I generally prefer revolvers to autoloaders, but that's not to say I dislike the latter. I think I'd like to have one of these.
This was the first handgun I'd purchased, mine was made in 53 and had only been lightly used. Just a couple things you forgot to mention Ian. The pistols have a decocker on the safety, push up and it decocks, it can be harsh on your thumb because the safety snaps down on actuation and there have been some reported failures of the mechanism. There is something akin (but not actually) to a transfer-bar safety, like that of the Series 80 1911's from Colt, the feature plays into the aforementioned decocker. Another is a quirky inconsistency, given the general high quality work that goes into Czech firearms. The firing pins are cast from relatively cheap/brittle steel and can break upon repeated dry-fire, I found this out the hard way but there are aftermarket options that not only fix the problem but enhance the overall performance of the gun.
Clinton Of Donald lets not forget the dot punches on the slide to show the accuracy from one surplus CZ52-to another ‘Kinda a ratings system” , I too would enjoy an updated doc from Ian , I have the after market pins as well ,,in AZ
Apparently the decocker isn't the most reliable thing ever. Due to age and/or design and manufacturing flaws, some 52s have a tendency to fire when being decocked. There are aftermarket kits to fix the problem. I found this out while researching the gun before buying one.
i never had a problem shooting one. and back when ammo was really cheap we blasted a lot with these things. the firing pins are brittle and dry firing WILL break them. after market ones are still available. i agree,its a great design. how about that breakdown?
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine - It was standard Soviet era design. Simple, durable, and did the job well. In other words, very well engineered for the needs of the time. Give it to someone poorly trained, where it won't be maintained well, but have it still work.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine do you own one of these or have any extensive experience firing one? I ask this because I do own one and it is extremely reliable and in my opinion one of the best shooting pistols I have had the pleasure of shooting. Maybe I got ahold of a good one and it doesn't represent the majority except for the 20 or so that one friend of mine has owned over the past 30 years as well as the one that my younger brother had also preformed flawlessly so I would really like to understand where you are coming from and what personal experience you have with these pistols.
@@edwalmsley1401 Agreed. I still think mine looks cool though. There is something sharklike. On the other hand I bought an Astra 400 too because I thought it looked like a science fiction prop. No accounting for taste I guess. CZ-52 shoots well if you use proper ammo for it. S&B makes some but the steel surplus out there is for sub-guns and will blow up a 52.
@@Miata822 - That's incorrect. Surplus Czech 7.62x25 ammunition will blow a Tokarev, but the CZ-52 can take pretty much anything on the market. The Czechs decided to use the same powder charge for the pistol and sub-machine guns, supposedly. I use surplus Romanian ammo :)
@@tbelding I've read various owner reports of damaged barrels using the full power ammo. Used to say the same as you until a forum member took a rockwell hardness meter to several barrels and found numbers all over the place. This from many years ago so I don't have a link.
@@Miata822 - Remember that design and implementation are very different. The design is built for robustness. However, the construction could be plagued by 'Monday hangover' class work by the not well recompensed workers. I have three of them, and have not only had no issues with the barrels, the decockers are all fully functional.
I bought one years ago when the pistols were first available in the U.S. ---- paid $125 for it including the military holster and extra mag. I wouldn't describe it as a "fairly" high-velocity pistol; this thing is vicious. To me it compares with an M1 Carbine pistol. I couldn't shoot in at the local indoor range because the muzzle blast keep shattering the fluorescent lights over each shooting position. I bought a set of dies and generally reload the beast down to 9mm Luger pressures and velocities which make it much better behaved, and the action still functions just fine. A word to the wise is that the cast firing pin breaks regularly with dry-firing; I replaced mine with a quality steel one a long time ago. There's also some pink boxed surplus subgun ammo which has blown these pistols up. I bought a large quantity of these hi-pressured loads and pulled the bullets to find 10-grains of a mystery ball powder inside. I reseated the bullets over only 7-grains of this powder and the rounds are now safe for this pistol.
My old man had one, but had a 9x19 barrel in it due to the fact that the original ammo was just messing up the shooting range a little bit too much. And the mining machines like a mile behind the range.
I had the pleasure to pick up one of these practically new for $250 in 2020. Pristine holster with spare magazine and cleaning rod. And a helpful disassembly tip is that the magazine baseplate is intended to help remove the barrel and spring from the slide with a notch cut into the barrel.
Am I the only one who was disappointed when he didn't wink and nod at the camera when he said, "I'll begin by CZECHING, to make sure the gun is unloaded"
Love mine and as a .45 owner I am amazed at the damage this gun does to what you shoot with it. Really Loud report inside the range shack made several people cluster around to see what was making the deafing noise over their guns. Blowing huge chunks of the range target backstop into the bream. My youtube photo shows me aiming at the camera with one.
I just found one of these in an abandoned house I was hired to empty. Its in great shape. I thoroughly took it apart and cleaned it. Ordered some PPU non corrosive ammo. Great firearm!!! I like it
This was the first hand gun u bought,the ammo is easy to find but they won't let you shoot at the range on metal targets because they eat them up. I like the old guns. I liked this round so much I picked up a pps and put a vortex on it. Works great. Keep showing the oldies and we'll keep watching.
The military surplus ammo for it is an 85-grain, it's copper coated steel jacket with a lead core, and that jacket will chew up the backstop in an indoor range; hand load ammo is too hard to find for it to be able to shoot.
I have fired many a pistols in my day. This has to be one of my favorite pistols ever. Shooting it is like butter. To me there really isn't much kick and it is pretty accurate. Def one I recommend. Sadly the ammo latly in my area is around a dollar a round.
