[CGSteve8718]

Of the 5 gun forums that I am a member of, I have read owner's accounts of something going wrong or breaking on the cz 52 on each and every forum.

On mine own cz 52 (which I paid too much for), the take down latch/slide lock latch pin walks out during firing. Because of this, I have never been able to get a good range session out of it. It walks out after just a few rounds. I brought a hammer with me to the range to hammer it back in. I didn't think there was anything major, but as you can guess, I cut the range time short because of that.

I'm going to put some Loctite on it and see if that is a simple cure.

From what little firing I did with it, I can tell you the trigger is horrible. It is definitely the kind that you have to get used to, as in being a part of the Czech military when it was issued and trained on it. It is very long and "rough" feeling. I'm no champion shooter, but my groups don't look like a shotgun pattern at 7 - 10 yds usually with other pistols and revolvers. It did with the cz 52.

I am a collector of military arms, so the cz 52 is a must own, and even with my slight negative experience so far, I still plan to keep it for the collection.

Everyone seems to be getting theirs for $150 or less. I paid $200 for mine, but it was cosmetically in unissued condition. Other than the walking pin, I found it to be mechanically sound.

During my research, I've found conflicting reports on whether or not it is good to use the hotter loads of 7.62x25 through the cz 52. Some say it is perfectly fine because of the stout roller lock system, while others say not to shoot the 7.62x25 that was designed for SMGs through it. Czech surplus (the type it was designed for) itself is hot, and Bulgarian is even hotter by a slight margin. Because of this, I am with the folks who say it is fine. Note: It is not fine to shoot the hot stuff through TT33 pistols. It also should be common knowledge by now that all surplus combloc ammo is corrosive. Flushing hot water through the weapon is the best way to clean this. Forget about Windex, ammonia content in that product is negligible, so I chalk that up to being a myth (or really the water content of Windex doing the work).