As we mentioned before, we did win two impulse-bought lots at the Rock Island internet auction. They were a Walther Model 8, an interesting PP forerunner with an internal hammer and single-action lockwork, and three Eastern European Cold War era guns: a CZ 52 in 7.62 x 25, a CZ 50 (similar to a PP) in .32 ACP, and an East German 9 x 18 Makarov. Here’s what our max bids were:
The bids on the parts and on the Tower Brown Bess weren’t really serious, apart from the bid on the AR-10 parts, and we half expected to get outbid anyway. (We were). We overbid for the Walther, as we discovered pricing them on GunBroker after bidding.
Here’s the results:
Those prices are net; there’s also a 17.5% buyer’s commission so we actually must pay more. Which we have already done, on the phone to RIA. Now they are waiting for our FFL to get them a copy of his ticket.
We’re looking forward to comparing the Model 8 to a PP, but we don’t actually have a PP on hand, just some PPKs.
The Ostbloc pistols are for having some fun with, shooting. The Cz 52 has a fascinating and unique roller-locked system; the Cz 50 was a standard cop gun for decades in its native land, and, well, we don’t have a Makarov and probably ought to. The Ernst Thälmann Werke made some of the best Makarovs, although we’re partial to non-import-marked Russians, which have slipped through our hands before.
Kevin was a former Special Forces weapons man (MOS 18B, before the 18 series, 11B with Skill Qualification Indicator of S). His focus was on weapons: their history, effects and employment. He started WeaponsMan.com in 2011 and operated it until he passed away in 2017. His work is being preserved here at the request of his family.
6 thoughts on “We Won at Auction”
Had my hands on several of the CZ-52 quite awhile ago. Accuracy was uniformly lousy.
The correct ammo, if you can still find any of it, is head stamp BXN and probably a few others, but that one for sure.
BTW, do not fire that in any other weapon as it’s way too hot (there’s a reason the pistol is roller locking).
And regular Tok ammo works fine too.
Hmm. Locals claim that vz.52s are not inaccurate, just really hard to shoot, perhaps due to atrocious trigger and inadequate sights.
No problems with trigger control. Wasn’t like a 1911, or even some of Ivan’s products, but it wasn’t particularly noted as ‘bad’.
Easily enough, the examples could’ve had had the barrels shot out. I didn’t have them in hand long enough to do a detail strip or anything close to a TI.
Congrats!
The CZ-52 has much in common with the HK P9s. Both are roller locked actions. The HK having a history with the 80’s SEALS since the barrel doesn’t tilt, one can hang a zillion pound suppressor on the muzzle and the gun doesn’t care. The roller locking action is real quiet in suppressed use. There once existed 9mm conversions for the CZ if you get the urge.
the firing pin on the CZ-52 will break if it is dry fired
Harrington sells parts for the 52 and the 70 and has the manual on their website
http://harringtonproducts.com/
P9s article
http://www.hkpro.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=59:p9s&catid=6:the-pistols&Itemid=5
My East German Makarov is a favorite. Much better fit and finish than the Soviet ones, amazing accuracy too. Some guns just make you smile more than others. They are the keepers. This is one of those.