I love Czech stuff. I have a CZ 50, two 52's (one unissued with log-book) ,two 82s, a 75B Omega, and a P10c on the way. As well as a Romanian contract Vz. 24 rifle. These are fun to shoot and reload for. The Czechs did drop the ball when they made the firing pins though, they are a major weak point. Pretty gnarly trigger, too. These also aren't the bomb-proof pistols people make them out to be. They will actually blow up before a Tokarev or even a Broomhandle Mauser will when talking about increasingly hot loads (Yes I know the Broomhandle Mauser is a different/weaker cartridge but it has been tested with 7.62x25). The action is in fact incredibly strong, but the chamber has a weak point where the roller lock mechanism is, and this is a failure point when tested with overcharged loads.
Yeah, they are notorious for not lasting very long. The problem is that they were originaly meant to be chambered in 9mm and only after all the work was done they had to change to 7.62 Tokarev (because 9mm is capitalist thus evil and it isn't a Warsaw pact round) which of course is a much hotter round which the locking mechanism wasn't designed to handle. Apparently there are 9mm conversion barrels for them but then it would just be a heavy 9mm single stack which is no fun.
Also, I own one of these. It's one of my favorites to fire. I've always been told to be extra careful with the decocker built into the safety. Apparently the decocker is very crude and can fail easily and without warning. Can you address this concern? Is there a design flaw in the pistol? Thank!
Very good video as usual. Great pistol. I have 4 of them and they are excellent firearms. I did recommend upgrading the firing pin as well as the rollers and other springs. Also check your decocker to make sure it isn't worn out internally as they have been known to discharge while decocking due to worn parts allowing hammer to go far enough forward. Do the old pencil test to find out if yours is safe.
"Ugly???" I think it looks like it came outta some Sc-Fi flick! Cool! I have one & take it to the range as long as I can still find ammo for it..... Thinking about grabbing another one or two....
i like the looks of the pistol and it is very slim. also has a decock feature on the safety. since its not a tilting barrel design much of the force of recoil is directed straight back. the safety is very positive so carrying cocked and locked should not be a problem. its basically a point and shoot weapon because the sights are very small. don't worry that's what your going to do anyway when the shit goes down.
The principle of delayed blowback of any type is, that there is a leverage between bolt and bolt carrier (BC). When the shot is fired, the bolt starts moving back imeddiately, pushing the BC. But due to leverage between the bolt and the BC, the BC has to move longer distance than the bolt. This effectively works like plain blowback with much heavier bolt. The whole leverage bussines is to get around the need of very heavy bolt in unlocked breech configuration.
One of the most difficult things about this gun is finding someone to buy one :) When they were first introduced through SOG, I picked up three. One to shoot, and two for spare parts. I have yet to have any of the three need _any_ parts replaced, including the firing pin - I bought them a decade ago. So, I figured I'd sell off two of them, and I just can't seem to find anyone interested - even with an offer of tossing in 50 free Romanian rounds. Now, what I have noticed, personally, (besides the noise making the guy firing a 44 magnum go "what the heck was that?" ) is that the recoil has a savage twist to the left. Unless you really concentrate on that, you'll end up with the brass going straight up and over your head - and into the cleavage of the woman hiding behind you.
try email - first initial, last name, gmail. Probably best not to discuss in the thread. Definitely a fun gun, I just don't need three of them, and don't tend to go shooting with people that want to shoot them at the same time as I do.
You missed one little item regarding field stripping. The barrel is readily removed from the slide by placing the butt of the pistol grip into the corresponding notch at the base of the barrel and pushing forward. It is amazing how fast this pistol can be field stripped. The only big downsides to this pistol is it's weak firing pin (which is remedied with an aftermarket pin), and it's limited capacity magazine. It would be nice to see a modernized version of this same design that would addresses the short comings...i.e., move the barrel centerline down closer to the grip, improve the grip, and add a larger capacity magazine, better sights, etc...
As a doctor in the CS army, I had to shoot it. We had a prescription - shoot with one hand, 3 shots, left hand behind the back, at 25 m. Heavy for 1 hand, the kick almost made me sit down and I didn't hit the target even once. At the same time, I was able to hit the Vz 58 with a bayonet and a full magazine with one hand!! individual shots./100 m/ There was no recoil in the Vz 58! In my opinion, a bad pistol with huge and unnecessary power.
@@janpospisil4954 Yeah, it has a tough kick and if any gun will make you develop a flinch the CZ52 will do it. But in close quarter combat it is adequate. Field striping is best of any pistol.
US military manuals about foreign weapons specifically caution about using Czech ammo in Tokarev pistols due to higher pressures. Needless to say, NEVER use Czech ammo in C-96 Mauser ("broom handle"). Headstamp on Czech ammo often has a six pointed star, but there may be some other headstamps I'm not familiar with, so be careful
Another little note ,this round does penetrate vests. I have put one through a level 3 vest. A expensive test,but it's like the ps90 round that secret service use now to penetrate. It may be called the ugly gun but it looks nice to me and easy to fix and replace parts. If u run out of ammo you can knock them out with it!lol
I own both the cz-52 and a yugo m-57 (T33 clone), and would pick the Tokarev over the CZ any day. Ergonomics, reliability, etc are all superior on the Tokarev in my opinion. I have to say that it's the Only Czech firearm I've fired that I did not like though, usually they are excellent designers and craftsmen.
Ian. We'd love to see an update on this. I'm sitting here fondling my CZ-52 and watching all the TH-cam videos I can find on them. Great gun. Great video. 👍
I blew up a couple CZ52s in 2000. At that time the books said it was stronger than the Tokarev and C-96. I contacted all the publishers with test data, stress analysis, and metallurgical tests. By 2005 the books were changing and CZ52 max loads were reduced.
