I have one. It's kinda neat in it's own way.
If nothing else, it has a lot of mystery about it. We wonder about the armor-piercing thing. It's interesting that the Czechs chose to use a different pistol than the standard Makarov. It's unusual to see a full-size pistol in any Post-war European army. What about those "accuracy dots"? The list goes on.
The following comments are going to be filled with "supposedly" and "they say", but that's how it often goes with former Warsaw Pact weapons. They were made over 50 years ago, when they weren't exactly free with information about weapons. They weren't written up in the Iron Curtain Handgunner magazine either, so we don't have that resource.
So that leaves us with a few old manuals, and a very, very few personal experiences from people who managed to handle them over the years before many of these guns became available here.
Regarding penetration of body armor:
The CZ52/7.62x25 was supposedly capable of penetrating "NATO body armor" of the era. I've read that in a few places, but the thing is- I'm not sure what "NATO body armor" was available in the 1950's. I think there was a lot of experimenting done with body armor for soldiers then, but I don't think much (if any) was ever issued. Maybe troops stationed on the line in Berlin saw some.
In any case, it seems that the Warsaw Pact nations were at least concerned about body armor because their bayonet training included an upward thrust that was meant to get beneath vests.
But it does stand to reason that a (relatively) small caliber bullet going at a faster speed (compared to say, the 9x18 Makarov) would be a decent penetrator. Whether that was their plan, or a by-product of something else, I don't know.
Ammunition (hot or mild):
The Czech-made ammo is a relatively hot 7.62x25 loading (but not the hottest). That makes many think that the CZ52 was designed to handle the hot stuff. It stands to reason, since some of the Chinese-made lower-powered 7.62x25 (loaded for Tokarev pistols) won't operate many CZ52s.
However...
The 7.62x25 ammo loaded for use in the Russian PPsh41 and PPsh43 SMGs is hotter yet, and is almost certainly too hot for the CZ52.
Basically, three cartridges with the same dimensions.
Accuracy dots:
Some guns have one or more little pin punch dots on the slide rib. There has been a theory flying around that these were "accuracy dots" which were used to signify each pistol's accuracy. The story usually says that upon arsenal rebuild testing (but sometimnes its says when leaving the factory when new) the pistols were accuracy tested and the dots signified the results, with one dot being best, two next best, and so on.
I've seen it mentioned several times, but have seen no documentation to verify. I have seen a copy of a letter from the director of the Czech arsenal explaining the various markings on the gun, but he made no mention of the dots. Some think that if it was an accuracy test, and therfore somewhat a measure of the work done at the arsenal, wouldn't they all have one dot? Maybe so. I'm inclined to think they are something else, perhaps a hardness test that was done after each rebuild.
But I made sure to get one with one dot, just in case!
Hammer drop:
The hammer drop function of the safety is prone to breakage. I would never use it if I were you. It could possibly fire the gun when engaged.
Firing Pin:
The other weak point is the firing pin. It's made from some junk casting and not very strong. I would not dry fire it. Replacements firing pins are available, made from a better steel. They also have no provision for the hammer drop safety, so that function will not work with that firing oin installed.
mines chambered in 9mm so i wont need to worry about the 7.62x25 stuff for now (until i decide on a new barrel). Also, thanks for clarifying the penetration information.
