CZ-52 Range Report (After 500 rounds)

M

Mike P. Wagner

New member
Today, I shot the last of m first 500 rounds through my CZ-52. I understand 500 rounds is a morning's shooting for some of you, but that's four trips to the range on Friday night after work for me.

Reliability: In 500 rounds, I have had one failure to eject, and the slide has locked back twice when the magazine was not empty. Other than that, it's worked flawlessly.

Accuracy: I am a pretty new shooter, I probably shot 600 rounds last year in rental weapons, and that was the first shooting I'd done in 35 years. So it's very hard to know how to evaluate the accuracy. At 10 yards, shooting from a Weaver stance, 48/50 rounds were in the black area of a life size target. I'm thinking that the black area is 5 inches across. Oddly enough, when I shoot at 15 yards I seem to shoot fairly tight grips at about 10:00. That could be some kind of recoil anticipation on my part. I'm not quite sure if it's me, or the gun shooting up and to the right. For right now, I'll assume it's me.

Recoil: I'm guessing that I saw the orange muzzle flash, with sights a dark shadow in front of it 490 of those 500 shots. So the recoild isn't making me flinch. I think that would be the only issue. My rigt shoulder is a little sore after 100-150 rounds. I'm not sure if that's recoil, or using muscles I usually don't use.

Trigger: The trigger has eased up a lot in those 500 rounds. I also realized today that whatever "trigger slap" or something that hurt my finger the first couple times I shot has disappeared.

One oddity is that the way I hold the gun, I seem to knock the safety on by accident a lot. My thumb rests right under it, and after a string of 5 or so shot, the trigger gets hard to pull, and I realize that I've got the safety about halfway on.

Overall: Seems to be exactly what I wanted. Note that I was only interesting in "fun" shooting, not self-defense. Very much fun to shoot. I've shot exclusively S & B, and it has a satisfying flash and roar. For $165, I am a very happy camper.

Next purchases: I have a Harrington pin replacement that does not disable the safety, but is hardened. I need to get that installed. I will probably get some wooden grips from Karl at makarov.com, who is really a cool to deal with.


Mike P. Wagner
 
Even if you don't reload (yet) ... SAVE THAT BRASS! You never know when you will start. The S&B brass is fine to reload and you don't run across tons of the reloadable Tokarev casings. I recently found that you can get .30 cal Hornady XTP-HP's in 90 grain bullets if you do decind that you would like it for defense ... I just posted a question on the utility of this system for a backpacking carry gun. I think it has promise in that configuration.
Have fun ... Oh ... there is one thing that I learned ... clean the chamber with a 9mm brush ... the .30 cal bore brush will leave all kinds of crud in the bigger (9mm) chamber and eventually you will run into feeding problems ... the CZ-52 behaves a little like a rifle in this respect!

Be safe,
Saands
 
Thanks for the report. I bought one myself after reading a couple threads on this board. You guys made a believer out of me. Unfortunatly the firing pin was already broken, so I haven't fired it yet. I bought all the "trick" stuff from Makarov.com. I ended up having to take it to a gunsmith to install the firing pin and haven't gotten it back yet. I also got the thumb operated slide stop (I think that is the right term, the slide hold open, slide release) which broke as I was trying to install it. I got the walnut grips but don't like them, they are pretty cheesy looking. I bought a second pair of rosewood grips from Hogue, and they are really nice looking. I took delivery today of 500 rounds of 7.62x25 ammo from Winchester. I am really going overboard on this inexpensive gun. I am in the process of finding out what it would cost me to have a set of MMC sights installed on it, and then intend to have it refinished. For some reason I have developed a passion for these inexpensive curio and relic pistols. Keep us posted on your progress and experiences with this pistol.
 
Even if you don't reload (yet) ... SAVE THAT BRASS! You never know when you will start.
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I am saving the brass. The CZ-52 flings the brass hard enough that it's difficult to find it all, but I save what I find.

Mike P. Wagner
 
I had my local dealer order the Winchester ammo for me. I believe that the wholesaler he used was Coburns.
 