Other features: - push the safety control up and the gun de-cocks. The firing pin is blocked so the gun does not fire, but keep the gun pointed in a safe direction, as sometimes de-cocking will fire a round. - pulling the trigger pushes up on a button on the bottom of the slide, unlocking the firing pin. There is an aftermarket firing pin available that deletes this feature, giving a better trigger pull. - dry firing may break the firing pin. Get a better aftermarket pin. - some surplus ammo is designed for machine guns and can overpressure the pistol. - I fit an aluminum crush washer over the muzzle to act as a barrel bushing. It centers the barrel in the slide and greatly increases accuracy.
This was the first pistol I owned. I saw the price was going to jump, so I got one before they went into the $200 range. Great pistol. It is very well built. I find you do not have to pull the slide back to field stip. I just pull on the locking tabs and the slide pops off. Taking the barrel and rollers out is not too hard either. I was impressed on how easy it was to field stip. Most pistols of that time were not nearly as easy.
If you have the pleasure of owning one of these. In stock military form they are good guns, but they can come off as a bit clunky. Basically run of the mil surplus gun in stock form some would say. But when you put the solid hardened rollers, a competition firing pin and 19lb recoil spring in these guns they run flawlessly. You can bring it to the range and put it against almost any modern pistol and still show them up. I personally love my cz 52, just one of those timeless designs nobody else has come close to matching as far as looks and versatility.
This gun looks like ti would fit right in, in a late 80s industrial music video, or a late 80s, early 90s futuristic Terminator ripoff movie. In other words, it's a beauty.
Slight error around the 1:00 mark. The CZ52 shoots 7.62 Czech, not 7.62 Tokarev. Just like the 7.62 Tokarev and 7.65 Luger, it is dimensionally identical, but is rated to around 20-30 percent higher chamber pressures than the Tokarev, however, the CZ52 is more than happy to shoot Tokarev in place of the now non existent 7.62 Czech surplus.
I had one in 2000, I only miss it because I hate selling any gun lol. It was a gun you have to really practice to be good with. Everyone is different obviously, so I'm always loving guns that I'm naturally accurate with, that take little to know how getting good.
I own a CZ 52 and enjoy shooting it. I have a lot of rounds in 70-round boxes (for the PPsH-41, no doubt) and get an occasional click-bang due to the age. The most interesting part is really feeling the roller-lock action. It's a hoot campared to my Walther P-1 and My Hi-Power.
"...exactly the kind of ergonomics that someone like Ayn Rand would expect from the communist bloc." I think he means it looks like it was designed by a committee that never handled guns, and never planned to. I can see that. I love mine, but it has a brutal combloc aesthetic that feels clumsy to my decadent American hand.
Currently have a 9mm , 45 ACP, and a 7.62x25 tok. That way if 9mm and 45 ACP isn't around maybe a dusty box of 7.62x25 remained since most don't use it.
Don't see many of these anymore. When you find them they're going for about $380+. Tough part is finding the ammo. Back in the day you could get 1,000 rds of the surplus stuff cheap. Now you can barely find any. I have an M57 Yugo Tokarev), love the pistol. Love the round. Zastava makes brand new ones too (9 rd). Be nice to see a review on the older military ones. I think it's a better made Tokarev stye pistol, than anyone made. As always, Thanks for the video... Love this channel
Hi Thanks I did a lot of research and ended buying 2 non-refurbished almost mint pistols. Put in new firing pins and rollers. Also found some hollow point ammo. Thanks tho. Love this pistol
It's a very interesting pistol in several aspects: it's one of the very few single action pistols with a decocker (the other one that I know of is the Radom Vis), this is because it was originally meant to be a DA/SA; the slide slide release lever can't be operated by hand (unless you swap it with an aftermarket extended one), this was though probably so it doesn't snag on holstering or drawing; it can be converted to 9x19mm with a barrel swap.
New production x25 ammo isn't that expensive. about $15 a box. You don't have to reload or shoot surplus.And the S&B and PPU stuff is still pretty hot, but burns cleaner than milsurp.
7.62x25 is known as an AP round due to it being small, fast and the Russian ammo all being steel core thus giving it the ability to blow through a lot of stuff that other pistol rounds can't blow through.
Will you do a segment on the cz82 by she in pre Berlin wall falling Czech Republic in 9x18mm Makarov ammo. They had chrome lined polygonal rifiling (I don't know of any US side arm for reg infantry that used such unique features and innovative features and design. Some call it a Makarov but it's much more of a Walther PKK in takes of its design. Really cool ammo and high powered loads where offered. Flare rounds, steel core, even explosive rounds. They held 12 rnds and 1 in the chamber. Polygonal - chrome lined barrels decades b4 glock and very easy to field strip. It breaks into 3 parts. That's it and zero tools. It's a 4 Apex polygonal barrel according the the original Czech owners manual. Some don't believe me that even with a little chrome flaked at the muzzle from God knows how many rounds it's cycled through, mine still shoots as accurate as any brand new pistol. The slight flake marks are at the very tip of the barrel so I target crowned it and only went about. 020" deep so it now looks brand like a brand ne barrel. All other areas on the inner bore of the barrel and chamber are perfect.. Shiny chrome.. the only reason I can think off for chipping/flaking at the muzzle is rough treatment of the gun plus most barrels will get a hair smaller in id at the muzzle so over 34 years, it's needed a crown to keep it at original accuracy.. it's a fixed barrel,, direct blowback pistol. Like I said, as to its age, for a 34 yr old gun, my CZ82 is amazing and great canceal & carry. RT at 240mm:1 or 1 twist every 9.44 inches. You probably know more then me about everything guns and I mention I have one and no one knows what it is. A lot of my friends never new what polygonal rifling is. I think your views would like to hear about the little gun that could and could well. Its only a 3.75" barrel..just under 4". I hope you consider it.
I miss the old opening for the show... "Chuck - chuck - chuckka- chuck-chuck! Bling ding-dah bah-bling bling bling..." Ian should bring that theme song back.
