Any CZ Owners??

[Orofino]

Anyone own CZ pistols or rifles?

[Robert]

The 24 is awesome with rifle sights and this big ole case of 200 gr boat-tail ammo.  Now on the other hand...the 52 has got to be one of the SMARTEST $170 bucks I ever spent.....yeah I know, I coulda got it cheaper on-line, but I didn't find out till later, but I got to hand pick mine and it is super clean.  He had others there for 150, but they were ugly.
I bought mine after 9-11 and when we were talking about war on terrorism...I would love to do some ballistics test on a terrorist. my second reason for it was to have a lightweight back-up for bear hunting that would deliver some firepower.  It sure does the job.

[Mikey]

Orofino and Robert:  I've got a CZ-24/52 that is a VZ-24 rebarrelled at the Preduze (factory) #44.  I also have an original VZ-24.  Both are a couple of realllly smooooth mausers and I like'm a lot.  As Robert said, a big ol case of 200 grain boat-tails makes for a lot of fun and the S&B 196 grain cutted edge soft points are more than adequate for anything I would hunt, including moose and squirrel (ooops, sorry Rocky) or bear and hog.

I also have a M48A made by the same factory.  It's definately not as smooth as the VZs but it certainly is a handy rifle, it is a mauser and it shoots those S&Bs into a nice tight group at 100 yds.  I have basically shelved my more expensive hunting rifles in favor of the M48 for its caliber, accuracy and knock around capabilities.

I do not have the CZ-52 but have thought long and hard about one.  They are well put together and designed handguns.  They are strong and will last ya for a while.  I am familiar with the 7.62x25mm round as I shoot it in my Tokarevs.  

Robert, as for ballistic testing the 7.62x25mm on terrorist, best line up two at a time - that cartridge has some serious overpenetration issues and the Chinese had to develop special body armor to defeat it.  Me, I would load some 85 grain hollow-points into those cases over factory powder charges to have something more 'expansive', as they say.  HTH.  Mikey.

[securitysix]

I own a CZ-75B in 9mm (love it).  I also own a couple of Czech Mausers (98/22 and VZ-24).  The Czechs know weapons, I have to admit.

[Robert]

I also load them with 90 gr Hornady XTP's.  I figurer that ought to do the job.  I did some ballistic testing just with pine boards, the xtp's seem like they would be good man-stoppers, but I am sort of torn on the bear,,,they would be fine for a lung shot, but I think I would still prefer the full metal in case of a frontal attack for skull or shoulder bones.  I also worked up a load with .223 sabots, just to the point that the slide would work reliably, I am sure they were going well over 2000 fps,  but they didnt even have the penetration of the big XTP's, so why bother.  I have heard rumours of the sabots being hailed for superior penetration and expansion, but a Heavy 30 caliber bullet already begins its life 'expanded' more than a 22 EVER will, so my vote goes to the XTP over the sabot.  It dosent make sense to me to take a firearm that has good stopping power and turn it into a 22 Mag.....Another experiment....one I havent tried yet, is to try loading one of these full metal backwards and exposing some of that nice soft lead.  It would make one hellova close range bear/man stopper, and still wouldn't lead up the barrel.  As a matter of fact...I forgot to mention....most of the milsurp 8mm Mauser full metal bullets can be pulled and re-inserted backwards, the Argintinian boat-tails have an excellent shape, and the lead is actually recessed slightly to make a nice hollow-point wad-cutter.  I wouldn't actually DO this, because the ATF would probably dis-approve, I was just looking.  A small amount of powder needs to be removed so the long spire points will fit into the case properly, so it wouldnt get the same velocity, but I have no doubt they would be effective within 100 yds.

[His lordship.]

I have 4 of their rifles (modern) and I have 2 of their pistols.  These have been fairly recent purchases so I don't have a few decades on em' to see how they hold up, but so far I have been very impressed with the CZ products.

I installed recoil buffers when the pistols were new to protect them.  And the accuracy was super accurate out of the box, they also seem to like a variety of brands, you really have to look closely at the targets to get the best brand to buy for each one.  However, when my CZ-75 was out for its second trip to the range I had one of the Russian Bear brand 9 MM cartridges stick into the chamber during a rapid fire test against my Taurus Beretta 92 clone.  I think that the CZ pistols have closer tolerances over the Berettas which would account for the superior accuracy of the CZ's.  But you should test fire different brands of ammo and break any gun in first before trusting your life to it.

I do occasional long range shooting at 100 yards with some of my pistols without using a scope, and this is where the 9 MM is more accurate over the .40 S&W.  I plan to use the 9 MM for some 100 yard varmint shooting, but not the .40 S&W.  Still that is a testimonial for a 4" barreled military pistol with fixed sights!

The CZ in .40 S&W has never jammed and it likes the Wolf ammo.  Also the recoil is tame as the slide on this pistol is built heavier than the 9 MM equivalent.  On the third trip to the range the CZ-75 in 9 MM consumed a full box of Wolf 9 MM without a single problem.  I traded off the Taurus Beretta clone as it had one of the worst trigger pulls I have ever experienced, the CZ's trigger pulls are very nice. :grin:

[farmplinker]

I have a 452 .22 rifle and an 85C pistol. Both are well-made and accurate, and were bargains considering the price and quality.

[Mikey]

Robert:  what powder charges do you use with those Hornaday 90 grain xtps?  I would not use a 7.62x25mm on bear, or even try, but I think it is a fine military caliber that could manage its overpenetration problems with a nice expanding boolet.  I know there are a couple of powders that will bring that load to 1400'/sec or better, which is what I would be looking for from my Tok.  Thanks.  Mikey.

[Robert]

www.reloadersnest.com
On the menu, click on PISTOL, then scroll down to 7.62x25.