CZ-52

Glad you had a good time. I have a blast shooting mine although I haven't fired it a lot. No kidding about the empties.. they fly a mile.
 
I, too have also run into the problem of having the safety inadvertently engage. As much as I love these pistols (and I do) there are a couple of things that I think could help them improve.
1) Better safety lever (so that it doesn't come back on.)
2) Slide hold-open device that works reliably.
3) The small circular part that is on the frame and contains the hole that is painted orange or red for the safety, A couple of times I've had this shift in position, which means that I can't put the safety back on. (kind of the opposite problem as #1 above...

However, I view these pistols in the same way that a car nut views his antique car, it has a few problems that can be fixed, and until then, it just gives the piece character.

Above and beyond that, I will attest that these pistols are very accurate. The first time I shot one, I had a target at 7 yards (close, but that's the average distance for a standard defensive gunfight) and after putting about 2 magazine's worth through the pistol, had a group that I was pretty proud of.
 
My CZ52 is still at the gunsmiths getting the firing pin installed. So, in the mean time, I bought another one. I had no intention of it, but I was at a guy's house buying an Enfield MK.4 No.1 and he mentioned that he had a '52 with a second barrel in 9mm Luger. So.... I took it out today and did a very short preliminary workout. I only fired about 50 rounds; part Norinco Chinese stuff and part Winchester. The gun functioned flawlessly. Accuracy was great. I was very surprised at how well it shot. Now I am not talking about a target pistol, but, it shoots about as well as my "regular" out of the box pistols. The only gripe I have at this point is that it shoots about 4" low at 25 yards with both brands of ammo. I guess this is something I will have to correct with handloading. That disappoints me because I was interested in trying the super high velocity loads and they will only shoot lower due to the light bullet weight. I ordered a set of dies, bought an Accurate powder manual, a pound of Accurate #9, and a box of Sierra 110 grain carbine bullets. I chose this bullet simply because this was the only bullet suitable for the CZ that my dealer had. I haven't tried the 9mm barrel yet. I will do that on Saturday. I will being trying bullet weights from 115-147 grains in an attempt to find something that prints close to the sights. This low shooting is pretty much going to guarentee that I will go off the deep end and get a set of adjustable sights installed on my other CZ that will cost as much as the gun not counting installation. What the hell, it's only money.
 
This low shooting is pretty much going to guarentee that I will go off the deep end and get a set of adjustable sights installed on my other CZ that will cost as much as the gun not counting installation. What the hell, it's only money.
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I must be guilty of going off the deep end. I am planning this weekend to ship my CZ-52 to "Actions By T" for a "Complete Action Job", and some other work that will cost $200 or so (more with shipping). But for me, that's one of the cool things about finding a basically very solid fun pistol at the kinds of prices CZ-52s go for. I can afford to tinker with it!

But then I'm crazy, so a vote of support from a crazy man shouldn't make you feel any too good.

Mike P. Wagner
 
Mike, I hear ya. For some reason, I went off the deep end with these C&R type guns. I sent away a Bulgarian Makarov to be totally tricked out. I am in the process of spending a fortune on one of those Israeli Hi-Powers from AIM Surplus and now the CZ52. I am probably going to go with the MMC sights since they make sights for just about anything or can adapt a sight they already make for the gun. And they install. I am then planning on sending the gun to Checkmate to have it refinished. I was thinking about the highest quality blue they have for the slide and hard chrome for the frame. I would have the flat parts shiny and the rounded parts matte. I of course probably spent more than the gun already on parts from Makarov.com and paid $60 for a set of Hogue rosewood grips for it. People ask me why I would spend that kind of money on a $125 gun. That is simple; if I buy a gun for $500, I expect it to be good right out of the box: Finish, function, accuracy, sights etc better be there for that kind of money. Why would I take a gun that has a good finish and refinish it ? Why would I take a gun that already has good sights and put new sights on it ? They also ask me why I waste my time playing with these C&R guns when I have a safe full of "good" guns. Again, when I bought my 1911s, I knew they would shoot well. When I bought my Glocks, I knew they would shoot well............ The Maks, and the CZ52s etc were a real nice surprise and that makes it more fun for me. Plus I guess I always go against the norm. I love to take something like a Mak or the CZ and out shoot some elitest with his gun that cost five times as much.
 