Simpler, yes. Older, yes. Gun to gun, the TT 33 is better, buthe CZ 52 was what the Czechs were looking for at the time. They don't care about what a civilian in the United States thinks about the gun 50 years later. There's no point in comparing these guns. They all a historical value.
73288 Ehhh it's a great rifle but better than the ak... definitely not. The ak can be made to hold open after the last round also by adding mag tec followers. I've used both and my ak has never jammed my VZ 58 doesn't like to play dirty, can get finicky with cheaper ammos too. Again VZ58 is a great rifle, but is no where near the reliability and functionality of the ak. There's a reason why almost half of the world's armies use a form of the AK platform.
Alex I agree with what you said, but you should remember that you most likely have a Century Arms made receiver with some actual Czech surplus parts. Unless you bought one of the 1200 dollar Czech ones from Czechpoint, that's the only real option. I would bet good money the 100% Czech made guns are as reliable as an AK when kept clean. Of course they won't handle dirt/grime/sand as well as an AK due to their open-top design. I would definitely take a AK over the Vz 58, but I'm sure it was a very fine and reliable gun.
I care less about the armor penetration than the trajectory. This is a flat shooting accurate reliable handgun. Great at extended handgun ranges. (30+m) When are you going to do a Czech-themed 2 gun match? I know you have a longarm you can pair with that lovely little sidearm, and you even have a holster to fit it!
There was also a light machine gun project also named vz52. Try finding and possibly shooting the vz52 rifle in 7.62x45mm. That caliber was reconsidered by NATO a few years ago
That takedown looks so easy because he only got halfway through it. If you actually want to clean the barrel, it’s a pita to remove and if you’re not careful, can lead to minor blood loss.
I'm pretty sure I'ce seen this video before, but THIS time I've got a new [to me] CZ 52 sitting next to me, about ready to be field stripped for the first time!
I saw this book on terrorism back in college which had color pictures of the weapons terrorists were known to use, here's a few of them Model 10 Smith and Wesson. LLama 357, Marakov, the Hungarian 9mm version of the Torkarev (I'm sure I'm misspelling something here) Browning 9mm, AR-18, P38, and of course the weapon described here among others. I'm pretty sure that many gun collectors have these classics in their collections. If I could I would probably have them myself.
Right - "vz" stands for "vzor", which means "model". The Czechs had the vz52 pistol and the vz52 rifle, just like the US had the M1 rifle and M1 Carbine.
Basically, roller locked guns use the rollers just as round locking lugs, requiring some external force to unlock (short recoil, in this case). Roller-delayed blowback designs use a carefully-calculated wedge design to split recoil force in the receiver and the barrel, thus slowing down how fast the breech opens. I did a video called "Last Ditch Innovation" that looks at both systems in detail on two prototype late-war German rifles. That video will give you a better description.
I'm sure Ian isn't looking at these old video's comments but I'll just say this: it's remarkable how much more comfortable Ian is in front of the camera now verses during this video, 2013. This isn't bad but he's really improved as a presenter. Keep it up!
In a nutshell, recoil operated designs rely on part of the gun (usually the frame or receiver) remaining in place (held by you, or by a tripod) while the recoil force from firing pushes a second part of the gun (usually the barrel and bolt) backwards. This allows the breech to stay locked while the internal part is moving backwards. Once it has moved a certain distance, the breech will unlock and the empty case will be ejected.
Dunno why people call this an ugly gun, I think it's sleek and beautiful, and I hate the way most semi-automatics look. It's like a Makarov's big brother.
I totally agree.
It’s curiously swept-back looking, but I find that rather appealing.
@@Assassinus2 I think it is sleek and good looking; no one ever called something sleek if it was shaped like a brick.
Like a Makarov's better looking big brother. Considering when it was designed, I think it looked futuristic back then, which makes it an interesting artifact of the style of those times. I generally prefer revolvers to autoloaders, but that's not to say I dislike the latter. I think I'd like to have one of these.
@@thetooner8203 Yeah, it makes me think of a TT30, done up in a retro-future space-age "Corvette" way. Pretty ol' gun.
It's a Leatherman Wave. I don't have a particular favorite; the Wave just happens to be what I carry most days.
This was the first handgun I'd purchased, mine was made in 53 and had only been lightly used.
Just a couple things you forgot to mention Ian. The pistols have a decocker on the safety, push up and it decocks, it can be harsh on your thumb because the safety snaps down on actuation and there have been some reported failures of the mechanism.
There is something akin (but not actually) to a transfer-bar safety, like that of the Series 80 1911's from Colt, the feature plays into the aforementioned decocker.
Another is a quirky inconsistency, given the general high quality work that goes into Czech firearms. The firing pins are cast from relatively cheap/brittle steel and can break upon repeated dry-fire, I found this out the hard way but there are aftermarket options that not only fix the problem but enhance the overall performance of the gun.
Clinton Of Donald lets not forget the dot punches on the slide to show the accuracy from one surplus CZ52-to another ‘Kinda a ratings system” , I too would enjoy an updated doc from Ian , I have the after market pins as well ,,in AZ
@@leefithian3704 the dot punches have nothing to do with accuracy, thats just a myth
@@leefithian3704 The punch marks are most likely hardness tests.
Apparently the decocker isn't the most reliable thing ever. Due to age and/or design and manufacturing flaws, some 52s have a tendency to fire when being decocked. There are aftermarket kits to fix the problem. I found this out while researching the gun before buying one.
Beautiful mechanism!
i never had a problem shooting one. and back when ammo was really cheap we blasted a lot with these things. the firing pins are brittle and dry firing WILL break them. after market ones are still available. i agree,its a great design. how about that breakdown?
interesting....obscure.... well engineered....must be Czech then.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine lol. whats your beef with them?
