I'm a sucker for a cosmetically challenged project gun and stumbled across this guy on Gb for decent money. CZ45's were imported until the gun control act of '68 and seem to have been well respected as a mouse gun. They appear to be a Browning design derivative in the way they disassemble and use a stirrup around the magazine for trigger actuation. It is alleged to have been a KGB deep cover pistol of choice during the cold war. A recent post by @Littlepony got me back to the hunt.

Unfortunately, the Bakelite grips tend to be fragile and dry firing can damage firing pins. In this 1948 stamped example the firing pin is in great shape but, some previous owner tried using what looked like wood glue to secure bakelite shrapnel to the frame.

Pics as delivered:






Back in the 90's I picked up a copy of "The 100 greatest combat pistols" by Timothy Mullin and first learned about these pistols from his article.




I found plenty of videos of the pistols being fired and field stripped but, none of a detailed tear down. Luckily I found that Wood had written and article for Gun digest that covered the pistol.






A couple of more views:



The above info got the project started. I boiled the pistol to convert the rust and loosen up some funk:



After boiling, it got marinated in Ed's red and then detail stripped before moving on to the ultrasonic cleaner with some simple green.


There are a few grip options. Vingage Gun grips(Triple K) are $65+$16 for a grip and escutcheon. NC ordinance molds some for a bit less but, without any hardware. I found a guy named Vit that runs Continental Militaria out of the Czech republic that is supposed to be shipping me a set with a escutcheon installed for $35. Sadly, he has no screws. Hopefully, McMaster-Carr will come through when I can take some measurements.

More updates to follow when grips arrive and the CZ is reassembled.

noice

Nice, interesting find. At least you don't have to be concerned over finding replacement sights for your project.

Subscribed for future updates.

Interesting thread, subscribed as well. Didn't know these existed but I'm a sucker for mouse guns and gunsmith specials. Just bought a Kassnar PSP25 today that was begging to go home.

Very cool.

The CZ45 was actually reintroduced back in 2005 as the CZ92, and remained in production until just a few years ago.  

They were never imported into the US, though.  The diminutive size and small caliber meant that they didn't score enough points to be legally importable.

you can thank the effectively a import ban on anything 32 or smaller in 1968

also it was 1992 not 05 and i think its still in production

Cool. I've only seen CZ92's with the Browning/American style mag release. Too bad I can't get grips/screw from CZ

Eta:

Ebay had a set of cz92 grips w/heel mag release for sale out of Portugal. Snagged them just in case the repro grips don't work out well. Emailed CZ europe asking for a screw

I'll be curious to see if the '45 style repro's arrive from the Czech Republic vs. the '92 grip from Portugal.



I reassembled everything after the converting rust, cleaning, degreasing, lubricating. Firing pin is in good shape, extractor and ejector look ok. Magazine safety is now operational. Function test with snap caps is looking promising.

Cz92 grips arrived from Portugal in less than 10 days. There is still some packing tape schmutz on the grips but, they are in really nice shape. Sadly, no escutcheon.
Cz45 style grips are still enroute from Czech republic.
I took a chance and grabbed a screw and escutcheon from a baby browning off Ebay. If those don't fit, I can mod a cap head M3x20mm and file a nut to fit the grip recess.

Finally got the CZ45 out to the range with my Daughter last weekend. The magazine that came with the pistol was causing feed jams but, the CZ92 mag sourced from portugal worked 100%. The grips pictured are the repro units from continental militaria in the Czech republic. Currently using a 3mm cap head screw but, may order a SS cheesehead screw pack from McMaster sometime soon. Group shot was at 10yards. Sights would have helped but, the sight groove in in keeping with the GTFO intended role of the pistol. Kiddo preferred the CZ75B compact packed with Cajun parts.

They are similar to the modern Seecamp because the Seecamp is based on the CZ45 design iirc. Be aware that if it is exactly like the seecamp, you need the magazine in the gun in order to trick the mag safety, or the slide won't go back enough to empty a chambered round. Let the mag down a quarter inch and then rack the slide to eject the round (a quarter inch or so is enough to prevent the a round in the mag from chambering when the slide goes forward). Hopefully that particular bit of nonsense is just a Seecamp thing. I love it .32 ACP Seecamp as a pinnacle of pocket gun design, but damn if it isn't a horrible manual of arms. If a LEO ever takes it during a traffic stop or something, I've accepted that they will almost certainly bend and destroy the trigger bar (which is also the mag safety) while trying to unload it.

I just saw 2 CZ45s in a gun shop 2 days ago and couldn't hep but look at them despite having no desire to own one. They are very nicely made pistols.