just picked up one of these UGLY things today. Other than replacing the firing pin and not to trust the decocker, is there anything else i should know? As usual century provides zero documentation as to proper operation and take down. THANK GOD FOR THE NET!

mike

They are NOT ugly! They look like an Art Deco semi-auto.
I love my CZ52...incredibly overengineered little critter. The roller lock action is shared by the H&K, and the MG44, and is almost bomb proof. Ultra simple field strip, too.
With the hot Czech mil surplus ammo, muzzle velocities of 1,500 to even 1,900 fps have been recorded. I don't like the Chinese ammo at all. And I have heard some of the Bulgarian stuff is dangerously overloaded.
My CZs are the only commie guns I have ever liked, really.
The russkies used to field test the 7.62x25 round by test firing them into a row of kneeling prisoners...they found this round would go clear through 3 of them, and lodge in the 4th.
Shoots a huge pretty fireball, and is nicely accurate too.
The number of dots punched into the slide shows how many times, (if at all), it has been reworked by the arsenal.
I replaced my firing pin also, with the cool $20 stainless steel one, no problems at all, easy install.
My only complaint is that is has a hell of a trigger lash. I wind up with a bruised finger tip after shooting it. No idea what is going on here, but other CZ-52 owners have noticed the same thing. That trigger kicks hard when it shoots. Also has the typical military pistol crummy sights and trigger pull.
The CZ fits into 1911 holsters nicely.
These guns used to sell for upwards of $1,000 in the US until the last few years, when the arsenal supplies of them were dumped onto the market. They were called the "Commie Magnum" by collectors.
They were only produced from 1952-1954, I have heard 300,000 as a production figure.
Here is a good link, if you have not found this page yet:
www.makarov.com/cz52/

CZ52s are not ugly, they're kind sleek, in a commie sorta way :)

The roller locking in the cz52 is different than the HK weapons.  In the HK weapons, the bolt locks to the trunnion, which is in itself an extension of the receiver, while teh cz52 has the barrel locking to the slide (bolt).

The cz52 will not be as smooth shooting as a browning type weapon (specifically the tt-33).  In a tt-33 (tokarev), the brass will fail before the gun does, while in the cz52, the reverse is true.  THe gun will fail before the brass does.  This can be likened to comparing a .308 bolt action and a .308 autoloader.  In the bolt action, the gun will fail before the brass does because of the strong lockup between components.  There is no place for stuff to goto whenthe pressures get really high, while in an autoloader, the brass can get shucked out the ejection port, mag well, etc.

One of the nice things you get when you shoot the cz52 is the non tilting barrel during recoil equaling superior accuracy potential.  Now, I said potential.  you have to have good ammo and barrel.  I have taken 90 gr hornady xtps to around 1700 fps using h110 powder and can easily go higher without damaging my pistol, but then the recoil just gets kind unbearable for prolonged shooting (100-150 rounds at a time).

i only felt trigger slap when I used my super mag loads.  When using S&B, it was powerful, but not painful.

Plus, you get that neat ability to cycle the slide when the gun is on safe :)

The number of dots really means nothing but how many times that particular part as heat treat tested.  When it was rearsenaled, they tested the hardness of that part (one dot there), if it did not meet hardness standards, it was heat treated and retested (another dot).  this kept going until it was heat treated properly.  If you look over your whole gun, you'll see that all major components have the dots.  I've found them on my frame, barrel and trigger components during a quick check.

you guys are right it's a sexy pistol. As sexy as a big hairy russian woman on a cold siberean night.

Well i shot it today. recoil is mild but did have some muzzle flip. didn't notice any trigger slap. Couldn't hit a bus 10 feet in front of me with it. Funny thing was shooting at 100 yrds i could hit a pie plate. hmmmmm oh well if a maurading pack of pie plates attacks they are dead at 100yrds and i'll switch to my 45 if they get in close

I do have to say i was impressed for a 200.00 pistol. only one dot on the slide made in '53 ser# in the 14xxx range. so i am guessing a fairly early one if they were in the 300,000 range. finish is a grey park so i am thinking it's the original finish as i read the blue finish was used in rearsenal? new mags and holster and all numbers match. i think i got a keeper here.

mike

I think the CZ-52 is the best value on the market right now and the ammo is pretty cheap. The only thing I want to do to the gun is put better sights on it.

Does anyone make aftermarket sights for the gun?

So, can the big hairy Russian woman haul my ammo?  On a cold Siberian night, I believe that ANY human female companionship (or is that COMRADESHIP?) would be welcome!