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine - It was standard Soviet era design. Simple, durable, and did the job well. In other words, very well engineered for the needs of the time. Give it to someone poorly trained, where it won't be maintained well, but have it still work.
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine do you own one of these or have any extensive experience firing one? I ask this because I do own one and it is extremely reliable and in my opinion one of the best shooting pistols I have had the pleasure of shooting. Maybe I got ahold of a good one and it doesn't represent the majority except for the 20 or so that one friend of mine has owned over the past 30 years as well as the one that my younger brother had also preformed flawlessly so I would really like to understand where you are coming from and what personal experience you have with these pistols.
to be honest with you I liked how the cz52 looked, it's very clean and stream line
This video really should get an update
@Darkest Iron peoples opinions change over time
@@edwalmsley1401 Agreed. I still think mine looks cool though. There is something sharklike. On the other hand I bought an Astra 400 too because I thought it looked like a science fiction prop. No accounting for taste I guess.
CZ-52 shoots well if you use proper ammo for it. S&B makes some but the steel surplus out there is for sub-guns and will blow up a 52.
@@Miata822 - That's incorrect. Surplus Czech 7.62x25 ammunition will blow a Tokarev, but the CZ-52 can take pretty much anything on the market. The Czechs decided to use the same powder charge for the pistol and sub-machine guns, supposedly. I use surplus Romanian ammo :)
@@tbelding I've read various owner reports of damaged barrels using the full power ammo. Used to say the same as you until a forum member took a rockwell hardness meter to several barrels and found numbers all over the place. This from many years ago so I don't have a link.
@@Miata822 - Remember that design and implementation are very different. The design is built for robustness. However, the construction could be plagued by 'Monday hangover' class work by the not well recompensed workers. I have three of them, and have not only had no issues with the barrels, the decockers are all fully functional.
I bought one years ago when the pistols were first available in the U.S. ---- paid $125 for it including the military holster and extra mag. I wouldn't describe it as a "fairly" high-velocity pistol; this thing is vicious. To me it compares with an M1 Carbine pistol. I couldn't shoot in at the local indoor range because the muzzle blast keep shattering the fluorescent lights over each shooting position. I bought a set of dies and generally reload the beast down to 9mm Luger pressures and velocities which make it much better behaved, and the action still functions just fine. A word to the wise is that the cast firing pin breaks regularly with dry-firing; I replaced mine with a quality steel one a long time ago. There's also some pink boxed surplus subgun ammo which has blown these pistols up. I bought a large quantity of these hi-pressured loads and pulled the bullets to find 10-grains of a mystery ball powder inside. I reseated the bullets over only 7-grains of this powder and the rounds are now safe for this pistol.
My old man had one, but had a 9x19 barrel in it due to the fact that the original ammo was just messing up the shooting range a little bit too much. And the mining machines like a mile behind the range.
I had the pleasure to pick up one of these practically new for $250 in 2020. Pristine holster with spare magazine and cleaning rod. And a helpful disassembly tip is that the magazine baseplate is intended to help remove the barrel and spring from the slide with a notch cut into the barrel.
Now they're ammo is like the only one that hasn't gone up in price. I found it today for 46 cents around
Ian's audio set-up has improved beyond belief in the last 9 years. (2022 comment.)
Oh yes! One of my absolute favourites! Been shooting mine for 10 years now. Sellier & Bellot ammunition is top!
Am I the only one who was disappointed when he didn't wink and nod at the camera when he said, "I'll begin by CZECHING, to make sure the gun is unloaded"
Lol hahahaha
Love mine and as a .45 owner I am amazed at the damage this gun does to what you shoot with it. Really Loud report inside the range shack made several people cluster around to see what was making the deafing noise over their guns. Blowing huge chunks of the range target
backstop into the bream. My youtube photo shows me aiming at the camera with one.
I just found one of these in an abandoned house I was hired to empty. Its in great shape. I thoroughly took it apart and cleaned it. Ordered some PPU non corrosive ammo. Great firearm!!! I like it
This was the first hand gun u bought,the ammo is easy to find but they won't let you shoot at the range on metal targets because they eat them up. I like the old guns. I liked this round so much I picked up a pps and put a vortex on it. Works great. Keep showing the oldies and we'll keep watching.
The military surplus ammo for it is an 85-grain, it's copper coated steel jacket with a lead core, and that jacket will chew up the backstop in an indoor range; hand load ammo is too hard to find for it to be able to shoot.
I have fired many a pistols in my day. This has to be one of my favorite pistols ever. Shooting it is like butter. To me there really isn't much kick and it is pretty accurate. Def one I recommend. Sadly the ammo latly in my area is around a dollar a round.
I was hoping there was an FW video on this thing; 11 years old or not, it's as informative as I needed
I love Czech stuff. I have a CZ 50, two 52's (one unissued with log-book) ,two 82s, a 75B Omega, and a P10c on the way. As well as a Romanian contract Vz. 24 rifle.
These are fun to shoot and reload for. The Czechs did drop the ball when they made the firing pins though, they are a major weak point. Pretty gnarly trigger, too. These also aren't the bomb-proof pistols people make them out to be. They will actually blow up before a Tokarev or even a Broomhandle Mauser will when talking about increasingly hot loads (Yes I know the Broomhandle Mauser is a different/weaker cartridge but it has been tested with 7.62x25). The action is in fact incredibly strong, but the chamber has a weak point where the roller lock mechanism is, and this is a failure point when tested with overcharged loads.
Yeah, they are notorious for not lasting very long. The problem is that they were originaly meant to be chambered in 9mm and only after all the work was done they had to change to 7.62 Tokarev (because 9mm is capitalist thus evil and it isn't a Warsaw pact round) which of course is a much hotter round which the locking mechanism wasn't designed to handle. Apparently there are 9mm conversion barrels for them but then it would just be a heavy 9mm single stack which is no fun.
