anyone got a CZ 52??

JTF#

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i'm looking at buying a CZ 52 as my next gun and i was just wondering if anyone who actually owns one could give me their opinion on it? does it shoot okay? is it robust? do you even like it?
 
It shoots great! It is certainly robust, albeit the rollers and firing pin can wear out if improperly used - and forms a perfect (less than ergonomic) right angle. ;)

I enjoy less mainstream firearms, so having a alternative to another tokarev is great. Apart from regular maintenance, and no dry firing, there isn't much that could go wrong. Unless the rollers are aftermarket, they can require replacement. The firing pin is rather fragile (like a .22) - hence no dry firing... to belabor the point.

They are relatively rare here though, so expect a premium. Trade ex also sells parts: I bought a armorer's kit a while back.

Cheers!

~ Tom
 
This is a roller locked pistol as I'm sure you have read about online. Until recently these pistols were sold for as little as 300.00.
Various reviews praise or warn about wear regarding the lock up system on these pistols. Although I don't own one, I can tell you that
when I had the chance to throw a few rounds down range from a fellow shooters gun, the 52 is a smooth shooter. The web warnings of wear
issues regarding the roller lockup turned me off from buying one. BTW Czech weapons of any ilk are high quality. I even have a CZ 38 which is
one of the most maligned pistols ever, and btw a good shooter. If your 52 is not really beat up , go for it. In hindsight I would have picked one up
had I not read what were probably reviews based on unlikely scenarios regarding worn surplus guns.
 
thanks guys. at an auction i follow these guns often come up some times a few even at once. the going price is usually around the $400 mark. but from what your telling me its important to check the condition. some guns like the tokarevs can look like garbage and still work fine and even are cheap to fix but i am hearing this gun is not really like that? i am better off to pay up for a good one then to just get one cheap?
 
Yes of course pay the 100.00 extra or whatever to get a better piece. At this time these are low end guns. Parts for 52's are
getting scarcer, so keep this in mind.
 
There are some that were sold by Century International Arms that had been rechambered to 9x19mm. I would avoid those, I had one and it was a complete jam 'o' matic. I don't think I was ever able to fire off a complete magazine.
 
I had one a few years ago. It had a lot of light strikes on the primers of the Czech surplus ammo. It has no slide release to speak of. The firing pin is cast and fragile. I contemplated acquiring a machined firing pin and usable slide release from makarov.com.but I sold it instead. It's an interesting gun but there are some undesirable features.
 
thanks guys. at an auction i follow these guns often come up some times a few even at once. the going price is usually around the $400 mark. but from what your telling me its important to check the condition. some guns like the tokarevs can look like garbage and still work fine and even are cheap to fix but i am hearing this gun is not really like that? i am better off to pay up for a good one then to just get one cheap?

A cz 52 may keep its value better in Canada at least, due to scarcity. I can help out with parts, and trade ex did sell rollers and firing pins.

Cheers!

~ Thomas
 
I had one a number of years back; I should have kept it. Very nice gun, had no issues at all. The only complaint I had was that the front site was hard to pick up. I changed out the front site on mine and found it great.
 
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