I am probably going to go with the MMC sights since they make sights for just about anything or can adapt a sight they already make for the gun. And they install.
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Where are you getting this done, and how much does it cost? I'm thinking of sights sometime down the road.

I'm not sure we should be encouraging each other in our delusions... then it turns into group hypnosis, and anything is likley to happen...

Mike P. Wagner
 
Range Report: CZ52 with 9mm Luger Barrel

I took out the CZ today with the 9mm Luger barrel. To make a short story even shorter, it worked fine. I tried three different bullet weights to find one that shot with the sights. It turned out that 124s were perfect. This gun didn't follow the standard pattern since the 115s shot high and the 147s shot low. The 115s, and the 147s functioned flawlessly. Unfortunatly my 124s were a flat nosed copper clad cast bullet and they wouldn't feed worth a crap. I struggled through a few mags to ensure that they shot right on the button and then gave up. Note to self; load up some round nosed 124 gr. bullets in 9mm.
Tale of the tape:

9mm Luger
Cartridge Length-1.169
Bullet Diameter- .3555
Velocity of 124 grain bullet- approx. 1150 fps
SAAMI Max. Pressure: 33,000 CUP

7.62x25 Tokarev
Cartridge Length-1.381
Bullet Diameter- .309
Velocity of 85 gr. RN- 1972 fps
Average pressure of factory ammo: 42,000 CUP
 
Mike: The contact info for the sights is: http://www.mmcsight.com/
Keep in mind that I don't have anything solid from them about doing this. I am just fairly certain that they will do this. MMC (Miniture Machine Corp.) has been around a long time and make good stuff. I am having a set of adjustable night sights installed right now on my Israeli Hi-Power. They will do the installation. Having the slide milled for dovetails is an extremly common process and you might be able to get it done locally. The problem with getting stuff done locally is as you mentioned in your thread about getting action work done on you CZ. A lot of times you local gunsmith wants to tell you that it isn't worth it, or something to that effect. This is one of the only professions I know of where people turn down work that they think is beneath them; or else they try to tell the customer what he wants or doesn't want based on their own value system. I mentioned the idea to MMC when I sent in my Hi-Power and they didn't bat an eye. The woman on the phone said that she didn't recall them doing a CZ52 but they had done quite a few Makarovs. I added a note in the box with my HP asking for a quote. I know for my HP the installation charge was $50. I don't remember what I paid for the sights but it was between $60-$100.
 
If your really into shooting the CZ-52, ya gotta try .30 sabots with 50 gr soft points. They do scream, and they work flawlessly in feeding. I'm not sure what the velocity is at 10 ft from the chrono because all the reading I got was from the sabots (about 1900fps). The bullet itself is running >2200 fps at 50 yrds (yea my sun shields took a beating close and far). Boy, what a hoot! Wolfz
 
I know for my HP the installation charge was $50. I don't remember what I paid for the sights but it was between $60-$100.
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Does "installation" mean cutting the dovetails and installing the sights? Or is cutting the dovetails a separate expense?

Thanks,

Mike P. Wagner
 
That is everything, cutting the dovetails is pretty much everything, after that they just tap the sights into the dovetail with a brass hammer or else use a sight pusher to accomplish the same thing. Actually let me take that back. On the HP, both front and rear sight are already dovetailed. The MMC front sight goes right in. The rear of the slide has to be milled using what they call a "Novak Cut" for the rear sight. On the CZ52 I would imagine that both front and rear have to be dovetailed. On mine, the front is not dovetailed and the rear is dovetailed but the dovetail is very small. Call MMC and talk to them about it. I am going to this week.


Give me some details on these sabot loads. I assume you are using sabots intended for a .308/.03-06 with a .224 bullet ? What powders are you using etc. ?
 
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