Also, I own one of these. It's one of my favorites to fire. I've always been told to be extra careful with the decocker built into the safety. Apparently the decocker is very crude and can fail easily and without warning. Can you address this concern? Is there a design flaw in the pistol? Thank!
Very good video as usual. Great pistol. I have 4 of them and they are excellent firearms. I did recommend upgrading the firing pin as well as the rollers and other springs. Also check your decocker to make sure it isn't worn out internally as they have been known to discharge while decocking due to worn parts allowing hammer to go far enough forward. Do the old pencil test to find out if yours is safe.
"Ugly???" I think it looks like it came outta some Sc-Fi flick! Cool! I have one & take it to the range as long as I can still find ammo for it..... Thinking about grabbing another one or two....
i like the looks of the pistol and it is very slim. also has a decock feature on the safety. since its not a tilting barrel design much of the force of recoil is directed straight back. the safety is very positive so carrying cocked and locked should not be a problem. its basically a point and shoot weapon because the sights are very small. don't worry that's what your going to do anyway when the shit goes down.
I also carry a Letherman Skeletool myself. Everyday. And I also own a CZ 52 and it is one of my favorites to shoot.
I have one, and a 9mm barrel. to shoot 9 mm or 7.76x25, I just switch the barrel. the mags work as is for both. It is a nice handgun,
The principle of delayed blowback of any type is, that there is a leverage between bolt and bolt carrier (BC). When the shot is fired, the bolt starts moving back imeddiately, pushing the BC. But due to leverage between the bolt and the BC, the BC has to move longer distance than the bolt. This effectively works like plain blowback with much heavier bolt. The whole leverage bussines is to get around the need of very heavy bolt in unlocked breech configuration.
One of the most difficult things about this gun is finding someone to buy one :) When they were first introduced through SOG, I picked up three. One to shoot, and two for spare parts. I have yet to have any of the three need _any_ parts replaced, including the firing pin - I bought them a decade ago. So, I figured I'd sell off two of them, and I just can't seem to find anyone interested - even with an offer of tossing in 50 free Romanian rounds.
Now, what I have noticed, personally, (besides the noise making the guy firing a 44 magnum go "what the heck was that?" ) is that the recoil has a savage twist to the left. Unless you really concentrate on that, you'll end up with the brass going straight up and over your head - and into the cleavage of the woman hiding behind you.
Troy Belding r they still 4 sale?
yup. Houston.
Troy Belding about how much were you tryinah get for em each? it is quickly becoming a favorite of mine as far as semi autos go..
try email - first initial, last name, gmail. Probably best not to discuss in the thread. Definitely a fun gun, I just don't need three of them, and don't tend to go shooting with people that want to shoot them at the same time as I do.
Are you willin to ship to ffl? What's your price
For some reason i love the look of the slide of this pistol.
Cool - congrats!
I think it looks super cool! Thanks for the great video.
This is one of the first handguns I've ever firedholds a special place in my heart
I like the CZ 52, it's simple, reliable, and fun to shoot. I wish they came with thumb slide releases though
There is an after market slide release available that works very well. I know telling you three years after your post... :)
I replaced my rear sight with a Makarov rear sight. Shoots point of aim for me now. The Makarov sight is taller.
You missed one little item regarding field stripping. The barrel is readily removed from the slide by placing the butt of the pistol grip into the corresponding notch at the base of the barrel and pushing forward. It is amazing how fast this pistol can be field stripped. The only big downsides to this pistol is it's weak firing pin (which is remedied with an aftermarket pin), and it's limited capacity magazine. It would be nice to see a modernized version of this same design that would addresses the short comings...i.e., move the barrel centerline down closer to the grip, improve the grip, and add a larger capacity magazine, better sights, etc...
As a doctor in the CS army, I had to shoot it.
We had a prescription - shoot with one hand, 3 shots, left hand behind the back, at 25 m. Heavy for 1 hand, the kick almost made me sit down and I didn't hit the target even once. At the same time, I was able to hit the Vz 58 with a bayonet and a full magazine with one hand!! individual shots./100 m/ There was no recoil in the Vz 58! In my opinion, a bad pistol with huge and unnecessary power.
@@janpospisil4954 Yeah, it has a tough kick and if any gun will make you develop a flinch the CZ52 will do it. But in close quarter combat it is adequate. Field striping is best of any pistol.
US military manuals about foreign weapons specifically caution about using Czech ammo in Tokarev pistols due to higher pressures. Needless to say, NEVER use Czech ammo in C-96 Mauser ("broom handle"). Headstamp on Czech ammo often has a six pointed star, but there may be some other headstamps I'm not familiar with, so be careful
Another little note ,this round does penetrate vests. I have put one through a level 3 vest. A expensive test,but it's like the ps90 round that secret service use now to penetrate. It may be called the ugly gun but it looks nice to me and easy to fix and replace parts. If u run out of ammo you can knock them out with it!lol
adore Czech firearm design and their usual "do it ourselves" philosophy on making things. :D
I've always liked this pistol and I'm glad you reviewed it.
Be nice if this why re-visited. Or maybe done with Karl on in range so he can expand on why he hates them since Ian was pretty positive in this.
I own both the cz-52 and a yugo m-57 (T33 clone), and would pick the Tokarev over the CZ any day. Ergonomics, reliability, etc are all superior on the Tokarev in my opinion. I have to say that it's the Only Czech firearm I've fired that I did not like though, usually they are excellent designers and craftsmen.
scroll down to Rebel Biker99's comment, a year ago Ian said he thought the T-33 is better
@@0neDoomedSpaceMarine oh my, Ian didn't like it.
I like mine too, I found it in Montana for next to nothing so I bought it. It's fun to shoot and it fits my big hands pretty good too
Ian. We'd love to see an update on this.
I'm sitting here fondling my CZ-52 and watching all the TH-cam videos I can find on them. Great gun. Great video. 👍
I blew up a couple CZ52s in 2000. At that time the books said it was stronger than the Tokarev and C-96.
I contacted all the publishers with test data, stress analysis, and metallurgical tests. By 2005 the books were changing and CZ52 max loads were reduced.
Other features:
- push the safety control up and the gun de-cocks. The firing pin is blocked so the gun does not fire, but keep the gun pointed in a safe direction, as sometimes de-cocking will fire a round.
- pulling the trigger pushes up on a button on the bottom of the slide, unlocking the firing pin. There is an aftermarket firing pin available that deletes this feature, giving a better trigger pull.
- dry firing may break the firing pin. Get a better aftermarket pin.
- some surplus ammo is designed for machine guns and can overpressure the pistol.
- I fit an aluminum crush washer over the muzzle to act as a barrel bushing. It centers the barrel in the slide and greatly increases accuracy.
In my humble opinion that is a very good looking pistol. As always very interesting and informative video.
This was the first pistol I owned. I saw the price was going to jump, so I got one before they went into the $200 range. Great pistol. It is very well built.
I find you do not have to pull the slide back to field stip. I just pull on the locking tabs and the slide pops off. Taking the barrel and rollers out is not too hard either. I was impressed on how easy it was to field stip. Most pistols of that time were not nearly as easy.
LOVE this gun
If you have the pleasure of owning one of these. In stock military form they are good guns, but they can come off as a bit clunky. Basically run of the mil surplus gun in stock form some would say. But when you put the solid hardened rollers, a competition firing pin and 19lb recoil spring in these guns they run flawlessly. You can bring it to the range and put it against almost any modern pistol and still show them up. I personally love my cz 52, just one of those timeless designs nobody else has come close to matching as far as looks and versatility.
FYI a 7,62x25 bullet WILL GO THROUGH LEVEL III body armor
qdluka maybe if ur loading ur own rounds or helping to get luky and hit a weak spot in the armor basicly not every time thing
Thanks, I re-watched the video. Makes perfect sense now. =)
This gun looks like ti would fit right in, in a late 80s industrial music video, or a late 80s, early 90s futuristic Terminator ripoff movie. In other words, it's a beauty.
Ugly? How dare you! This is a beautiful pistol.
I bought one box kept unfired its whole life and refreshed the bakelite and its a baller pistol.
Slight error around the 1:00 mark. The CZ52 shoots 7.62 Czech, not 7.62 Tokarev. Just like the 7.62 Tokarev and 7.65 Luger, it is dimensionally identical, but is rated to around 20-30 percent higher chamber pressures than the Tokarev, however, the CZ52 is more than happy to shoot Tokarev in place of the now non existent 7.62 Czech surplus.
I had one in 2000, I only miss it because I hate selling any gun lol. It was a gun you have to really practice to be good with. Everyone is different obviously, so I'm always loving guns that I'm naturally accurate with, that take little to know how getting good.
I agree. The cuts in the slide give it a sleak look.
Thank you algorithm for feeding me this old 'forgotten weapons' video.
I own a CZ 52 and enjoy shooting it. I have a lot of rounds in 70-round boxes (for the PPsH-41, no doubt) and get an occasional click-bang due to the age. The most interesting part is really feeling the roller-lock action. It's a hoot campared to my Walther P-1 and My Hi-Power.
Did you say Ayn Rand in the video when talking about ergonomics? haha
i heard that too but i never saw anything about pistol ergonomics in atlas shrugged, so im not sure what he is referring to
"...exactly the kind of ergonomics that someone like Ayn Rand would expect from the communist bloc."
I think he means it looks like it was designed by a committee that never handled guns, and never planned to. I can see that. I love mine, but it has a brutal combloc aesthetic that feels clumsy to my decadent American hand.
I love this man with all my heart
Probably about 3 weeks.
This video needs a part 2!!!
Currently have a 9mm , 45 ACP, and a 7.62x25 tok. That way if 9mm and 45 ACP isn't around maybe a dusty box of 7.62x25 remained since most don't use it.
Interesting pistols. Never seen a detailed explanation of the roller locking system. It seems very ingenious.
Don't see many of these anymore. When you find them they're going for about $380+. Tough part is finding the ammo. Back in the day you could get 1,000 rds of the surplus stuff cheap. Now you can barely find any. I have an M57 Yugo Tokarev), love the pistol. Love the round. Zastava makes brand new ones too (9 rd). Be nice to see a review on the older military ones. I think it's a better made Tokarev stye pistol, than anyone made. As always, Thanks for the video... Love this channel
Hay Joey p, are you talking about the cz 52. If so I'll send you a link to get gun parts and good new ammo ,7.62x25mm. Great penetrating caliber.
Hi Thanks I did a lot of research and ended buying 2 non-refurbished almost mint pistols. Put in new firing pins and rollers. Also found some hollow point ammo. Thanks tho. Love this pistol
and that the decocker can on some of these firearms actually discharge a round in the chamber. The cz52 I had bought had this problem.
It looks beutiful and it my favourite pistol ever made
It's a very interesting pistol in several aspects: it's one of the very few single action pistols with a decocker (the other one that I know of is the Radom Vis), this is because it was originally meant to be a DA/SA; the slide slide release lever can't be operated by hand (unless you swap it with an aftermarket extended one), this was though probably so it doesn't snag on holstering or drawing; it can be converted to 9x19mm with a barrel swap.
Not the same review by Karl. I like the different locking and apperance.
hope you're still here after TH-cam's Night of the long knives on April 20th 2018!
New production x25 ammo isn't that expensive. about $15 a box. You don't have to reload or shoot surplus.And the S&B and PPU stuff is still pretty hot, but burns cleaner than milsurp.
Damn, it would seem the casing goes out almost as fast as the bullet. :P
New 7.62x25 ammo is in the same boat as 5.45x39. It's out there, but mostly online and very few manufacturers actually load it.
7.62x25 is known as an AP round due to it being small, fast and the Russian ammo all being steel core thus giving it the ability to blow through a lot of stuff that other pistol rounds can't blow through.
Will you do a segment on the cz82 by she in pre Berlin wall falling Czech Republic in 9x18mm Makarov ammo. They had chrome lined polygonal rifiling (I don't know of any US side arm for reg infantry that used such unique features and innovative features and design. Some call it a Makarov but it's much more of a Walther PKK in takes of its design. Really cool ammo and high powered loads where offered. Flare rounds, steel core, even explosive rounds. They held 12 rnds and 1 in the chamber.
Polygonal - chrome lined barrels decades b4 glock and very easy to field strip. It breaks into 3 parts. That's it and zero tools. It's a 4 Apex polygonal barrel according the the original Czech owners manual. Some don't believe me that even with a little chrome flaked at the muzzle from God knows how many rounds it's cycled through, mine still shoots as accurate as any brand new pistol. The slight flake marks are at the very tip of the barrel so I target crowned it and only went about. 020" deep so it now looks brand like a brand ne barrel. All other areas on the inner bore of the barrel and chamber are perfect.. Shiny chrome.. the only reason I can think off for chipping/flaking at the muzzle is rough treatment of the gun plus most barrels will get a hair smaller in id at the muzzle so over 34 years, it's needed a crown to keep it at original accuracy.. it's a fixed barrel,, direct blowback pistol. Like I said, as to its age, for a 34 yr old gun, my CZ82 is amazing and great canceal & carry. RT at 240mm:1 or 1 twist every 9.44 inches. You probably know more then me about everything guns and I mention I have one and no one knows what it is. A lot of my friends never new what polygonal rifling is. I think your views would like to hear about the little gun that could and could well. Its only a 3.75" barrel..just under 4".
I hope you consider it.
I miss the old opening for the show... "Chuck - chuck - chuckka- chuck-chuck! Bling ding-dah bah-bling bling bling..."
Ian should bring that theme song back.
I think it looks like a goddamn Buck Rogers gun. It's pretty as fuck.
The correct name for it would be Vz-52. The Cz name came from the importers and is not the military designation.
Simpler, yes. Older, yes. Gun to gun, the TT 33 is better, buthe CZ 52 was what the Czechs were looking for at the time. They don't care about what a civilian in the United States thinks about the gun 50 years later. There's no point in comparing these guns. They all a historical value.
A very fun gun to shoot, and lethal, have 2, and spare pins and ammo and handload. These have become favorites not to get rid of.
6/23/19, classic firearms northcaro, surplus 72 rds/ box.
I really enjoyed the video
Czech and Czechoslovakian guns are very nice. But the best is Sa vz. 58.It is better than AK because its bolt stays open after last round is fired.
73288 Ehhh it's a great rifle but better than the ak... definitely not. The ak can be made to hold open after the last round also by adding mag tec followers. I've used both and my ak has never jammed my VZ 58 doesn't like to play dirty, can get finicky with cheaper ammos too. Again VZ58 is a great rifle, but is no where near the reliability and functionality of the ak. There's a reason why almost half of the world's armies use a form of the AK platform.
Alex I agree with what you said, but you should remember that you most likely have a Century Arms made receiver with some actual Czech surplus parts. Unless you bought one of the 1200 dollar Czech ones from Czechpoint, that's the only real option. I would bet good money the 100% Czech made guns are as reliable as an AK when kept clean. Of course they won't handle dirt/grime/sand as well as an AK due to their open-top design. I would definitely take a AK over the Vz 58, but I'm sure it was a very fine and reliable gun.
Those locking rollers wear out perty quick.
I care less about the armor penetration than the trajectory. This is a flat shooting accurate reliable handgun. Great at extended handgun ranges. (30+m) When are you going to do a Czech-themed 2 gun match? I know you have a longarm you can pair with that lovely little sidearm, and you even have a holster to fit it!
There was also a light machine gun project also named vz52. Try finding and possibly shooting the vz52 rifle in 7.62x45mm. That caliber was reconsidered by NATO a few years ago
I love mine. At least I did until I lost it in a boating accident
Ugly?! I think he's a very handsome pistol. I'd love to have one
I liked the Ayn Rand ref.
They are both Vz-52s. Vz just stands for model. Same way we used M for model in like M1903 or M1.
Gotta love a CZ
That takedown looks so easy because he only got halfway through it. If you actually want to clean the barrel, it’s a pita to remove and if you’re not careful, can lead to minor blood loss.
this video does not convey just how loud this gun is in person well at least mine is everyone at the range stares at me when I shoot this thing
Forgot to mention my CZ 52 has only been issued once. It has one punch mark on the top.
I also quite like the aesthetics to this pistol. Maybe I'm just easy to impress...
I'm pretty sure I'ce seen this video before, but THIS time I've got a new [to me] CZ 52 sitting next to me, about ready to be field stripped for the first time!
I saw this book on terrorism back in college which had color pictures of the weapons terrorists were known to use, here's a few of them Model 10 Smith and Wesson. LLama 357, Marakov, the Hungarian 9mm version of the Torkarev (I'm sure I'm misspelling something here) Browning 9mm, AR-18, P38, and of course the weapon described here among others. I'm pretty sure that many gun collectors have these classics in their collections. If I could I would probably have them myself.
I find the CZ-52 to be a nice looking pistol, certainly nicer looking than the TT-33.